Ram Manohar Lohia

Ram Manohar Lohia: On March 23, the 115th birth anniversary of Ram Manohar Lohia, Indian Prime Minister remembered him as a “visionary leader, fierce freedom fighter, and an icon of social justice.”

• About: Ram Manohar Lohia born in Akbarpur, Uttar Pradesh
• Socialist Ideology: Lohia classified Gandhians into three types - Priestly, Governmental, and Heretic (Socialist Party’s ideology).

o Lohia’s Sapta Kranti (Seven Revolutions): Gender equality → Political, economic, race-based equality →Caste destruction → Opposition to foreign domination → Economic equality, planned production → opposition to private property → Protection of individual freedoms → Opposition to arms and weapons, promotion of satyagraha.

o Lohia laid the ideological groundwork for OBC empowerment, influencing the Mandal movement in Northern India.

• Social Justice: Advocated a comprehensive policy of preferential opportunities for OBCs, Dalits, Adivasis, and women.

o His slogan “Pichhada Pave Sau Me Saath” called for 60% reservation for backward classes, seeing gender injustice as the primary injustice.

o Supported intersectional approaches to social justice, addressing caste, class, and gender inequalities.

• Language Policy: Lohia opposed the hegemony of English, not due to its foreign origin but because it represented feudalism and class inequalities.
• Philosophical Legacy: Critiqued Eurocentric Western theories while rejecting romantic nativism.

o Promoted a vision of decolonisation, social and economic egalitarianism, and offered the blueprint for a new form of radicalism.