Abhinandan Granth (English Article)

Political Activity

However, the immediate problem was the free­dom of the country. At the age of sixteen he was thrilled by the Independence Resolution passed by the Congress in 1929 and responded to it by defying the ban on Prabhat Pheries. He was arrested but released after a few weeks under the terms of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact. He went back to school but continued his work as a boy-agitator. Two years later he was again arrested with illegal leaflets, which he had been distributing, and had to spend eighteen months in jail with hard labour. He was fortunate in meeting many kindred spi­rits there. Study circles were held among the politicals and Yeshwantrao felt as if he was at a University for patriots. On release, he passed the Matriculation examination and joined the Kolhapur College and obtained his graduate's degree in 1938. Three years later he obtained his degree in law and started legal practice at his home town Karad.

Throughout his university career he continued his political activities. He wanted to widen his horizon by study of political literature. Bertrand Russel's “Road to Freedom” had a great influ­ence on him and so also the writings of the Fabians and of M. N. Roy whom he met personal­ly. Karl Marx's dynamic interpretation of his­tory caught his imagination. But the idea of mass coercion was repugnant to his sensitive nature devoted to ideals of individual freedom. Although he was a voracious reader yet he never allowed the books to act as a barrier between himself and the people. With them he moved about freely.

He visited every village in the district and got to know the people intimately. To him the people were the ore from which the yellow metal was refined. He has great faith in their good instincts which can be developed by sympathetic leader­ship.

Underground Resistance

Although he had started legal practice, his heart was in politics, and when the "Quit India " call came he decided to join the resistance move­ment. At first he thought of organising morchas to the taluka offices, but soon abandoned the idea. The police had been given a blank cheque to crush the movement and their loyalty had mounted to a frenzy of repression. Being young and vigor­ous, the prospect of being shut behind bars did not appeal to him and he went underground. A reward was offered for his arrest but the villagers took him under their protection. Some of his colleagues resorted to sabotage but he could not reconcile himself to it and even tried to persuade them to desist from such work, leading to loss of life. They countered : "What other remedies have we against the brutal methods of the police who torture the families of political workers ? Must we not hit back ?" Yeshwantrao's elder brother and his own wife—innocent of any politi­cal activity—had been arrested. After some weeks his wife had been released. She had developed a serious ailment and Yeshwantrao, in spite of a price on his head, visited her and made arrange­ments to send her to Poona for treatment. As soon as he had done so, the police arrested him. He spent two years in jail.