“Nation was the only deity for Balasaheb Deoras and he did not enjoy anything else than the Sangh work. He was among the great personalities, who were shaped by Dr Hedgewar and who then shaped the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. He always had his fingers on the pulse of the nation,” said RSS Sarkaryavah Shri Bhayyaji Joshi while speaking at the concluding ceremony of Balasaheb Deoras birth centenary year celebration at Manas Bhavan Auditorium in Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, on December 11.
The birth centenary year began on December 11, 2015. Born on December 11, 1915 in Nagpur, Balasaheb dedicated his entire life to the nation. He breathed his last on June 17, 1996. He guided the RSS as Sarsanghachalak from 1973 to 1994. During that period the nation witnessed many incidents like Emergency, Shri Ramjanmabhoomi movement and the Mandal Commission, which deeply influenced the public psyche. People closely experienced his inspiring leadership on every occasion.
The anti-Emergency agitation emerged as the symbol of change. To ensure that it should not get reactionary he suggested the swayamsevaks to ‘forget and forgive’ and move forward. When Shri Ram Mandir movement emerged as the issue of Hindu Swabhiman, he said the word Hindu is not confined to any particular way of worship or sect. Anyone who has faith in Bharat and Bharatiya culture is a Hindu.
Similarly, during the Mandal Commission the Sangh passed a resolution supporting the caste based reservation. Balasaheb also reshaped the service activities carried out swayamsevaks. The huge network of sewa activities (more than 1.70 lakh sewa projects) by the swayamsevaks seen today was basically introduced by him in 1979 with the formation of Sewa Bharati in Delhi.
Presiding over the function in Jabalpur Shrinath Peethadhishwar Swami Jitendranath shared his childhood anecdotes with Balasaheb. He said it was Balasaheb who shaped many of the people like him.
Shri Jiyalal Rahangdale was honoured with Alankaran, while Dr Akhilesh Gumashta was felicitated with Sewa Alankaran. Senior Scientist associated with the Brahmos missile project Dr Sudhir Mishra was honoured with Mahanagar Gaurav Samman.
At the end president of the Nyas and Prant Sanghachalak Advocate Prashant Singh declared closing of the birth centenary year celebrations.
