Purushottam Das Tandon
Purushottam The " Rajarshi " Tandon (Hindi: पुरुषोत्तम दास टंडन ) ( born August 1, 1882 in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, † July 1, 1962 ) was an Indian politician of the Indian National Congress ( INC), which he was president in 1950.
Biography
Lawyer and admission for independence
Hailing from a middle class family Tandon received his primary education first at home and started after visiting the Muir Central College, Allahabad to study law, which he completed in 1904. Subsequent thereto postgraduate studies in history, he finished 1906 with a Master of Arts (MA ) and then took up a career as a lawyer.
At the same time he became involved in 1906 as a representative for Allahabad on the committee of the INC, which he had joined in 1899 as a student as a member. Tandon was also a member of numerous other organizations and institutions such as the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan and the Rashtrabhasha Prachar Samiti. In 1910 he was not only publisher of Abhyudaya, an influential newspaper in Hindi, but also the chief secretary of the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan. In 1923 he was elected to the General Assembly in Kanpur Hindi Sahitya Sammelan President of the and sat as such in the spread of Hindi, where he also spoke Persian beside Urdu.
On April 13, 1919, he was a member of the Committee of the INC to the co-organizers of the demonstration to achieve the sovereignty of India in Jallianwalla Bagh Park in Amritsar, the crimes committed in that of the British Indian Army and Gurkhas to Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus Amritsar massacre ended.
In 1921 he was arrested for his active participation in the propagated by Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi campaign of non-cooperation. After his release, he became in 1923 president of the Congress party in the district of Gorakhpur and still in the same year President of the Congress of the INC in the province of Uttar Pradesh. 1930 Tandon, who was called by Gandhi " Rajarshi " was again arrested for his participation in the Civil Ungehorsamkeitsbewegung during the salt march.
After his release, he was at the party congress in 1931 in Karachi, a member of the Working Committee of the Congress Party and thus the inner leadership of the INC. As an organizer of farmer protests, he was again arrested several times after 1932, before he was a member of the Legislative Assembly of Uttar Pradesh 1937-1948. In addition, he took over the office of Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. It first came to a controversy when he refused his party office to lay down as usual after an election as Speaker of Parliament. When he offered the office of Speaker resign if he does not behave should impartially, there were no objections, and his tenure as Speaker of Parliament was ultimately recognized across party lines.
Throughout his career in the national movement he stood for the rights of the oppressed classes. In a resolution written by him on the 49th Congress of the Congress Party in 1936 in Lucknow, he underlined the necessity of the INC to make a mass organization by involving the entire opposition against British imperialism and the development of closer cooperation with the people. Because of his involvement in the Quit India movement Tandon was arrested in 1942 for the seventh time.
Due to his poor health condition, he was released from prison early and devoted himself to following the reorganization of the Congress Party.
Ascent to the President of the Congress Party
In 1946 he was elected a member of the Constituent Assembly, which prepared the sovereignty of India on 15th August 1947.
Tandon was deeply religious, but due to his followers to Radhasoami faith free from any constricting and sectarian prejudices. He emphasized the "essential unity of Hindu - Islamic culture despite their significant differences. Existing problems between Hindus and Muslims, he led the Divide et impera policy of the British colonial administration back. The partition of India was not acceptable for him and he expressed his displeasure with the establishment of the two states of India and Pakistan by the fact that he stayed away from the celebrations of the Indian Independence Day.
At the Congress of INC in 1950 in Nashik, he was elected President of the Congress Party. Before Congress In 1951 he resigned from this post after it came to disagreements on the composition of the committee and the relationships between the internal party organization and the government wing faction of the Congress party between him and Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
In the elections of 1952, he was first elected as a member of the lower house ( Lok Sabha ), before he became in 1956 a member of the upper house ( Rajya Sabha ). But shortly after, he had to resign in 1956 this mandate for health reasons and zof back from active political life.
President Rajendra Prasad praised him on October 3, 1960 in a public ceremony. Finally, the Bharat Ratna on him in 1961, the highest civilian Order of Merit was awarded to India.
Political views and speeches
Tandon took a prominent role in the history of India and can be regarded as a direct descendant of Madan Mohan Malaviya and Lala Lajpat Rai, but without their due time their effect social conservatism. His political philosophy within the Congress party was dominated by Vallabhbhai Patel. However, his commitment to the heritage of the ancient Indian culture resulted in the prevailing general misunderstanding for his principles and ideas. His unwavering commitment to the Hindi made him the target linguistic chauvinism. However, his speeches, writings, and his concerns for the location of regional languages justify him as a person with openness and vision.
On his election speech at the party congress in 1950 in Naschik he stated: