pic: Internet
Tribute to Dadabhai Naororji. Dadabhai Naororji was born in Navsari at Gujarat in 1825. He was the son of Parsi Priest.
He later studied in Elphinstone college and won Scholarship, and graduated from there.He was appointed as professor of Mathematics and Natural Science at Elphinstone college.
In the meantime he began cotton trading along with Cama & Co later he established his own cotton trading firm Naoroji & Co.
He founded newspaper Rast Ghoftar to explain about Zoroastrianism and for Social reforms. He also taught Gujarati at University College London. He founded East India Association (1866) and London Indian Society (1865) to discuss about Indian issues and British Policies effects on India then.
He served Briefly as Diwan for Baroda in 1874 and later moved to active political life. He was part of Legislative council of Bombay then part of Indian National Congress of Bombay and Indian National Association of Surendranath Banerjee. He became president of Indian National Congress in 1886.
In 1892 he won election at Finnbury Central at UK in Liberal party candidature with 5 vote margin and took oath with Khordeh Avesta. He was the first amongst Asian and Indian to be elected at UK Parliament. He communicated for Indian economic development also about Irish home rule league.
In 1901 he wrote Drain Theory and Poverty which was a direct attack on British Economic Policy on India thus explaining the plight how British pushed India into poverty in his book “Poverty and un British Rule in India.”
He later became president of Indian National Congress during it’s 1906 session though a constitutionalist Lokmanya Tilak ji and his faction respected him for his contribution.
He died at advanced age in 1917. He was revered as Grand Old Man of India.
Perin Ben Captain One of the Grand Daughter of Dadabhai Naororji was an associate of Madam Bhikaji Cama and Veer Savarkar. Later she supported Gandhian Movements too.
-Tribute by Srikaanth Sridhar
Srikaanth Sridhar
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