Madan Mohan Malaviya

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Madan Mohan Malaviya
President of the Indian National Congress
In office
1909–1910
Preceded byRash Behari Ghosh
Succeeded byWilliam Wedderburn
In office
1918
Preceded byAnnie Besant
Succeeded bySyed Hasan Imam
In office
1932–1933
Preceded byVallabhbhai Patel
Succeeded byNellie Sengupta
Personal details
Born(1861-12-25)25 December 1861
Educationist
  • Politician
  • Journalist
  • Lawyer
    • AwardsBharat Ratna (2015) (posthumous)
    SignatureHindi & English signature of Mahamana

    Madan Mohan Malaviya (pronunciationⓘ) (25 December 1861 — 12 November 1946) was an Indian scholar, educational reformer and politician notable for his role in the Indian independence movement. He was president of the Indian National Congress two times and the founder of Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha. He was addressed as Pandit,[1] a title of respect, and also as Mahamana (Great Soul).[2]

    Malaviya strove to promote modern education among Indians and co-founded the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) at Varanasi in 1916, which was created under the 1915 BHU Act. It is the largest residential university in Asia and one of the largest in the world,[3] with over 40,000 students across arts, commerce, sciences, engineering, linguistic, ritual, medicine, agriculture, performing arts, law, management, and technology disciplines from all over the world. He was the vice chancellor of the Banaras Hindu University from 1919 to 1938.[4][5]

    Malaviya was one of the founders of

    The Bharat Scouts and Guides.[6] He founded a highly influential English newspaper, The Leader, in 1919, published from Allahabad.[7] He was also the Chairman of Hindustan Times from 1924 to 1946. His efforts resulted in the launch of its Hindi edition named Hindustan Dainik in 1936.[8]

    Malaviya was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian distinction, on 24 December 2014, a day before what would have been his 153rd birthday.[9]

    Early life and education

    Malaviya was born in

    Srimad Bhagavatam.[15]

    Malaviya's education began at the age of five in Mahajani Pathsala. Later, he joined Hardeva's Dharma Gyanopadesh Pathshala, completed his primary education and joined a school run by Vidha Vardini Sabha. He then joined Allahabad Zila School (Allahabad District School), where he started writing poems under the pen name Makarand which were published in journals and magazines.[8]

    Malaviya matriculated in 1879 from the Muir Central College, now known as the University of Allahabad. Harrison College's Principal provided a monthly scholarship to Malaviya, whose family had been facing financial hardships, and he was able to complete his B.A. at the University of Calcutta.[8]

    Malaviya desired to pursue an M.A. in Sanskrit. Still, family circumstances did not allow him to do so, and his father wanted him to pursue the family profession of Bhagavat recital instead. In July 1884, Madan Mohan Malaviya began his professional career as an assistant master at the Government High School in Allahabad.[16]

    Political career

    Malaviya with Mahatma Gandhi.

    Malaviya started his political career in 1886 with an address to the Indian National Congress session in Calcutta. Malaviya would go on to become one of the most powerful political leaders of his time, being elected Congress president on four occasions.[8]

    In December 1886, Malaviya attended the second Indian National Congress session in Calcutta under the chairmanship of Dadabhai Naoroji, where he spoke on the issue of representation in Councils. His address not only impressed Dadabhai but also Raja Rampal Singh, ruler of Kalakankar estate near Allahabad, who had founded a Hindi weekly, Hindustan, but was still looking for a suitable editor to turn it into a daily. In July 1887, Malaviya resigned from the school and joined as editor of the nationalist weekly. He remained for two and a half years, and left for Allahabad to study for his L.L.B.. In Allahabad, he was offered the co-editorship of The Indian Opinion, an English daily. After finishing his law degree, he started practicing law at Allahabad District Court in 1891, and moved to Allahabad High Court by December 1893.[17][18]

    Malaviya became the President of the Indian National Congress in 1909, a position he held also in 1918. He was a moderate leader and opposed separate electorates for Muslims under the Lucknow Pact of 1916. The "Mahamana" title was conferred on him by Mahatma Gandhi.[19][20]

    Malaviya renounced his practice of law in 1911 to fulfil his resolve to serve the causes of education and social service. Despite this vow, on one occasion when 177 freedom fighters were convicted to be hanged in the Chauri-chaura case, he appeared before the court and won the acquittal of 156 freedom fighters.[21] He followed the tradition of Sannyasa throughout his life, adhering to his avowed commitment to live on the support of society.

    He was a member of the

    Non-cooperation movement.[23] He was opposed to the politics of appeasement and the participation of Congress in the Khilafat movement
    .

