By Our Staff Reporter
Dehradun, 1 Feb: A special function was held to celebrate the 170th Birth Anniversary of freedom fighter and former Chief Justice of Bombay High Court Abbas Tayyabji at Tasmia Academy, here, today.
Minister Ganesh Joshi was the Chief Guest on the occasion and paid tribute to this freedom fighter, who was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi. On, 4 May, 1930, when Gandhi was arrested by the British Government during the Salt Satyagrah, Tayyabji was declared his successor to lead the protest.
Scholarships and financial help were also distributed to a hundred students and others on the occasion by the Chief Guest. He also promised to consider the upkeep of Eastwood Estate to keep Tayyabji’s memories alive.
Tribute was also paid on the occasion to the late Paripurnanand Painuli, former Tehri MP and the Secretary and Treasurer of Abbas Tayyabji Educational and Charitable Trust since 2008.
Col MK Hussain narrated a brief history of the Trust and recalled that Tayyabji resigned his job due to atrocities inflicted by General Dyer on Indians who had assembled on the occasion of Baisakhi in Jalianwala Bagh in 1919. Following this, Tayyabji joined the freedom movement.
Dr S Farooq, National Vice President of the Abbas Tayyabji Educational & Charitable Trust, welcomed all the guests. In his address, he recalled that Tayyabji topped the Matriculation exam in 1872 in the whole of UK and became the first Indian Barrister. He rose rapidly in his profession and retired as Chief Justice of Bombay State. He shifted to Mussoorie in 1918 and lived in the South Wood Estate, where he breathed his last on 9 June, 1936. All national leaders including Mahatma Gandhi, Motilal Nehru and Annie Besant used to stay with him during the freedom struggle.
Dr Sanjeev Chopra, retired IAS officer and former Director, LBSNAA, presided over the function. He described in detail how Tayyabji became a freedom fighter after the Jalianwala Bagh incident. He also presented his recent book, “We the people of the states of Bharat”, which is a historical document, to Dr S Farooq on the occasion.
Other speakers were Dr Jai Raj and Col Hussain (Retd).
The programme was anchored by Dr Raj Bakshi who thanked all the guests and also informed them about the various activities undertaken by the Trust, so far. Dr Daljeet Kaur proposed the Vote of Thanks.
