Indulal Yagnik learnt lessons of nationalism from Ireland

AHMEDABAD: The architect of Gujarat, Indulal Yagnik learnt his lessons of nationalism in Ireland, wherein he was secretary of the Joint Independence League to gain support for India’s independence during 1932-33.
In his autobiography that has been translated now into English recently, the freedom fighter has written extensively on how he was deeply influenced by the nationalist movement of the Irish people.During his stay in Dublin, the leader wrote, “Whenever I roamed in the city’s market place, I could always sense people’s eternal struggle for independence. All over the British empire, cricket was being played but with the establishment of the national gymnastic association, cricket was completely boycotted here.”
Writing on how the Irish held the revolutionaries like Wolfe Tone, the Manchester Martyrs and participants of 1916 Easter Rising in high esteem, Yagnik noted, “On the other hand, how was it that there was no celebration of the leaders of our 1857 struggle such as Nanasaheb, Tatya Tope, the Rani of Jhansi and the Nathu brothers who sacrificed themselves in the Poona plague, or Khudiram Bose or Kartar Singh, Bhagat Singh or Jatin Das? These questions used to bother me. How was it that a revolutionary association like Sinn Fein did not come into existence in our country?”
Yagnik’s proximity with the communists in Dublin got him branded as a person with extreme left ideology. Members of the Joint Independence League began complaining about his leanings, though Yagnik always maintained he was falsely charged. His colleague Madame MacBride wrote a letter to Sardar Patel and registered her opposition to Yagnik’s activities in collaboration with the communists.
Yagnik was even compelled to make a clarification about his stand during a meeting in Dublin, where Sardar was present. The Congress party stalwart told the League members they could change the secretary, and this led to Yagnik’s resignation. He continued to stay in Dublin till June 1933, till acute financial crisis forced him to go back to England and later to Bombay.
The tag of a communist resulted in funds he used to receive from Indian friends being blocked. But he decided not to change his stance, and when he left Dublin, he wrote in a chapter titled as ‘National Training in Dublin’, “I had learnt some lessons about socialism and communism in London. But the radical nationalist traditions of Ireland gave me a new training.”