    In 1928, he joined Lala Lajpat Rai, Jawaharlal Nehru, and many others in protesting against the Simon Commission, which had been set up by the British to consider India's future. Just as the "Buy British" campaign was sweeping England, he issued a manifesto on 30 May 1932 urging concentration on the "Buy Indian" movement in India.[24] Malaviya was a delegate at the Second Round Table Conference in 1931.

    During the Salt March, he was arrested on 25 April 1932 along with 450 other Congress volunteers in Delhi, only a few days after he was appointed as the President of Congress following the arrest of Sarojini Naidu.[25] In 1933, at Calcutta, Malaviya was again appointed as the President of the Congress. Before Independence, Malaviya was the only leader of the Indian National Congress to be appointed as its president for four terms.

    On 24 September 1932, an agreement known as Poona Pact was signed between Dr. B R Ambedkar (on behalf of the depressed classes among Hindus) and Mahatma Gandhi (on behalf of the other Hindus). The agreement guaranteed reserved seats for the depressed classes in the Provisional legislatures within the general electorate, and not by creating a separate electorate. Due to the pact, the depressed class received 148 seats in the legislature, instead of the 71 as allocated in the Communal Award proposal of the British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald. After the pact, the Communal Award was modified to include the terms as per the pacts. The text uses the term "Depressed Classes" to denote Untouchables among Hindus who were later called Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under India Act 1935, and in the Indian Constitution of 1950.[26]

    In protest against the Communal Award to provide separate electorates for minorities, Malaviya and Madhav Shrihari Aney left the Congress and started the Congress Nationalist Party. The party contested the 1934 elections to the central legislature and won 12 seats.[27]

    Journalistic career

    Malaviya started his journalistic career as Editor of the Hindi daily Hindostan in 1887. Raja Rampal Singh of Kalakankar (Pratapgadh District), impressed by the speech and personality of Malaviya during the second Congress Session in Calcutta held in 1886, requested him to assume this position.[28][29]

    In 1889, he became the Editor of the "Indian Opinion". After the incorporation of "Indian Opinion" with the "Advocate" of Lucknow, Malaviya started his own Hindi weekly "Abhyudaya"(1907–1909 under his editorship).[16]

    Malaviya's poems (sawaiyas) were published sometime in 1883–84 under the pseudonym of 'Makrand' in 'Harischandra Chandrika' magazine (published by Bharatendu Harishchandra). His articles on religious and contemporary subjects were published in 'Hindi Pradeepa'.[28]

    When the British government promulgated The Newspaper (Incitement to Offences) Act in 1908[30] and the Indian Press Act, 1910, Malaviya started a campaign against them and called for an All India Conference in Allahabad. He then realized the need of an English newspaper to make the campaign effective throughout the country. As a result, with the help of Motilal Nehru, he started an English daily the "Leader" in 1909, where he was Editor (1909–1911) and President (1911–1919).[28]

    In 1910, Malaviya started the Hindi paper 'Maryada'.[28]

    In 1924, Malaviya along with the help of national leaders

    The Hindustan Times and saved it from an untimely demise.[31] Malaviya raised Rs. 50,000 for the acquisition, with Birla paying most of it. Malaviya was the Chairman of Hindustan Times from 1924 to 1946. His efforts resulted in the launch of its Hindi edition 'Hindustan' in 1936. The paper is now owned by the Birla family
    .

    In 1933, Malaviya started Sanatana Dharma from BHU, a magazine dedicated to religious, dharmic interests.[28]

    Legal career

    In 1891, Malaviya completed his LL.B. from

    Allahabad University
    and started practice in Allahabad District Court. He practised at the High Court from 1893. He earned significant respect as one of the most brilliant lawyers of the Allahabad High Court. He gave up his legal practice when at his pinnacle in 1911 on his 50th birthday so that he could serve the nation thereafter.

    About his legal career, Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru regarded him ...a brilliant Civil Lawyer and Sir Mirza Ismail said – I have heard a great lawyer say that if Mr. Malaviya had so willed it, he would have been an ornament to the legal profession.[32]

    Malaviya only donned his lawyer's robe once more, in 1924 following the

    Non-cooperation movement. The sessions court had sentenced 170 persons to the gallows for the attack. However, Malaviya defended them in the Allahabad High Court and was able to save 155 of them. The remaining 15 also were recommended for clemency by the High Court, whereafter their sentences were commuted from death to life imprisonment.[33][citation needed
    ]

    Banaras Hindu University

    Mahamana inaugurate literacy day at Banaras Hindu University

    In April 1911,

    S. Radhakrishnan, who later became the President of India.[35]

    Spread over 16.5 km2 (4,100 acres) with a student population of about 30,000, BHU is the largest residential university in Asia.

    Malaviya' son Pandit Govind Malaviya served as the Vice-Chancellor of BHU from 1948 to 1951. His grandson Justice Giridhar Malaviya is currently the Chancellor of BHU since 2018.

