Loha Churu

For ancient tribe see Loha

Location of Loha village in Churu district

Loha (लोहा) is a village in Ratangarh tehsil of Churu ditrict in Rajasthan.

Location

It is located a few kms south of Ratangarh city on the railway line.

Jat Gotras

• Budania
• Karwasra - Karwasra's of the village Birania were migrated from Loha village of Churu district.

Role in Peasant Movement

Hari Ram Dhaka and Megh Singh Sewda went from village to village in Churu district and gave momentum to this movement. Tiku Ram Budania, Rupram Maan and Hari Ram Dhaka organized a meeting at village Loha in Ratangarh tehsil. The urban people also came in their support. Mohan Lal Saraswat and Rameswar Pareek from Ratangarh were of great help in the sabha. Jagirdars did their best to disturb the sabha but it continued. It was decided unanimously not to pay the taxes to the Jagirdars and not to obey their orders.

The Kangar movement

The Jagirdars had tried to prevent the farmers from taking part in Loha Sabha. This sabha at Loha village was quite successful. The Jagirdars were frightened about the decisions taken in this sabha. They approached Maharaja Bikaner from whom they obtained the permission to recover the land and other taxes forcefully. The Jagirdars assembled at village Kangar in Ratangarh tehsil in the fort of Gop Singh Jagirdar. They took the Kaimkhanis of Ratangarh also with them. They were all equipped with swords, guns, barchhis, bhalas etc. Here the Jagirdars decided to recover 20 times taxes forcefully. Looking to these preparations of the Jagirdars, the Jat farmers approached Hari Ram Dhaka and Rupram Maan at Ratangarh.

Hari Ram Dhaka sent Megh Singh Sewda, Rupram Maan, Sisram Bhaktopdeshak with the farmers of Kangar to assess the situation at Kangar. They found that the Jagirdars were enjoying drinks and goat meat. They had forcefully snatched goats, sheep, milk, curd etc. from villagers of Kangar. They started doing rape with the village women. Jagirdars dragged the villagers to the fort, beaten them and demanded 20 times taxes. The message spread to nearby villages and Jats also assembled in thousands of number for the counter action. They were also equipped with barchhi, bhala, jeli etc. The situation was very tense. Jats assessed the situation and decided not to have a direct confrontation as it may lead to hundreds of lives on both sides. All farmers consented that they should approach the Bikaner Maharaja to let him know the actual situation. A deputation of 35 agitating farmers was sent to Bikaner under the leadership of Rupram Maan and Megh Singh Sewda.

Hari Ram Dhaka along with seven persons reached Kangar. Chaudhari Surja Ram, Jaisangsar and Ganpat Ram Nai had also come to Kangar the same day. Both were in white khadi clothes and were wearing Gandhi topi. The Syangan Jagirdar, Kishan Singh, attacked them with lathi which broke the head of Surja Ram and one hand of Ganpat Ram. They fell on the ground. Kishan Singh was shouting "kill them". This attack led the revolutionaries to start demonstration against the Jagirdars, shouting slogans for freedom. This was the first demonstration against Jagirdars under leadership of Hari Ram Dhaka at Kangar village. On 30 October 1946 at 10 am, Hari Ram Dhaka along with his associates were arrested and imprisoned in the fort. They were beating them very badly and putting them in a shade full of pala. Muknaram Achra from village Gorisar, Chaudhari Ganpat Ram Satra from tehsil Churu and Hari Ram Dhaka along with others were put in pala after they fainted out of severe beating. At about 4 am in the morning they heard voices that thousands of Jats had gathered at village Barjangsar and started attacking Jagirdars and that they were reaching Kangar also. This sent ripples of pain amongst the Jagirdars who decided to release the freedom fighters. The revolutionaries were brought before Gop Singh, who was ADC of Bikaner Maharaja. The village Kangar was in Jagir of Gop Singh. Most of the Jagirdars had left the fort on hearing the news of coming of group of revolutionaries. The Kaimkhani of Ratangarh also left the fort of Kangar. The only persons left in the fort were Gop Singh himself along with Ram Singh DSP and his police party. All the revolutionaries had decided not to accept the directions of Gop Singh. At last they put the revolutionaries in a Jeep like cattle and through them away at Ratangarh. Here when they came to senses they found that a group of revolutionaries including Master Deep Chand, Moji Ram Chaudhari Chandgothi, Hans Raj Arya, Bhadra, Gangadatta and Prof Kedar from Ganganagar were approaching them. They were apprised of the incidence of Kangar.

