Indulal Yagnik

Indulal Yagnik Biography

Indulal Yagnik was an Indian independence activist who played a significant role in demanding the separate statehood for Gujarat. He led Mahagujarat Movement, demanding the separate state of Gujarat. He is popularly known as Indu Chacha. He was also a leader of the All India Kisan Sabha. Yagnik was elected to the 2nd Lok Sabha from Ahmedabad constituency in 1957, followed by 3rd, 4th and 5th Lok Sabha from the same constituency.

Yagnik was born at Nadiad, Gujarat. He lost his father at a younger age. He completed his primary and secondary education at his village itself. He passed the matriculation examination in 1906 and joined the Gujarat College in Ahmedabad for intermediate. He completed BA from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai followed by LLB in 1912. Yagnik was deeply influenced by Annie Besant during his college days. In 1915, with the help of two friends, he published an English magazine, Young India from Mumbai. Same year he started Navjivan ane Satya – a Gujarati magazine and remained its editor till 1919.

The first 30 chapters of Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography were dictated by him from Yeravada jail. He joined Servants of India Society and later resigned to join Home Rule Movement. In 1918, he participated in the Kheda Satyagraha. In 1921 he became the secretary of the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee and the next year, he started a magazine, Yugadharm. British imprisoned him for a couple of years and once released in 1924, he became the editor of Hindustan. He has also served as the subeditor of Bombay Chronicle also. He started a Gujarati daily Nutan Gujarat in 1943. In 1956, Yagnik became the founder president of the Mahagujarat Janata Parishad. As an author, his most noted work is his autobiography.

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Updated: February 25, 2014