    Social service

    Malaviya founded

    Harijan movement. The Harijan Sevak Sangh was founded at a meeting in 1933 at which Pandit Malaviya presided.[16]

    Malaviya asserted – if you admit internal purity of human soul, you or your religion can never get impure or defiled in any way by touch or association with any man.[36]

    To solve the problem of untouchability, Malaviya followed a Hindu method, of giving Mantradīkshā to untouchables. He said, "Mantras would be a certain means of their upliftment socially, politically and spiritually."

    Rath Yatra day.[37] Malaviya in the presence of priests of Kalaram Temple, gave diksha to the assembled people and facilitated their entry into the temple.[37] They then also participated in the Rath Yatra of Kalaram Temple.[37]

    He established

    Allahabad.[32]

    Scouting

    Scouting in India was initially introduced by

    The Bharat Scouts and Guides
    .

    Newspaper reports of the resignation of Indian Railways Officer Sri Ram Vajpei on grounds of racial discrimination despite being qualified in scouting with its highest degree LT, in England prompted the then President of Congress Malaviya to inform himself about the scouting movement. With the support of other members,

    Hridayanath Kunzru, Girija Shankar Bajpai, Annie Besant and George Arundale
    , Malaviya started an organisation called the All India Seva Samiti under Sewa Bharti unit to conduct scouting activities. While the British refused initially to recognize the scouting education imparted by the Samiti, Baden Powell himself advocated the recognition of Indian Scouting as co-curricular education in school, after a visit to India afforded him the opportunity to learn of the association's activities.

    Thanks to Malaviya's efforts, scouting units from across the sub-continent came together to create the Hindustan Scouts Association. Later, the Guides association in India managed by Dr Besant also joined to form the Hindustan Scouts and Guides Association.

    Malaviya also notably contributed the MAMOMA short code secret language in scouting, now widely used across the world. The name "MAMOMA" is derived from the initials of his name.[38]

    Legacy

    Malaviya on a 2011 stamp of India

    The slogan "Satyameva Jayate" (Truth alone triumphs) is also a legacy of Malaviya. Presiding over the Indian National Congress session of 1918 at Delhi, he declared that this phrase from the Mundaka Upanishad should be the slogan for the nation.[39]

    Malaviya started the tradition of

    Ganga river
    which is performed even today. The Malaviya Dwipa, a small island across the ghat, is named after him and a bust of his was erected on it. The Indian Post issued stamps in his honour in 1961 and 2011 to celebrate his 100th and 150th birth anniversaries, respectively.

    The Malaviya Nagar neighbourhoods in

    Allahabad, Lucknow, Delhi, Dehradun, Bhopal, Durg and Jaipur are named after him, as is a square in Jabalpur city, Malaviya Chowk. Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT) at Jaipur is named after him, as is Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology in Gorakhpur, UP. The Hostels of IIT Kharagpur, IIT Roorkee Saharanpur Campus and BITS Pilani
    , Pilani and Hyderabad campuses are also named Malaviya Bhawan after him. In memory of him, Shrigoud Vidya Mandir, Indore celebrates his birth anniversary as Mahamana Divas on every 25 December. They have also declared a fellowship programme for poor Sanatan Vipra boys on this day.

    Narendra Modi pays tribute to Madan Mohan Malaviya, on his birth anniversary in 2014

    Malaviya's life size portrait was unveiled in the Central Hall of India's Parliament by the then President of India

    Lt. Governor of Delhi, Dr. A.N. Jha on 25 December 1971.[22]

    He is also remembered for his role in ending the Indian indenture system, especially in the Caribbean. His efforts in helping the Indo-Caribbeans is compared to Mahatma Gandhi's efforts of helping Indian South Africans.[40][41]

    On 25 December 2008, on his birth anniversary, the national memorial of Mahamana Madan Mohan Malaviya, "Malaviya Smriti Bhawan" was inaugurated by the then President of India

    A P J Abdul Kalam at 53, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg, in Delhi.[42]

    2011 was celebrated as his 150th birth centenary by the Government of India under the Chairmanship of India's prime minister

    Dr Manmohan Singh, who announced the establishment of a Centre for Malaviya Studies at the Banaras Hindu University in addition to scholarships and education related awards in his memory, and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi
    released a biography of Madan Mohan Malaviya.

    On 24 December 2014, Madan Mohan Malaviya was honored with Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.[9]

    The Mahamana Express train (plying between New Delhi and Varanasi) was flagged off by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi on 22 January 2016. The train is named after Malaviya and is equipped with modern facilities such as bio-toilets in every coach and air-conditioned compartments.

