Jairam Verma: The freedom fighter from Faizabad
prominent figure in the Faizabad district in India’s struggle for freedom, Jairam Verma (born in 1904) had also been an active participant of the ‘Kisan Andolan’ in Tanda. A resident of Bargaon, Ibrahimpur, Tanda; Jairam Varma was, since his very childhood, against the British administration. Therefore, he joined the Congress and began to participate in the Satyagraha Movement within the district.
In 1930, Mahatma Gandhi launched two important movements: ‘Boycott Foreign Clothes’ and the ‘Salt Satyagraha’ almost simultaneously. Varma played an active role in the boycott in Tanda and Gosainganj that were big markets of clothes. He also participated in the salt movement but in small capacity, so he was not arrested.
Jairam Verma’s loyalty and activism within the Congress gradually led to more responsibilities for him. In 1941, Mahatma Gandhi launched the movement for a nationwide personal ‘Satyagraha’ raising the slogan ‘neither one pie nor one brother’. Jairam Varma responded to the call and as a result was arrested, prosecuted and sentenced to three months rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 100. After his release from the Faizabad District Jail he became even more active in the freedom movement. On August 8, 1942, Mahatma Gandhi raised another battlecry ‘Quit India.’ At the dawn of August 9, 1942, the British government started arresting movement leaders all over the country. Jairam Verma too was arrested on August 12, 1942 and imprisoned till November 10, 1943.
After the nation gained independence on 15th August, 1947, Varma became active in the Congress’s nation building programme. He contested the
Faizabad parliamentary seat on a Congress ticket and won. He was a Member of Parliament from 1980 to 1984. Later, he was elected as MLA from the Tanda Legislative Assembly constituency. He was also became a cabinet minister for planning in UP.
A resident of the Delhi Darwaza locality of Faizabad, this eminent freedom fighter of the town was a recipient of the prestigious ‘Tamrapatra’ and pension for participation in the freedom movement. His monumental contribution has been memorialised in various documents, including ‘Swatantrata Sangram Ke Sainik’ (editor Thakur Prasad Singh) and ‘Swatantrata Sangram ke Sau Varsh’ (Ramanath Mehrotra). Along with Jairam Verma, Faizabad (now Ayodhya) has given many heroes to the Indian freedom struggle - Rajbali Yadav, Mahavir Prasad ‘Bigular’, Dayakrishna Ganjoor, Kedarnath Arya,Vasudha Singh, Lallan Ji Arora, Baba Ramchandra and Maulvi Ahmad Ulla Shah being the most noteworthy. This freedom fighter died in 1987.