March 4th, 2001
It is now seventy years since Lala Har Dayal died in exile at Philadelphia, USA. 4th of March 1939. He was not quite fifty-three years of age. In this short lifetime this obscure Indian from an enslaved country had become an international figure, a celebrity. His dazzling intellectual genius had made him a legend while his demanding and uncompromising idealism made him into a cult figure.
Har Dayal was a Dilleewaalaa Kayastha. At his birth in October 1884 Dillee was still in a stupor almost a coma caused by the hemorrhage and brutalisation of 1857. The invading British had blown up whole suburbs with havelis and hammams aqueducts and bridges besides palaces pavilions and mosques. There was mass murders of civilians including women children and the old.. The city centre was reduced to rubble.
85 of the 100 acre palaces pavilions gardens and waterways of the Red Fort were pulled down. Even the straggling survivors had their gilded domes removed. The pietra dura inlay of the Diwan-I-Khas and the Imperial Baths, of the Musamman Burj and the Rang Mahal were gouged out by Tommies with their bayonets The once proud Dilleewaalaa was humiliated as never before and had to swallow the insults without murmur.
Har Dayal’s story is the story of India’s awakening and of the beginnings of the struggle for justice, self respect and freedom.
Har Dayal’s genius made him well known early in life. When still at school level he borrowed four or five classic novels from the library. The librarian remonstrated that the books were not for children. When they were returned the next day the librarian said, ‘I knew you couldn’t read them’. Har Dayal replied ‘ But I have read them and can recite from any one of them in proof, which one do you want to hear ?’
At graduation Har Dayal had topped in almost each subject in every exam from school onwards found himself second in the overall competition. He therefore migrated to Lahore for his Master’s degree and topped.
Har Dayal applied for the State Scholarship to England. As all who won this honour usually returned to serve the government he was asked whether he could name any particular principle which would be effective in administration. He replied ‘Divide et Impera : Divide and Rule!’. The overall brilliance of his other replies put him in a class by himself and in 1905, aged 21 Har Dayal and joined St John’s College Oxford.
The scholarship provided pounds sterling two hundred a year besides round trip fare. An additional pounds sterling one hundred and thirty came from winning the Boden Sanskrit Scholarship and becoming Casberd Exhibitioner in History.
C F Andrews met Har Dayal at Oxford and noted ‘He had reduced his wants to a minimum and was living in very bare and small lodgings. He was ascetic by nature…’.
Unexpectedly Har Dayal returned to Dillee in 1906 and taught a session at St Stephen’s. A great change was noticed in him. From being very westernised he became markedly Indian and started a Ramayana Club at the College where the R.C. Dutt translation was read. The Principal, Sushil Kumar Rudra used to attend the meetings.
Har Dayal took his wife, Sundar back with him against the wishes of the families. This was a daring act as the ‘natural’ alternative suggested by her relatives was that Sundar be with her mother-in-law while her husband was away!
From Oxford Har Dayal frequently went to London to take part in social and political activities. Gopal Krishna Gokhale tried to recruit him to the Servants of India Society. Har Dayal refused because members had to swear loyalty to the British Crown.
Savarkar’s Abhinav Bharat society was luckier and Har Dayal took the oath
‘In the sacred name of Chatrapati Shivaji, in the name of my sacred religion, for the sake of my beloved country, invoking my forefathers, I swear, that my nation will be prosperous only after freedom, full freedom is achieved. Convinced of this, I dedicate my health, wealth and talents for the freedom of my country and its total uplift. I will work hard to my utmost capacity till my last breath ….’
Har Dayal’s great integrity was demonstrated in 1907 when he resigned his State scholarship. On 13th April he asked for the conditions on which he had been granted the honour. His resignation meant surrender of something coveted by every Indian. The Government were non-plussed and reacted in their usual ham handed manner, They delayed the event by protracted correspondence designed to get from Har Dayal the reasons for his resignation. This Har Dayal refused to do. They next told him, in response to his request that he owed Rs 485/15/- which he remitted the very next day. Correspondence with Har Dayal ceased. His College was advised that Har Dayal had been adjudged by the Secretary of State to have ‘forfeited’ the scholarship.
Har Dayal’s wife was pregnant and they wanted to be home for the delivery. When her father sent a second class ticket for her return in order to attend a family wedding Har Dayal converted it into two third class tickets and sailed home.
We shall return to Har Dayal’s life in a subsequent column.