    Works

    • He created a non-governmental organization named Shri Mathura Vrindavan Hasanand Gochar Bhoomi in Vrindavan for Welfare of Cows.
    • A criticism of Montagu-Chelmsford proposals of Indian constitutional reform. Printed by C. Y. Chintamani, 1918.
    • Speeches and writings of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya. Publisher G.A. Natesan, 1919.

    References

    1. ISBN 978-81-7156-678-5
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    2. ^ "Mahamana's life as exemplary as Mahatma's: BHU V-C". The Times of India. 27 December 2009. Archived from the original on 4 November 2012.
    3. ^ Singh, Binay (13 March 2009). "BHU set to realise future goals". The Times of India. VARANASI. Archived from the original on 14 June 2012. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
    4. ^ a b "History of BHU". Banaras Hindu University website. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 8 January 2010.
    5. Rediff
      News. 4 October 2007.
    6. ISBN 978-81-7011-842-8
      .
    7. ^ "C. Y. Chintamani (10 April 1880 – 1 July, 1941)". The Tribune. 7 May 2000.
    8. ^ a b c d "Homage to Mahamana Malaviya". Homage to Mahamana Malaviya.
    9. ^ a b "Press Information Bureau English Releases". pib.nic.in. 24 December 2014.
    10. ISBN 978-81-207-4074-7
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    11. ^ Excelsior, Daily (24 December 2014). "A Staunch Nationalist". Jammu Kashmir Latest News | Tourism | Breaking News J&K. Retrieved 26 January 2023.
    12. ^ "Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya". Banaras Hindu University. 9 February 2017. Archived from the original on 6 October 2001.
    13. ^ Daniyal, Shoaib. "Madan Mohan Malviya: how a four-time Congress president became a BJP icon". Scroll.in. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
    14. ^ "Madan Mohan Malaviya". Encyclopædia Britannica.
    15. ISBN 978-81-7099-280-6
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    16. ^ a b c "MADAN MOHAN MALAVIYA". Indian Post. 25 December 1961.
    17. ISBN 978-81-7011-842-8
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    18. ^ "MsnSpecials". Archived from the original on 21 August 2006.
    19. ^ Shekhar, Shashi (25 December 2017). "'Mahamana': A forgotten visionary". Livemint. Retrieved 21 June 2020.
    20. ^ "Remembering Madan Mohan Malaviya, the moderate Hindu 'Mahamana' who founded BHU". ThePrint. 25 December 2018. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
    21. ^ "RSS Resolution 2: 150th Birth Anniversary of Mhamana Malviya ji". Vishwa Samvada Kendra. 31 October 2010. Archived from the original on 26 December 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2010.
    22. ^
      Legislative Assembly of Delhi
      website.
    23. ^ "Gandhi is Urged to Delay Break". The New York Times. 11 February 1922.
    24. ^ ""Buy Indian" Move Gains". The New York Times. 30 May 1932.
    25. ^ "450 Seized at Delhi for Defiance of Ban on Indian Congress". The New York Times. 25 April 1932.
    26. ISBN 978-81-203-3246-1
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    27. ^ "-- Schwartzberg Atlas – Digital South Asia Library". dsal.uchicago.edu.
    28. ^ a b c d e "Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya – Biography". Archived from the original on 27 December 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
    29. ^ "20 Things We Must Know About Madan Mohan Malaviya". TopYaps. 2 January 2015.
    30. ^ "Development of Indian Press during British Rule in India". jagranjosh.com. 16 February 2018.
    31. ^ TJS George, Lessons in Journalism, 2007, Viva Books, New Delhi.
    32. ^ a b "PANDIT MADAN MOHAN MALAVIYA. The Man, The Spirit, The Vision". Banaras Hindu University. Archived from the original on 6 October 2001. Copy
    33. ^ No authentic source found
    34. ^ "Banaras hindu university" (PDF). Indian Academy of Sciences. 26 July 2005. Retrieved 19 April 2007.
    35. ISBN 978-0-7914-0343-3
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    36. ^ a b Chaube, Deo Brat. "Contributions of Mahamana Pt. Madan Mohan Malaviya to Indian Religion and Society". Indo-Hellenic Society for Culture and Development. Archived from the original on 24 December 2014.
    37. ^
      ISBN 978-0-7619-3342-7
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    38. ^ "Honouring the oath: The beginning". The Hindu. 17 August 2007. Archived from the original on 19 August 2007.
    39. ^ "India's Freedom Struggle: Madan Mohan Malaviya" (PDF). Kamat's Potpourri. 22 December 2007. Retrieved 9 March 2008.
    40. ^ The Caribbean East Indians, Part 1 of 2. YouTube (29 April 2015). Retrieved on 20 December 2018.
    41. ^ "Madan Mohan Malaviya".
    42. ^ "Former President Kalam inaugurates BHU founder's memorial". The Indian Express. 26 December 2008.

    Biographies

    External links

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