Indulal Yajnik: A brief biography

Born at Nadiad in the present-day Kheda district of Gujarat, Indulal Yajnik was one of the finest editors. A freedom fighter, social worker and peasant leader from Gujarat he was a gifted journalist.

He was associated with the home rule movement started by Annie Besant. Yajnik actively participated in the Kaira Satyagraha organized by Gandhi to secure exemption for the peasants from payment of land tax for the crops that had failed. He launched two Gujarati monthlies – Navjivan Ame Saty and Yugadharm and a daily Nutnan Gujarat.

Indulal Yajnik established schools for the Bhil children and was the secretary of the Antyaj Sava Mandal, with Thakkar Bapa as its president. He was actively associated with the Kisan Sabha work and organsied the cooperative movement among the peasants of Gujarat. In 1942 he presided over the annual session of Akhil Hind Kisan Sabha. He was a founder of the Gujarat Vidyapeeth. In 1956 he took lead in the Maha Gujarat Movement for a separate state and became founder president of the Maha Gujarat Janta Parishad.

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