A few words about Padma Shree Late Dr. K.G. Saxena

It is a matter of an immense pleasure and great privilege to write about ‘Padma Shri Awardee Late Dr. K. G. Saxena’- the Doyen of Homoeopathy and Founder Secretary General of Indian Institute of Homoeopathic Physicians (IIHP), who had played a great role in getting the recognition of Homoeopathic System of Medicine from Government of India by his Herculean and tireless efforts.

Dr. K. G. Saxena, was a dynamic and multifaceted personality, which is difficult to describe in words. He was a ‘True Lover of Mankind’ in general and ‘Homoeopathy’ in particular. He struggled very hard and had not left a single stone unturned for the establishment of Homoeopathic System of Medicine in India and he got success also.

I always say, ‘Hard Work with Passion and Honesty with Profession’, leads to Success.

Regarding his struggle, I am sharing a very emotional event with you. For the recognition of Homoeopathy, a resolution had to be moved in the Central Assembly by Mr. Ghiasuddin (an MLA from Punjab). On this issue Dr. Saxena mentioned in his book that, “On 2nd October 1937, the resolution was tabled in the Central Assembly. I personally went to the Parliament House, stood at the gate for three hours and single-handedly distributed a small pamphlet, containing the merits of the Homoeopathic system, to all members of the Central assembly and also personally requested them to vote in favour of the resolution for homeopathy. …..I had also contacted Mr. Muhammad Ali Jinnah the then leader of the independent party in the Central Assembly who assured his party’s support to the resolution. The resolution was carried by a margin of eight votes.”

Dear friends! At that point of time, the status of Homoeopathy in India was like a small plant. Dr. Saxena was one of the ‘Gardeners’ of this ‘Homoeopathic Plant’ and nurtured it regularly with devotion for

STRUGGLE FOR HOMOEOPATHY IN INDIA

55 long years to make it a ‘Tree’. Today, due to his selfless services, Homoeopathy has grown tall and achieved recognition, development and popularity. Today we are all enjoying its fruits; in terms of name, fame, health and wealth, that we have received from Homoeopathy only.

Just imagine the fate of those countries, where the past and existing Governments did not recognize and patronize Homoeopathy. We can image the fate of a Homoeopath and Homoeopathy there! Of course, there are many countries, where Homoeopathy is being practiced, but the status of Homoeopath and Homoeopathy is not like what is there in our country, India. This difference is due to the fact that Indian Government has not only recognized Homoeopathic System of Medicine but now we have our own AYUSH Ministry where Homoeopathy is part of it. Have you ever imagined, how this miracle happened in spite of stiff opposition from various quarters? The efforts behind all these achievements were none other than Dr. Saxena and his contemporary friends. Now, please introspect for a while and think, can we forget the work done by these great noble souls?

But, how many of us know about him? When I ask the Homoeopathic students, “Who was Dr. K. G. Saxena.” Only few of them know about this great person. I always say that the person who does not know his history cannot achieve the higher purpose of his life.

Because “Longer we see in the past, further we see in the future”. I do not understand how can we forget our ancestors, who had struggled hard to give comfort to all of us and then we desire to grow in our life?

We should know our legacy, the dedicated work of our elders, so that we can carry forward these achievements to our future generations, which is very important for any generation to move forward, to grow along with the time.

One can easily understand the strengths of Dr. Saxena, by knowing that, in the year 1967 an International Homoeopathic Congress was held under the banner of LMHI at New Delhi. That time, Dr. Zakir Hussain was the President of India. Dr. K.G. Saxena personally requested him to inaugurate this Convention. Dr. Zakir Hussain not only inaugurated that event but also invited all the delegates to Rashtrapati Bhawan. Such was the influence of Dr. Saxena in those days. When I read the book “Struggle for Homoeopathy” in India by Dr. Saxena, I got fascinated with his life story, that how much he did for Homoeopathy. In recognition of his outstanding contribution to Homoeopathy, Government of India during the presidency of Dr. Zakir Hussain, had honoured him with its highest civilian Award ‘Padma Shree’ on 26th January 1969. He was the first Homoeopathic doctor to receive this civilian award.

The story does not end here. Dr. K.G. Saxena was the Honorary Homoeopathic Physicians to the 6 Presidents of India; Dr. Rajendra Prasad- the first President of Independent India, Dr. S. Radha Krishnan, Dr. Zakir Hussain, Shri. V.V. Giri, Shri. Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed and Shri. Sanjiva Reddy. The details of all the important aspects and events you can read from the book.

Friends! IIHP, is the oldest registered professional organization in India established by Dr. K. G. Saxena. I feel highly honoured to be the National President of this prestigious body. I belong to this family of IIHP, the ancestors of whom, had the credit to recognize

Homoeopathy from Government of India. Therefore, I request and invite you all Homoeopaths, to be part of this great Organization by becoming its ‘Life Members’, which will not only help you to improve your knowledge and skills, but you would also feel honoured to be part of this prestigious body.

Friends! This book ‘Struggle for Homoeopathy in India’ was not available for many years with B. Jain Publishers. Dr. M. A. Rao, my mentor in IIHP, asked me to get some donor, who can get us these books printed again from B. Jain Publishers, so that we can provide, a good number of its copies, to all the Homoeopathic Medical Colleges in India to enable the student community to understand the struggle to get the recognition for Homoeopathy in our country. I immediately replied, “Sir, kindly give me this ‘Golden Opportunity’, as it will be a great honour for me to bring this book to see the light again.”

I discussed the whole story with Mr. Manish Jain of B. Jain

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Publishers and requested him to reprint it for IIHP. Mr. Manish Jain, was so kind to me that, he very happily accepted my request and the result is in your hands. I pay my sincere thanks to all the team members of B. Jain Publishers for this great obligation. Finally, I request every Homoeopath to please go through this book ‘Struggle for Homoeopathy in India’ and understand the sacrifices and struggles made by our elders for giving us the present status as Homoeopath.