Vijay Singh Pathik (born Bhoop Singh; 1882–1954), popularly known as Rashtriya Pathik, was an Indian revolutionary. He was among the first Indian revolutionaries who lit the torch of freedom movement against British rule. Much before

Mohandas K. Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign for India's independence from British ru ...

initiated the Satyagrah movement, Pathik experimented during the Bijolia’s Kisan agitation. After being implicated in the Lahore conspiracy case in 1915, he changed his name to Vijay Singh Pathik. His grandfather's sacrifice in the struggle of 1857 in

Bulandshahr district Bulandshahr district (also spelled Bulandshahar) is a district in the Meerut region in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), situated between the Ganga and Yamuna rivers. It is a part of the National Capital Region of India, and Bulandsh ...

, affected him deeply to be freedom fighter.

Early life

Pathik was born in 1882 in Guthawali village,

Bulandshahar district Bulandshahr district (also spelled Bulandshahar) is a district in the Meerut region in the north Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP), situated between the Ganga and Yamuna rivers. It is a part of the National Capital Region of India, and Bulandsh ...

in a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

family. His father had taken active part in the

Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 The Indian Rebellion of 1857 was a major uprising in India in 1857–58 against the rule of the British East India Company, which functioned as a sovereign power on behalf of the British Crown. The rebellion began on 10 May 1857 in the form ...

and was arrested multiple times. Pathik's Grand Father was Inder Singh, who was

Dewan ''Dewan'' (also known as ''diwan'', sometimes spelled ''devan'' or ''divan'') designated a powerful government official, minister, or ruler. A ''dewan'' was the head of a state institution of the same name (see Divan). Diwans belonged to the el ...

of Malagarh Riyasat and was killed while fighting against the British. While, his birth name was Bhoop Singh, but he changed it to "Vijay Singh Pathik" after being implicated in the Lahore Conspiracy Case in 1915.

Bijoliya Kisaan Andolan

He joined revolutionary organisation in his teenage and took active part against

British rule in India The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent, * * lasting from 1858 to 1947. * * It is also called Crown rule ...

. Pathikji’s non-cooperation movement was so successful that

Lokmanya Tilak Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya (IAST: ''Lokamānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence ...

wrote a letter to Maharana Fateh Singh to meet the demand of the Bijoliya agitators.

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

sent his secretary

Mahadev Desai Mahadev Haribhai Desai (1 January 1892 – 15 August 1942) was an Indian independence activist, scholar and writer best remembered as Mahatma Gandhi's personal secretary. He has variously been described as "Gandhi's Boswell, a Plato to G ...

to study the movement. It was Pathik who fought for the cause of united Rajasthan and had taken up the issue with Prime Minister

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

and

Sardar Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ''Vallabhbhāī Jhāverbhāī Paṭel''; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, was an Indian independence activist and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime ...

. He was jailed for having led the Kisan agitation in Bijoliya and kept at special jail created in the Tehsil building of Todgarh. The Kisan Panchayat, Mahila Mandal and Yuvak Mandal invited Pathik to come and lead them. Pathik was a freedom fighter. As author Indira Vyas said, "He would prefer to end his life rather than to bow down the flag. He also wrote the famous flag song which was very popular during that period."

Writer and poet

Being Indian Revolutionary and Satyagrahi, he was also a very well known Hindi poet, writer and journalist. He was the editor of ''Rajasthan Kesari'' and ''Naveen Rajasthan''. He also started his own independent Hindi weekly, the ''Rajasthan Sandesh'' and the ''Nav Sandesh'' from

Ajmer Ajmer () is a city in the north-western States and union territories of India, Indian state of Rajasthan. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Ajmer district and Ajmer division. It lies at the centre of Rajasthan, earning it the ...

. He expressed his views through ''Tarun Rajasthan'',

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

weekly too. He popularly had known as ''Rashtriya Pathik''. As writer also he made impact through some of his well-known books -''Ajay Meru'' ( novel), ''Pathik Pramod'' (collection of stories), ''Pathikji ke Jail ke Patra'', ''Pathik ki Kavitaon Ka Sangrah'' etc. He was also appointed as the President of the Rajputana and Madhya Bharat Provincial Congress.

said about him that ''Pathik is a worker, others are talkers. Pathik is a soldier, brave and impetuous...''

Death and legacy

Pathik died in Ajmer in 1954, when

Rajasthan Rajasthan (; Literal translation, lit. 'Land of Kings') is a States and union territories of India, state in northwestern India. It covers or 10.4 per cent of India's total geographical area. It is the List of states and union territories of ...

state was formed. The Government of India issued a postage stamp to pay tribute to him. The ''Vijay Singh Pathik Smriti Sansthan'' chronicles the contributions of Vijay Singh Pathik.

References

External links