Dada Ram Jethmalani

(In Memoriam) Ram Boolchand Jethmalani
Picture Credit : Internet

 On 8th September, we woke up to the sad news of the demise of Dada Ram Jethmalani, a doyen of Hindu Sindhi community in India. He was six days short of celebrating his 96th birthday.  Dada Ram is regarded as one of the finest legal luminaries in India and was active at bar till about 2 years back. In addition to his distinguished credentials as a lawyer par excellence and as an outstanding  parliamentarian , Dada Ram's contribution to various initiatives concerning the Sindhi community have also been unparalleled. Whether it was challenging Bombay Refugee Act of 1948 (with it eventually being declared ultra vires)  to playing an important role as a part of the legal team assembled by Ms. Maimie Ahuja ( sister of deceased Prem Ahuja) in K M Nanavati vs State of Maharashtra in 1959, which eventually led to grant of pardon to Bhai Pratap to getting Sindhi language a constitutional status in 1967 to filing of a petition for a full fledged Sindhi Channel in Delhi High Court in 2007 , Dada Ram has always been at the forefront of representing the community.  

With family origins in Shikarpur Sindh where he spent his formative years,  Dada Ram was based in Mumbai post partition but being a Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) for many years, he used to frequent Delhi as well. He was extremely found of playing Badminton, the court at his residence being a testimony of his passion towards the game. Extremely approachable, one could always seek Dada Ram's counsel on various matters, especially if you were a Sindhi. Elders in my family have had the privilege of meeting him on a couple of occasions and were thoroughly impressed with his intelligence , straight forward approach and honest advise.

Over the past few years , I have with great interest heard him speaking about Sindhiyat at various forums. Whether it is his views on Shah Abdul Latif's poetry being equal (if not superior) to that of  Shakespeare to detailing how secularism has been ingrained in Sindhis as a "way of life" , Dada Ram commentary on various issues was extremely informative. Every time i listen to his audio clip on Radio Sindhi encouraging youngsters to always remember their Sindhi identity and to speak in Sindhi wherever possible, it  makes me slightly proud(er) Sindhi. Dada Ram also feared that in the absence of our own state and our propensity to easily amalgamate with the local cultures might eventually lead to extinction of our community. His love for Sindh is evident from the below lines:-

" Sindh, where I was born, was the cradle of Sufism. Our greatest poet, Shah Abdul Latif, , was a disciple of Hindu mendicants, who preached the gospel of love and charity and the annihilation of the ego. A breathtaking and magnificent synthesis of the two faiths, Hinduism and Islam , had been achieved in Sindhi Society" 

(Source: Rebel: A Biography of Ram Jethmalani by Susan Adelman)

Dada Ram's contribution to Sindhiyat are second to none. As Dadi Asha Chand wrote on her facebook page (Sindhi Sangat)  at his demise " Every body has to leave this world but when people like Dada Ram Jethmalani leave this world, people mourn. We are proud Sindhis that Dada Ram Jethmalani was born in our community."  May our community be blessed with many such legends like Dada Ram. 

I end with this wonderful clip of Dada Ram where he is encouraging Sindhis to preserve our cultural heritage. Can there be a better way of paying tribute to Dada Ram than putting this advice into practice?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NkYLOMqkgTI

I pray to Lal Sain to rest his soul in peace .