Dr. Choithram Gidwani was born at

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

(Sind) on 25 December 1889 and received his entire education there. After passing the matriculation examination his spirit of service impelled him to accept a teacher's job at Bubak in

Dadu District Dadu District ( sd, ضلعو دادو), ( ur, ) is a district of Sindh Province, Pakistan. With headquarters the city of Dadu, the district was created in 1931 by merging Kotri and Mahal Kohistan (later Jamshoro) tehsils from Karachi District ...

, but finding little scope for his activities there he chucked it up returning to Hyderabad, he joined the Medical School there, and after completing the course he entered Government service as a Medical Officer. Dr. Choithram came in contact with

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, Anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure ...

at the Congress Session held in

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the '' de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the sec ...

in 1915. In the following year, he attended the Session at Lucknow as a delegate from Sind. He successfully organised 'hartal' at Hyderabad in March 1919 in protest against the

Rowlatt Act The Anarchical and Revolutionary Crimes Act of 1919, popularly known as the Rowlatt Act, was a law that applied in British India. It was a legislative council act passed by the Imperial Legislative Council in Delhi on 18 March 1919, indefinitel ...

. Dr. Choithram was sent to jail several times, first in 1922 when as editor of the "Hindu" his writings were regarded as seditious; then in 1930 when he broke the Salt Law at Karachi; again during the Civil Disobedience Movement of 1932 and also in 1933 for defying the Govt. orders not to leave Hyderabad; in 1940 for making a fiery speech at Lahore; and finally in 1942 for joining the

Quit India Movement The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule ...

launched by Gandhiji. Whenever outside jail, besides attending to his political activities he did valuable humanitarian work such as running a charitable dispensary, supplying medicines to the poor and the needy free of charge, collecting donations for

Pathshala Drik Picture Library is a photography agency and picture library based in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Background Drik Picture Library was established in 1989 by Bangladeshi writer and photographer Shahidul Alam and Bangladeshi writer and anthropolo ...

s and Narishalas, organising relief work during floods and earthquakes as also during communal riots, and taking measures to prevent persecution of one community at the hands of the other. He died in the Northcote Nursing Home at Bombay on the night of 13 September 1957. Dr. Choithram was an embodiment of service and self-sacrifice. Way back in 1924 Gandhiji wrote about him in the Young India - "He has sacrificed everything and turned into a 'Faqir' all for the cause of his country."

References

{{Authority control 1889 births Indian independence activists India MPs 1952–1957 Lok Sabha members from Maharashtra 1957 deaths Prisoners and detainees of British India