NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will virtually join the 10th death anniversary event of freedom fighter and politician Harmohan Singh Yadav on Monday.
PM Modi will address the event at 4.30 pm via video conferencing. His participation will be in recognition of the great contribution of the late leader for farmers, backward classes and other sections of the society.
Born in 1921 in Mehrban Singh ka Purva in Kanpur, he jumped into India’s freedom struggle at a very young age. Post-Independence, he entered active politics at the age of 31 and was elected the village ‘pradhan’ in 1952.
From 1970-90, he served in various capacities including as MLC and MLA in Uttar Pradesh. When then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi imposed an Emergency in the country in June 1975, Harmohan Singh opposed it tooth and nail. He worked closely with Chaudhary Charan Singh and Ram Manohar Lohia.
He even went to jail fighting for the rights of the farmers.
During the 1984 Anti-Sikh riots, he risked everything to protect the lives of Sikhs. Six years before the riots broke out, Harmohan Singh Yadav had moved to a place dominated by Sikhs. On the day riots broke out, he was at his home when his Sikh neighbours came running to his house to protect their lives.
Together with his son Sukhram, Harmohan Singh Yadav took his rifle and started guarding the Sikhs. Seeing his anger, no one dared enter his house to harm the Sikhs.
In 1991, he was awarded Shaurya Chakra, an Indian military decoration awarded for valour, courageous action or self-sacrifice, for his actions.
Later, he was closely associated with Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. In 1991 he was elected to the Rajya Sabha for the first time and was re-elected in 1997. He also served as the national chairman of Akhil Bhartiya Yadav Mahasabha.
With his son Sukhram, who also served in the Rajya Sabha, he founded multiple educational institutions in and around Kanpur.
On July 25, 2012, Harmohan Singh Yadav breathed his last at the age of 91.