लोहा गाँव में किसान सम्मलेन

रतनगढ़ तहसील जिला चूरू में रतनगढ़ से उत्तर की तरफ(मेगा हाईवे पर गोगासर के पूर्व में 5 किमी) 20 किमी दूरी पर स्थित काँगड़ नाम का गाँव है जिसमें 135 घरों की बस्ती थी, जिसमें 90 घर जाटों के थे। यह गाँव खालसा में था। जब बीकानेर रियासत में आजादी के लिए किसानों का आन्दोलन शुरू हुआ तो, बीकानेर महाराजा सार्दुल सिंह ने अपने ए.डी.सी. ठाकुर गोपसिंह को काँगड़ का पट्टा देकर इसे जागीरदार के अधीन कर दिया। खालसा के समय यह गाँव सीधा बीकानेर रियासत के अधीन था। गाँव में एक चौधरी नियुक्त था जो लगान लेकर सीधे बीकानेर राजकोष में जमा करवा देता था। राजा का आगमन नहीं था और कोई ज्यादा लाग-बाग भी नहीं थी। भूमि का लगान भी ठीक-ठाक था, जिसे किसान आसानी से चुका देते थे। खेत की प्राकृतिक फसल जैसे लूँग, ल्हासू, पाला आदि काटकर किसान स्वयं अपने पशुओं को चराता था। ज्योही यह गाँव पट्टे में आया किसान की यह स्वतंत्रता ख़त्म हो गयी थी। ठाकुर गोपसिंह बीकानेर में रहता था वह कभी कभी आता था। ठाकुर के कारिंदे आते और लगान वसूल कर उसे ले जाकर बीकानेर देते थे।

लोहा गाँव में किसान सम्मलेन - 10 अक्टूबर 1946 में मेघसिंह आर्य, लोहा के चौधरी टीकूराम बुडानिया, सीतसर के चौधरी बुद्धाराम डूडी ने लोहा गाँव में किसान सम्मलेन आयोजित किया था जो बहुत सफल रहा। इस सम्मलेन में जागीरदारों को लाग-बाग़ न देने का निर्णय लिया था और यही निर्णय जागीरदारों के प्रतिशोध का कारण बना।

लोहा ग्राम का जलसा

गणेश बेरवाल ने लिखा है ... तहसील रतनगढ़ से 8 कोस पश्चिम में लोहा ग्राम अवस्थित है, जिसमें टीकूराम बुड़ानिया के प्रयास से बड़े जलसे का आयोजन किया गया। यह बहादुर सिंह एस. पी. का गाँव था। इस जलसे में भी काफी संख्या में जागीरदार, किसानों पर हमला करने के उद्देश्य से गढ़ से करणी माता की जय बोलकर निकले। जलसा आयोजन स्थल से पश्चिम की ओर एक जोहड़ लगता है, जिसके पश्चिम की तरफ जागीरदारों ने अपना मंच लगाया। गोपीदान चारण उनका मुख्य वक्ता था, जबकि हमारे जलसे में चौधरी हरीशचन्द्र वकील (गंगानगर), चौधरी बहादुर सिंह भजनोपदेशक (फेफाना) रघुवर दयाल गोयल, सरदार हरी सिंह तथा मोहर सिंह उस जलसे में प्रमुख वक्ता के रूप में मौजूद थे। जागीरदारों का बड़ा हुजूम देखकर कुछ लोग भागने की चेष्ठा करने लगे तो मोहर सिंह ने खड़े होकर लोगों को ढाढ़स बँधाया तब लोग अपने-अपने स्थान पर बैठ गए। आखिरकार जागीरदार वापस चले गए। इस जलसे में एस. पी. जसवंत सिंह शांति स्थापना के लिए आ पहुंचे थे। यह जलसा बड़ा शानदार हुआ, चारों तरफ जलसे की धूम मच गई।

Notable Persons

• Tiku Ram Budania, from Loha, freedom fighter.
• Chandra Prakash Budania - Social worker from Loha
• Km Pramod Budania d/o Ramchandra, Loha, Meritorious Student in 10th Board Examination-2014 with marks 75%

External Links

• Villages in the Ratangarh tehsil, Churu district, RAJASTHAN

References

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