Remembering Purushottam Das Tandon On His 60th Death Anniversary: All You Need to Know

Innumerable individuals remained a step ahead while contributing to India’s freedom movement. It is because of their undaunted courage that our nation was able to break the shackles of slavery. Among these individuals, one such freedom fighter was Purushottam Das Tandon. Today is his 60th death anniversary. Mahatma Gandhi used to call him by the name Rajarshi.

Early life

Purushottam Das Tandon was born on August 1, 1882, in  Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh. In 1904 he completed his LLB and M.A. (History) at Muir Central College, Allahabad. After completing his studies, he embarked on his career in law in 1906.

In 1908, he started working under Liberal Party leader Tej Bahadur Sapru. He left the legal profession in 1921 and became a full-time politician.

Career in politics

In 1923 he became president of the Gorakhpur District Congress Committee. His career grew rapidly after that. Purushottam became a member of the Congress working committee in less than 10 years. He also became the president of Kisan Sabha in 1934. Purushottam was arrested a lot of times for participation in Non-Cooperation and Quit India movements.

He adopted a different ideological approach compared to his colleagues from Congress. He represented the extreme right of the political spectrum. From 1920, Purushottam was closely associated with Arya Samaj, a Hindu revivalist organisation. He had also served as the president of Arya Samaj Punjab National bank for 4 years.

Push for Hindi and Extremism

Purushottam became the leader for the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan in 1910. He championed the cause for Hindi in Nagari script as India’s only national language. Many said that Purushottam was promoting the cause of Hindi due to deep animosity towards Urdu. According to reports, he also had a belief that regional speakers should be converted to Hindi speakers.

He had also set up Hindu Rakshak Dal in 1947.

Books

Purushottam had penned a book The Unforgettable Nehru, a biography of Jawaharlal Nehru.

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