Moreshwar Raghav or Morubhau Munje was one of the RSS pracharaks who piloted the Sangh work in Punjab. Organiser pays tribute to the pioneering pracharak during his birth centenary celebrations
Dr Shreerang Godbole
The widespread support and goodwill that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh enjoys is the result of the sweat and toil of several silent and self-effacing Sangh karyakartas. In particular, the early years of the Sangh were marked by indifference, ridicule, mistrust and hostility. Taking inspiration from the Sangh founder,
several pioneering karyakartas devoted the best years of their lives, often entire lives to the Sangh. They left the comfort of their homes and experienced fulfilment in becoming the obscure stones on which the Sangh edifice is built. Their life continues to serve as a beacon for Sangh swayamsevaks to this day. Moreshwar Raghav or Morubhau Munje (November 18, 1916- December 08, 2007) whose birth centenary is being celebrated this year, was one such pioneering pracharak.
Born in Pavnar village in Wardha district of Maharashtra, it was the urge to acquire good education that brought the eleven-year old Morubhau to Nagpur in 1927. On an evening, when Morubhau was making his way to the Bhonsala Vedshala, he saw some youngsters
playing in the ruins of Mohite Wada. The next day, when Morubhau passed by Mohite Wada, a well-built person in his late thirties invited him to join the
youngsters. This was none other than the Sangh founder, Dr Hedgewar. Thus began Morubhau’s involvement with the Sangh. Soon, Morubhau endeared himself to Dr Hedgewar. Slowly but definitely, the idealism of Dr Hedgewar seeped into young Morubhau, as it did with those around him. Probably, these youngsters themselves did not realise when and how they were transformed by Doctorji.
Dr Hedgewar had devised an ingenious way to spread the Sangh outside Nagpur. He encouraged these budding karyakartas to go to different provinces as students. They would attend college, study to clear their examinations but devote the rest of their time to spread the Sangh. In 1932, Rambhau Jamgade, Gopal Sadashiv Yerkuntwar, Madhavrao Mule and Tatya Telang were sent respectively to Yavatmal, Sangli, Chiplun and Katol. These student-karyakartas were
personally seen off by Doctorji in the
presence of several swayamsevaks. Naturally, those present would get the urge to emulate their example. It was
during Gopalrao Yerkuntwar’s send-off to Sangli that young Morubhau felt that he too should work as a student-karyakarta. The first shakha outside Maharashtra was started in Karachi by Doctorji himself on May 10, 1932 when he had gone to attend the All India Tarun Hindu Parishad. This was followed by Doctorji’s first trip in Western Maharashtra for Sangh work from August 6 to September 14, 1932 with Babarao Savarkar and Martandrao Jog. It was in October 1935 that Doctorji started insisting that swayamsevaks should learn different languages that would enable the Sangh to grow in various provinces. In
19-36-37, ten student-karyakartas were sent by Doctorji to Delhi, Punjab, United Provinces (Uttar Pradesh) and Madhya Bharat.
Doctorji was keenly aware of the socio-political developments in various parts of the country. The situation for Hindus was getting grim in Punjab. Allama Inayatullah Mashriqui had started the Khaksar Tehrik in Lahore in 1930. By the late 1930s, the movement had spread in North India. The Muslim League was also becoming increasing by belligerent. Organising Hindus and giving them confidence was the crying need of the hour. It is no wonder that Punjab was a priority province for Doctorji. Doctorji chose three student-karyakartas to go to Punjab. Krishna Dhundiraj or KD Joshi was sent to Sialkot while Digambar Vishwanath or Rajabhau Paturkar was sent to Lahore. Morubhau was sent to Rawalpindi. The first Guru Purnima Utsav was celebrated in 1937 with much fanfare. The work of this trio prompted Dr Hedgewar to write to them thus (August 13, 1937): “We are delighted to know that you are doing work there with great enthusiasm. But one has to face difficulties in an unfamiliar place. Seeing that you have the strength to
overcome these difficulties, we (people in Nagpur) are expressing our heartfelt gratitude to you.” The first Officers’ Training Camp was held in Gurudatt Bhavan, Lahore in August 1938. Forty swayamsevaks from 14 villages and towns in Punjab participated in this 40-day Camp. Doctorji himself visited the Camp, accompanied by Shri Guruji and Babasaheb Apte. On August 27, the concluding day, a guard of honour was presented. Seeing the
impressive display of the swayamsevaks, the chief guest Raja Narendranath gave a spontaneous speech. This was followed by Doctorji’s rousing speech which lasted for thirty minutes.
From 1937 to 1941, Morubhau was vibhag pracharak of Rawalpindi. He started Sangh shakhas in Jhelum, Gujranwala and Peshawar among other places. A glance at the Muslim percentage in Morubhau’s area of work can give us an idea of the immense challenges he must have faced- Rawalpindi – 80 per cent, Gujranwala – 70.4 per cent, Sheikhupura- 62.6 per cent, Jhleum – 89.5 per cent, Dera Ghazi Khan-88.9 per cent. To attract the Punjabi youth to the Sangh, Morubhau once leapt from a bridge into the icy waters of the Jhelum and swam to the shore. The rising attendance of the Hindu youth in the Rawalpindi Sangh prompted some Muslim fanatics to launch an armed attack on Morubhau on two occasions. He escaped unharmed by the sheer presence of mind and physical strength. It was after one such attack that Morubhau came in contact with late actor Balraj Sahni’s father. Morubhau also had the good
fortune to receive guidance from the
illustrious freedom-fighter and Hindu Mahasabha leader Bhai Parmananda. It was the ground-breaking work of people like Morubhau that saw the number of Sangh swayamsevaks to swell to around 47000 at the time of Partition and mitigate to some extent the plight of Hindu refugees.
In 1941, Morubhau was appointed as the first-ever vibhag pracharak of Raipur. From 1943 to 1945, he became vibhag pracharak of Jabalpur. In 1946, due to domestic reasons, he became a
householder and became a teacher in Maharashtra Vidyalaya, Jabalpur. In the same year, he got married to Kumud Abhyankar (who as Kumudini Munje went on to become the first woman member of the Madhya Pradesh Bharatiya Jana Sangh State Executive and lead a Satyagraha of women from Jabalpur against the Kutch agreement in 1965). After the Gandhi murder, he was arrested on February 4, 1948 and kept in Jabalpur Central Jain for 7 months. After his release, he led a contingent of 52 swayamsevaks in Satyagraha against the unjust ban on the Sangh. He was
immediately re-arrested and finally released on July 7, 1949. After the ban on the Sangh was lifted, he faced severe financial difficulties. He took up small jobs to make both ends meet.
In 1953, he got a job as a medical representative in a pharmaceutical company where he remained till 1976. From 1982 to 1989, Morubhau became Prant Bauddhik Pramukh and thereafter became Sambhag Pracharak. From 1989 to 1991, he was State Treasurer of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and later State Secretary from 1991 to 1994. During the Ayodhya movement, he participated in kar seva and stayed in Mani Ram Chhawani for four months to oversee arrangements. He also started and headed the Dr Hedgewar Smriti Mandal in Jabalpur, under whose aegis he started an ambulance and hearse in Doctorji’s memory. In December 2000, at the request of HV Sheshadri, he undertook a week’s tour of Bengaluru to narrate the biography of Dr Hedgewar and the early history of the Sangh. Following a heart attack, he passed away on December 8, 2007 at the ripe age of 91 years. The memory of Morubhau shall continue to inspire generations of Sangh swayamsevaks.
(The writer is an eminent medical practitioner at Pune, Maharashtra and has worked extensively on the history of RSS)
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