The Imitable Mahamana

New Delhi: “Mahaman Madan Mohan Malaviya was a visionary who even while fighting for the freedom had a clear vision for future Bharat and his every step was directed towards materialising that vision into reality. He left his imprints not only in politics and journalism, but also in various other fields including social reforms. He was a guide and philosopher and his views were received very attentively, but he never imposed his views on anybody,” said RSS Sarsanghachalak Shri Mohan Bhagwat while releasing a book on Mahamana Malaviya on October 3.

The book, “Madan Mohan Malaviya: Vyaktitva va Vichar”, has been written by Shri Balmukund Pandey. It has been published by National Book Trust (NBT). Noted historian and president of Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojna Prof Satish Mittal, general secretary of Itihas Sankalan Yojna Shri Ishwar Vishwakarma, Chairman of NBT Shri Baldevbhai Sharma and Director General of National Museum Dr BR Mani also shared the dais.

Highlighting the personality of Mahamana, the title that was given to him by Tagore, Shri Bhagwat further said despite being on top of popularity, his humility impressed everyone. “The young generation needs to imbibe all such qualities in order to live a meaningful life. He lived for the society and did nothing for himself. It was because of the values that he inherited from his family and also because of the sadhana of his previous life. The nation is still enjoying the fruits of his sadhana in various forms. The social reforms, particularly the fight against untouchability, that he pushed forward, has helped the nation to curb this bad practice to a great extent. Making the society as per his dreams is the real tribute to such a great personality today,” Shri Bhagwat said stressing the need that maximum people should read the biographies of great personalities like Mahamana. He also referred to the meeting of Mahamana with RSS founder Dr Hedgewar.

Presiding over the function Prof Satish Mittal said the cow, Ganga and Gayatri were inspirations for Mahamana and despite touching new heights in the life his words, deeds and dress remained unchanged. “He was a journalist and a teacher par excellence. His every word proved to be a ‘sanjivani’ for the youth in those days. As a Barrister also, he accepted only the genuine cases. As a social reformer, he tirelessly worked to eradicate untouchability and exhorted even the so-called upper castes to behave with respect with all sections of the society. He never hesitated to beg for social cause. His speech of the year 1916 was so much inspiring that it motivated countless youth to work for the nation and the society. He was of the firm opinion that unless the Hindu society is united, this nation cannot move forwards in the desired direction,” Prof Mittal added.

NBT Chairman Shri Baldevbhai Sharma said NBT is privileged to publish the life sketch of a great patriot. He apprised the audience of the new steps that the NBT had taken in the recent years. In the beginning, Director General of National Museum Dr BR Mani welcomed the gathering.

–Dr Pramod Kumar