MARCH 6 IS THE 137th ANNIVERSARY OF PANDIT LEKHRAM’S MARTYRDOM DAY.
Pandit Lekhram was one of the first disciples of Rishi Dayananda Saraswati. Born in Jhelum (now Pakistan) in April 1858, Pandit Lekhram, along with Swami Shraddhananda, Lala Lajpat Rai, Pandit Gurudatta Vidyarthi, Lala Hansraj and others, was charged with the responsibility of carrying on the mission of Rishi Dayananda after he passed on in 1883. Theirs was the task of articulating the vision of Arya Samaj for the next Age.
Pandit Lekhram was a profound scholar of Arabic and Sanskrit. He traveled all over the Punjab preaching the message of the Vedas in Urdu and Arabic and challenging the beliefs of Mirza Ghulab Ahmad who had proclaimed himself a new prophet. In so doing, Panditji succeeded in putting a damper on the plan of Ahmad to convert thousands of Punjabi Hindus.
There is the famous story of Panditji one day returning home after several days of preaching. He quickly washed his hands and sat down to have lunch. Suddenly, someone handed him a telegram which contained news of a conversion of thousands of Hindus scheduled to take place several miles away from his home. Pandit Lekhram immediately stood up to leave home again to catch a train that was leaving shortly. His mother objected, saying that his son was sick and could die any moment. He said: “Maa, one son is dying here, whilst thousands of India’s sons are about to experience the death of changing their religion. Maa, I must leave.” And he left, caught the train just in the nick of time, arrived at the town where the conversion was to take place, challenged the conversion organizers, and averted a major catastrophe. The next day, he received news of his son’s death.
Along with Pandit Devendranath Mukhopadhyaya, Pandit Lekhram is known as an early biographer of Rishi Dayananda. He traveled all over North India and collected an abundance of primary source data to compile a biography of the Rishi. He subsequently wrote a book on the life and ideas of Rishi Dayananda. Soon after, a religious fanatic, angry because of Panditji’s relentless challenge to Mirza Ahmad, succeeded in fatally stabbing Pandit Lekhram. Panditji succumbed on today’s day, March 6, in 1897. He was 39 years old.
Today, in India and in every country of the world where Arya Samaj is active, people are assembling to offer homage and veneration to Pandit Lekhram. You and I, and all Hindus, should do the same. His blood runs in our veins. Namaste!
DR SATISH PRAKASH
