Champion of Military Training

Tribute : Tribute to Dharmaveer Dr Balkrishna Shivram Moonje on his 143rd Birth Anniversary, Dec. 12

“A fighting spirit is knowing what you believe in and being willing to work for it. It’s the courage to make changes in yourself and in the world around you. Sometimes it means being stubborn in the nicest way, because there is nothing like the power of feisty soul.” While getting the impression of these lines into the senses, the vision of the soul always feels the thirst of the real presence of Dr. BS Moonje, as he lives in the fighting spirit of feisty souls and one can take the glance of his glory through the eyes of every Ramdandee and every bit of the sacred Rambhoomi of Nashik.
As fortune favours the brave, Dharmaveer Moonje was predesigned to be a Doctor, not only to diagnose the nation, which he was sure to serve with great sensitivity and sincerity but to prescribe a medicant, which would cure the nation of most of its wrecks—the nation’s sore points, its sheepishness and its senility. There were many such time moments in his life, where Dr Moonje risked his all, even reputation, to save a political colleague form sordidness, discourtesy and public offense, taking all the responsibility on himself, incising his workmanship as, warriors are not born and they are not made, warriors create themselves through trial and error, pain and sufferings and their ability conquer their own self. Dr Moonje had carried out deep and forcing study of Mahabharata and Kautilya’s  Arthshastra and along with he devoted himself conclusively into the subservient Bharateeya politics, on the point of, the nation was calling and he reflected it with most urgency, to vindicate all the insults and humiliations that were stored on Bharateeya people, only because of subjugation. He thought that every Bharateeya and everything Bharateeya is looked down upon because, a slave country has no culture and no honour. To this end, he dedicated himself with symbolic get up and go motto for perceiving and practices.
As a member of the Central Legislative Assembly, Dr Moonje took zealous interest in the military affairs of Bharat and these concerns were crucial supplements for the futuristic activities in connection with the particularly rejuvenating and centralising the Hindus. As a mark of his concern, he participated in debates on military budgets along with the resolution on compulsory military training in approved military schools and colleges. He thus and so acquired a reputation for being an “expert on military subjects”. Still and all Dr Moonje proclaimed himself on many themes of national interest like physical education, military training and Bharateeyakaran of the army along with military training to women, which received the paramount priority in his reflections, at the time that, he was distressed to observe that Bharat spent more than one third of its revenue on military expenses and still the common Bharateeya was aloof from military education.

In the discussion on civil aviation, he focused the oration on point that Bharateeya boys were debarred from undergoing training for aviation. During the discourse he cited an example of Japan that “civil aviation has been introduced in Japan from the year 1020 and it has been introduced and fostered by military department there. Unfortunately, it is in Bharat where there is neither civil nor military aviation training. ” From his arena of remarks, it can be seen a remarkably original and avant-garde and yet mindful, Dr Moonje was one of those patriots who thought that all the latest developments in the knowledge of the world should be introduced in Bharat. Bharateeyakaran of the army was for all practical purposes with Dr Moonje. He made very long undertakings in support of his vision. He blamed the British for disarming and mercilessly dissociating the descent of Bharat from the defence of their own motherland.
While capturing the moony vigilance of the British towards the susceptible borders of Bharat, Dr Moonje said, “Looking to the land frontier Bharat may be divided into two parts, the North-East Frontier and North-West Frontier. In the North-East Frontier, there is a line of thousand miles, which borders on China and Tibet. There are turbulent tribes on the frontier, who are still amenable influences from China. Some state of turmoil within China may prove to be throes of a new birth for nationhood. If it happens to be that, we shall have another great nation militarily consolidated as our next door neighbour. ” This realisation of sense of threat pinpointed by Dr Moonje plays a big role even in today’s Bharateeya foreign and military policy frameworks and we have paid a real cost for it due to neglectfulness of Nehruvian baby feeding approaches.

During the visits of European countries, Dr Moonje went to a place twenty miles away from Berlin (Germany) to meet General Macanson who had settled there after retirement from the army. He was the chief of Army Staff on Russian Front in the World War-I. After cordial formalities exhibited by the General, Dr Moonje asked him how military training was imparted to German students? The General was very much surprised at this query and he said he had met quite a large number of visitors from Bharat including Dr Radhakrishnan, Pt Malviya and Ali Brothers. The subject of their inquiry was German culture, education, industry, etc. but Dr Moonje was the first speculative questioner on military education. The General was very happy at this and gave all the details on the subject.  The militarisation of Bharateeya youth and Bharateeyakaran of the army was simply flowing in his blood. He appealed to the Bharateeya youth to join the armed forces in greatest number in any capacity as per their capabilities. He used to say, “It might appear these men in the armed forces were mercenaries but there should not be any doubt that at the crucial moments they would prove themselves real patriots and strong nationals.” And it did happen in reality as numerous Ramdandees fought bravely and won many awards for bravery and valour in fighting in Indo-Sino War and Indo-Pak Wars.
He used to day, “If you stand for a reason, be prepared to stand alone like a tree, and if you fall on the ground, fall like a seed, that grows back to fight again.” This kind of silver lining was marked by Dr Moonje in his artisanship of pioneering work in the field of militarisation of Bharat.
Sneha Kulkarni (The writer is in Department of Defence & Strategic Studies in Bhonsala Military College, Nashik)