Ram Ekbal Singh Warsi ( – 10 October 2016), also spelled Ram Iqbal Worsi, was an Indian freedom fighter, social thinker from Bhojpur,

Bihar Bihar ( ) is a states and union territories of India, state in Eastern India. It is the list of states and union territories of India by population, second largest state by population, the List of states and union territories of India by are ...

. Warsi was the name of his native village, which he added to his last name.

Biography

Ram Eqbal worked in Rohtas Group of Industries as a manual worker, and became an activist for Indian Independence in 1938. In 1942, he participated in the Quit India Movement and was imprisoned, where he met socialist leaders

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), also known as JP and ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian politician, theorist and Indian independence activist, independence activist. He is mai ...

and

Ram Manohar Lohia Ram Manohar Lohia ( 23 March 1910 – 12 October 1967) was an Indian political activist of the Indian independence movement and a socialist politician. As a nationalist, he worked actively to protest against colonialism, raising awareness of th ...

. He joined

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in 1943. Socialist leader

had named Warsi as Gandhi of Piro (''Piro ke Gandhi'') in 1956, for his strong socialist views. He was elected an MLA from Piro (now named Tarari) constituency on a ticket from Samyukta Socialist Party in 1969. He represented the constituency in

Bihar Legislative Assembly The Bihar Legislative Assembly, also known as the Bihar Vidhan Sabha, is the lower house of the bicameral Bihar Legislature of the state of Bihar in India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is ...

till 1972. He left politics in 1972, but continued speaking for the marginalized and the poor. He didn't contest elections after 1969, finding the political system dishonest. He refused to accept the pension he was sanctioned, as an MLA or as a freedom fighter. He said: “Accepting pension for trying to liberate one’s home is a sin. And taking pension for serving people, as their elected representative, is a bigger sin,” Warsi lived his last few years in a run-down home in Rohtas, refused offers to contest more elections. His family had difficulty in making ends meet.

Death

Warsi died in Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Science (IGIMS), Patna at the age of 94 years on 10 October 2016. Bihar Chief Minister

Nitish Kumar Nitish Kumar (born 1 March 1951) is an Indian politician who has been serving as the 22nd chief minister of Bihar since 22 February 2015, having previously held the office from 2005 to 2014 and for a short period in 2000. He is Bihar's longest ...

, in his tribute said Warsi's "contribution in promoting socialist movement in Bihar would never be forgotten."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warsi, Ram Ekbal Singh 1920s births 2016 deaths Bihar MLAs 1969–1972 Indian National Army personnel Indian revolutionaries Indian socialists People from Bihar Samyukta Socialist Party politicians