Mangu Ram Mugowalia
| Mangu Ram Mugowalia | |
|---|---|
| Member of Punjab Legislative Assembly | |
|
In office 21 March 1946 – 4 July 1947 |
|
| Personal details | |
| Born |
14 January 1886 Muggowal, Hoshiarpur, Punjab Province, British India (now India) |
| Died | 22 April 1980 (aged 94) |
| Political party | Unionist Party (Punjab) (1946–1947) |
| Other political affiliations |
Ghadar Party (Before 1946) |
Mangu Ram (14 January 1886 – 22 April 1980), known popularly as Babu Mangu Ram Chaudhry, was an Indian freedom fighter, a politician from Punjab and one of the founder members of the Ghadar Party.
In 1909, he immigrated to the United States and there became associated with the Ghadar Party. Upon his return to India in 1925, he became a leader of the low-caste people, organising them in opposition to the system of untouchability that oppressed them. He was instrumental in the foundation of the Ad-Dharmi Movement, an organisation dedicated to attaining equality for Untouchables. He was elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly in 1946 and in 1972 received recognition in the form of a pension and an award from Indira Gandhi for his work towards Indian independence.
Mangu Ram was born to a Chamar family, Harman Dass and Atri, in Muggowal village, Hoshiarpur district, Punjab Province, British India.
His father Harman Dass left the traditional Chamar Caste occupation of Leathercraft. His mother Atri passed away when he was three. Harman Dass faced discrimination at every step of his life thus did not want his son to face the same problems and enrolled him in school for early education.
Initially Mangu Ram was taught by a village saint (Sadhu) till the age of seven. He attended schools in Mugowal area and Dehradun. In most of the schools Mangu ram was the only Dalit Student. He was forced to sit in back of the classroom, or even in separate room, and had to listen through the open door. When he attended high school in Bajwara, he was forced to stay outside the building and had to listen to the classes through the windows. Once when he came inside during a heavy hailstorm, the Brahman teacher beat him and put all the classroom furniture, which he had “polluted” by his presence, outside in the rain to be literally and ritually washed clean. Nonetheless, Mangu Ram was a good student, he came third in his class in primary school. While the other students were encouraged to become patwaris (village record-keeper) or to seek higher education, Mangu Ram was encouraged to leave school and help his father at a more proper “Chamar task”.
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Wikipedia