Vice President Venkaiah Naidu releases biography of political stalwart Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna

Ravi S Singh

New Delhi, May 5

Highlighting the injustice meted out to many heroes of India’s freedom struggle in being deprived of due recognition, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday wanted that the matter be remedied.

“Our youth should be apprised of the sacrifices made by many lesser-known freedom fighters so that it inspires them, Naidu said, while releasing the biography of noted freedom fighter and political stalwart Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna.

He called for making people aware of the sacrifices made by such great men and women to inspire the new generation to walk in their footsteps and work for nation- building. 

Addressing a gathering at the book-release ceremony, Naidu said the annals of country’s freedom are replete with umpteen legends and folklores of sacrifice and selfless devotion to the motherland.

The book titled, ‘Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna: A Political Crusader’ (English) and ‘Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna: Bhartiya Chetana ke Samwahak’ (revised edition in Hindi) has been written by Prof Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Ram Naresh Tripathi.

Calling Bahuguna a renowned freedom fighter, a principled politician and an astute administrator, Naidu said he dedicated his entire life to the service of the nation. 

“When we go through his biography, it appears at first glance that he was a rebel. But as we read on, it becomes clear that to him, nation came first,” Naidu said.

Naidu referred to an incident wherein Bahuguna declined a piece of land offered to him under the freedom fighter quota, with the request that it might be allotted to some needy freedom fighter.

Praising Bahuguna’s concern for the underprivileged sections of society, Naidu said he would often assemble boys and conduct cleanliness drives in villages and help women fetch drinking water from far-off places. 

Naidu appealed to every citizen to become an active partner in the implementation of programmes like the Swachh Bharat Mission and work towards making India neat, clean and green.