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        Even at the cheap risk of being dismissed as communal, I would like to say, as a humble lover of Hinduism, Hinduness, Hindutva and Sanathana Dharma, that one of my great heroes is Pundit Madan Mohan Malaviya (1861-1946). A great patriot, eminent educationist, renowned journalist, social and religious reformer, erudite scholar, able parliamentarian and an eloquent speaker, Pundit Madan Mohan Malaviya was a shining light of the constitutional movement in India. He became the President of the Indian National Congress at its session in Delhi in 1918. For long, he remained a Member of the United Provinces Legislative Council and the Central Legislative Assembly. He was one of those giants who laid the foundation of modern Indian nationalism. He had widely acclaimed achievements to his credit, chief among them being the founder and architect of the Banaras Hindu University. He was a giant amongst men who laid the solid foundation of Indian Nationalism and year by year, built up brick by brick and stone by stone, the noble edifice of India's freedom.
 

A portrait of Pundit Madan Mohan Malaviya (1861-1946) , painted by S L Haldankar.

        Scholar, educationist, man of action, a leader of the national liberation movement, Madan Mohan Malaviya rose to great prominence in India's public life at an early age. He was born at Allahabad, on December 25, 1861. He was the son of Pandit Brij Nath, a highly respected scholar of Sanskrit of his time. He was first educated traditionally at two Sanskrit Patashalas and later sent to an English school. Even during his college days, as a student of the Muir central college, Allahabad, he took keen interest in public activities. Religion and education were, however, of special interest to him and he dedicated himself to these spheres till the end of his life. After graduation in 1884, Madan Mohan Malaviya joined Government high school at Allahabad as an Assistant Master. Being in government service did not prevent him from participating in political movements and he soon joined the Indian National Congress. He made his first appearance on the Congress platform at its Calcutta session in 1886 and created a lasting impression which gave him a prominent place in the political life of the country. By sheer dint of his untiring work, Pundit Malaviya rapidly gained ascendancy in the Congress organisation. He was one of the very few individuals who were honoured by the Congress by being elected as its President three times: for the first time at the Lahore session (1909), the second time at Delhi (1918) and the third time at Calcutta (1933). He could not, however, preside over the 1933 Calcutta session as the meeting was banned and he was arrested even before he reached Calcutta. Consequently Sen Gupta deputised for him.

        As a man of action Pundit Malaviya placed the greatest emphasis on the spread of learning and scholarship. His greatest contribution was in the field of education. He was the founding father of Banaras Hindu University which was inaugurated by Lord Hardinge, Viceroy of India in 1916. On the day of inauguration of Banaras Hindu University, Pundit Madan Mohan Malaviya declared: 'India is not a country of the Hindus only. It is a country of the Muslims, the Christians and the Parsees too. The country can gain strength and develop itself only when the people of the different communities in India live in mutual goodwill and harmony. It is my earnest hope and prayer that this centre of life and light which is coming into existence, will produce students who will not only be intellectually equal to the best of their fellow students in other parts of the world, but will also live a noble life, love their country and be loyal to the Supreme ruler'.

        Soon after the Jaliyanwala Bagh massacre, Pundit Madan Mohan Malaviya visited Amristar in August 1919, after the Martial Law had been withdrawn. He visited the troubled areas in and around Amristar and other parts of Punjab. His graphic account of what he had seen and heard, when he proclaimed it to the world in 1919, was the first direct information from a non-official source which reached the world press and became world news. The nation found its voice of protest in the eloquent and fiery speech of Pundit Madan Mohan Malaviya on what he called 'The Punjab Wrongs' in the Indian Legislative Council of which he was a Member. He brought home with conviction to the hearts of all his countrymen that a terrible blunder, which was worse than a heinous crime, had been committed at Jaliyanwala Bagh. Above all, he made clear the humiliation, more shameful than death, which had been forcibly imposed upon Amristar. The Government of India appointed the Hunter Committee to enquire into the Punjab atrocities. Pundit Malaviya was elected President of the Jaliyanwala Bagh Memorial Committee.

        When the Indian National Congress under Mahatma Gandhi's new leadership decided to launch the full programme of non-cooperation in 1920, Pundit Madan Mohan Malaviya was not ready to accept the Congress mandate with regard to the abandonment of the Legislatures. He refused at the same time to leave the Congress; for he had an intense loyalty towards it as an institution which he had cherished from the days of his youth. He felt towards it a devotion which everyone deeply respected. When he stood out again and again, at the full Congress Sessions subsequently, and refused to vote in unison with the vast majority of delegates, he was always heard with the greatest respect and he retained in a very remarkable manner the affection of those who differed from him. But, however, towards the end he too offered civil resistance and went to Prison along with the rest more than once.

        Despite being an ardent and orthodox Hindu, he supported Mahatma Gandhi on the Khilafat Movement in the larger interest of India's freedom in 1921. However, after the terrible Moplah Rising in Malabar in the South, when thousands of Hindus were brutally circumcised and thus 'converted' into Islam, he parted company with Mahatma Gandhi. When C.R. Das and Motilal Nehru broke away from the extreme path of non-cooperation and decided to fight the battle out 'within' the Legislative Councils, Pundit Madan Mohan Malaviya also joined them. He was again elected to the Indian Legislative Council in 1924 and remained as a Member till 1930. He had his earlier spell as Member of the Indian Legislative Council from 1902 to 1912. Pundit Madan Mohan Malaviya accompanied Mahatma Gandhi to the Second Round Table Conference in 1933. He also played an important part in the removal of untouchability and in giving direction to the Harijan Movement. The Harijan Sevak Sangh was founded at a meeting in 1933 which was presided over by Pundit Malaviya. He passed away before the attainment of India's freedom, in 1946 at the age of 85.

        Pundit Malaviya will always be remembered by posterity for his signal contribution to the field of journalism. He started his journalistic career as the Editor of the 'Hindustan' in 1887. Two years later, he joined the 'Indian Union' as Editor in which capacity, he continued till its incorporation with the 'Advocate' of Lucknow. He then started his own Hindi weekly 'Abhyudaya' and laboured hard to make it an informative and instructive journal. Keenly feeling the need for an English daily to voice the opinion and to ventilate the grievances of people, he founded the 'Leader' of Allahabad.

        Apart from establishing the Banaras Hindu University which towers above all his other contributions in the educational field, he also founded Allahabad Literary Institute. Pundit Madan Mohan Malaviya was a man of great learning and completely devoted to the country. But his religious views were extremely orthodox and he was very proud of being a devout Hindu. It was one of his settled convictions that without an abiding religious faith man cannot succeed. This led him to create the Sanatan Dharm Mahasabha at Allahabad in January 1906, and the Allahabad Hindu Samaj. A devout Hindu himself, he wanted to see the same religious devotion in every Hindu of India. But his religious activities were by no means sectarian. He stated in one of his presidential addresses at a Congress session: “I am a Hindu by faith and I mean no disrespect to any other religion when I say that I will not change my faith for all the possessions of this world or of any other. But I shall be a false Hindu and I shall deserve less to be called a Brahmin, if I desired that Hindu's, or Brahmins could have any unfair advantage as such over Muslims, Christians or any other community in India”. We are living in a disgusting India where such a civilized and urbane attitude would be described by all the vermin in the UPA Government of today as 'positively communal and non-secular'!! God save India and her people!!!