PM Modi pays tribute to Shyamji Krishna Varma; shares pictures of bringing ashes back

On Shyamji Krishna Varma's Jayanti, Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid homage to him. PM Narendra Modi also mentioned returning Shyamji Krishna Varma's ashes to India from Switzerland in 2003 and receiving his reinstatement certificate from the United Kingdom in 2015. PM Modi put up a series of tweets on his handle.

"Tributes to the great revolutionary and freedom fighter Shyamji Krishna Varma on his birth anniversary. He dedicated his life to free the country from slavery. A grateful nation will never forget his contribution in the freedom struggle. Tributes to Shyamji Krishna Varma on his Jayanti."

"I consider myself blessed to have got the opportunity to bring back the ashes of Shyamji Krishna Varma back from Switzerland in 2003 and receive his reinstatement certificate during my UK visit in 2015. It is important that young India knows more about his courage and greatness[sic]," tweeted PM Modi.

PM Modi pays tribute to Shyamji Krishna Varma

Shyamji Krishna Varma was an Indian fighter, lawyer, and writer. He founded the Indian Home Rule Society, India House, and The Indian Sociologist in London. He was a Balliol College graduate, and a well-known scholar of Sanskrit and other Indian languages. In India, he had a brief legal career and served as the Divan of several Indian princely states. He settled in Ajmer, the headquarters of his Guru Swami Dayananda Saraswati, after a brief stay in Mumbai, and continued his practice at the British Court in Ajmer. In 1885, he returned to India and began practising law. The King of Ratlam State then nominated him as Diwan. He put his money into three cotton presses and was able to secure enough long-term income to be self-sufficient for the rest of his life.

Life and work of Shyamji Krishna Varma

From 1893 until 1895, he worked as a council member for the Maharaja of Udaipur, then as the Diwan of Junagadh State. After a difficult encounter with a British agent that shattered his faith in British rule in India, he quit work in 1897. The lawyer had disagreements with Crown authority, was removed in Junagadh as a result of a rumoured conspiracy of British colonial authorities. He then decided to return to England. To avoid prosecution, he relocated to Paris in 1907.

(Image: @narendramodi/Twitter)