Neki Ram Sharma

A Sanskrit scholar from a Haryana village spent about 2,200 days in British jails. He kept returning to the freedom struggle anyway.

Pandit Neki Ram Sharma went to prison in the Home Rule years and again in Quit India. In 1920 he brought a huge political conference to Bhiwani.

1Where did he come from?

Our story begins in a village called Kelanga, now often spelt Kalinga. It lies in Rohtak district of Haryana, in the area now counted under Bhiwani. His father was Pandit Hariprasad Sharma.

The exact birth date is a small puzzle. Wikipedia gives 7 September 1887. Another listing gives 5 September. All sources agree on the year, 1887.

The boy was drawn to Sanskrit. He studied it deeply at Sitapur, Banaras and Ayodhya. Later this scholar’s training would sit beside a very modern kind of politics.

• Born 1887 at Kelanga (Kalinga), Rohtak district.
• Father: Pandit Hariprasad Sharma.
• Studied Sanskrit at Sitapur, Banaras and Ayodhya.
• Birth day is given as 5 or 7 September in different sources.

2How did he choose his path?

In 1905 he attended the Congress session at Banaras. There he met some of the biggest names of the day. They included Tilak, Gokhale, Lala Lajpat Rai, Surendranath Banerjee and Madan Mohan Malaviya.

In 1907 he returned to his village and began his own work against British rule. The sentence passed on Tilak in 1908 stirred him deeply. For a time he even thought of armed rebellion and of making bombs.

Then came a turning point. He met the Congress leader Surendranath Banerjee in Calcutta. That meeting set him on a non-violent path. In 1915 he first met Gandhi, who inspired him with the campaign against untouchability.

• 1905: Congress session at Banaras; met Tilak, Gokhale and others.
• 1907: returned to his village to begin activism.
• After the 1908 Tilak sentence he thought of armed action.
• Surendranath Banerjee steered him to non-violence.
• First met Gandhi in 1915.

3How did jail shape his life?

Now the arrests begin. In June 1918 he was arrested with Asaf Ali during the Home Rule Movement. He also met Jawaharlal Nehru that year and they became lasting friends.

He opposed the Rowlatt Act in 1919 and led protests in his region. In 1921 he was arrested again in the Non-Cooperation Movement. Later came the Salt Satyagraha, Individual Satyagraha and Quit India.

Added up, his time behind bars came to about 2,200 days. That is over six years. One report says he was in jail at the time of his son’s wedding and his daughter’s death.

The British also tried to win him over. They offered him land. He refused and is said to have answered that the whole country was his. Sources differ on how much land was offered, so the amount is left out here.

• June 1918: arrested with Asaf Ali (Home Rule).
• 1921: arrested in the Non-Cooperation Movement.
• Later phases: Salt Satyagraha, Individual Satyagraha, Quit India.
• About 2,200 days in prison in all.
• He refused a British land offer.

4What happened at Bhiwani in 1920?

Here comes his best-known moment. To support the Non-Cooperation Movement, he organised the Ambala Divisional Political Conference. It met at Bhiwani on 22 October 1920.

The crowd was huge. About 60,000 people came, and Wikipedia says around 50,000 of them were farmers. Prominent leaders took part. They included Mahatma Gandhi, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad and Kasturba Gandhi.

Some older retellings add other guests or later visits. They could not be confirmed here, so they are left out. The firm facts are the date, the place, the purpose and the crowd.

• Date: 22 October 1920; place: Bhiwani.
• Name: Ambala Divisional Political Conference.
• Crowd: about 60,000, including about 50,000 farmers.
• Purpose: to support the Non-Cooperation Movement.

5What did he do after independence?

Independence came in 1947. Neki Ram Sharma did not step away from public life. He sat in the Rajya Sabha for Punjab as a Congress member.

The exact years of that term are not confirmed in the sources used here. He died on 8 June 1956 at the age of 68.

His name lives on in Rohtak. Pandit Neki Ram Sharma Government College began in 1927 as an intermediate college. It became a degree college in 1944. It has carried his name since 2006.

• Member of the Rajya Sabha for Punjab, as a Congress member.
• Died 8 June 1956, aged 68.
• College in Rohtak named for him; the current name dates from 2006.

6What are the exam traps?

A few details are easy to mix up. Keep them straight.

• His first arrest was in 1918, not 1921.
• The Bhiwani conference was in 1920, during Non-Cooperation.
• Do not confuse him with Ram Narayan Sharma or other leaders named Sharma.
• Do not state the exact birth day or land-offer size as settled fact.
• Read about the Home Rule Movement.
• Read about the Non-Cooperation Movement.
• Read about the Rowlatt Satyagraha.