Centenary b’day celebration of Acharya Narendra Dev held in Lucknow
During the event, Akhilesh offered his respects to Acharya Dev by garlanding his portrait. The former UP CM was also presented with a set of eight books on the late freedom fighter.
LUCKNOW: To commemorate the centennial birth anniversary of freedom fighter and socialist leader, Acharya Narendra Dev, a memorial event was held at the site of his cremation at city’s iconic Moti Mahal on Monday. The event, organised by his grandson Yasho Vardhan and his wife Meera Vardhan, was graced by former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. Besides, a panel of academicians were also invited to speak on Acharya’s life and works.
During the event, Akhilesh offered his respects to Acharya Dev by garlanding his portrait. The former UP CM was also presented with a set of eight books on the late freedom fighter.
“We conduct a memorial on his birth anniversary every year. This time, we planned an event on a slightly bigger scale as this year marks his 100th birth anniversary... It feels good to find out that so many people remember and respect him, and are still researching his works. Several of his life events which speakers shared on the stage today were not even known to me,” said Yasho Vardhan.
Speaking at the event, Surendra Pratap, professor at Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapith University, threw light on Narendra Dev’s Marxist ideologies and futuristic thinking. He said, “If we follow his ideas closely, we could create a different society, a different India. My research has made me realise the vastness of Narendra Dev’s achievements. I could not have abridged his life and times to any shorter than the eight volumes I wrote over five years. The volumes got published in November 2021.”
Meanwhile, Prabhat Singh, who was recently assigned to the security detail at Moti Mahal for Acharya Narendra Dev’s cremation site, also stepped up to the dais and recited a few lines of poetry he had composed for the occasion.
The other panelists who graced the occasion included -- Omprakash Singh, professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU); Sonam Singh, JNU researcher; Surendra Vikram Singh, president of Acharya Narendra Dev Sansthan, and ex-IAS officer Vinid Shankar Chaubey, among others. Notably, Omprakash Singh has written Acharya Narendradev Granthavali, a series of eight volumes on his personality, with the help of researcher Sonam Singh.
