D R Chaudhry (1935–2021)

Daulat Ram Chaudhry—a teacher, public intellectual and social acti­vist—spent his whole life articulating progressive ideas and building socially transformative organisational structures and movements in Haryana. This illustrious life came to an end on 2 June 2021 due to health complications caused by Covid-19. He breathed his last at Rohtak in his room with all his family by his side.

He was born in a farming family in the village of Chautala in Haryana and was inspired by his rural and regional roots in fashioning his progressive vision and practices. He was truly an organic intellectual of the Haryana peasantry who came from the peasantry, understood the peasantry, criticised many aspects of the life and practices of the peasantry but never abandoned his links with his community. Throughout his life he continued to think of ways to convert the peasantry as per the vision of socialism. He was inspired by Marxism but never viewed Marxism in a dogmatic manner; rather he considered it as a guide to seeking creative engagement with the society he lived in.