Madan Mohan Malaviya | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 3rd Vice-Chancellor of Banaras Hindu University | |
| In office 29 November 1919 – 20 August 1939 | |
| Preceded by | P. S. Sivaswami Iyer |
| Succeeded by | Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan |
| President of the Indian National Congress | |
| In office 1909–1910 | |
| Preceded by | Rash Behari Ghosh |
| Succeeded by | William Wedderburn |
| In office 1918 | |
| Preceded by | Annie Besant |
| Succeeded by | Syed Hasan Imam |
| In office 1932–1933 | |
| Preceded by | Vallabhbhai Patel |
| Succeeded by | Nellie Sengupta |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1861-12-25)25 December 1861 |
| Died | 12 November 1946(1946-11-12) (aged 84) Allahabad,United Provinces, British India (present-day Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, India) |
| Political party | Congress Nationalist Party Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha |
| Other political affiliations | Indian National Congress (formerly) |
| Spouse | Kumari Kundan Devi Malaviya |
| Children | 6 (includingGovind Malaviya) |
| Education | University of Calcutta (BA) |
| Profession | |
| Awards | Bharat Ratna (2015) (posthumous) |
| Signature |  |
Madan Mohan Malaviya (25 December 1861 — 12 November 1946;Hindi pronunciation:[məd̪ən̪moːɦən̪maːlʋiːj(ə)]ⓘ) was an Indian scholar, educational reformer, and activist notable for his role in theIndian independence movement. He was president of theIndian National Congress three times and the founder ofAkhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha. He was addressed asPandit,[1] a title of respect. Malaviya is known for co-founding one of the prestigious university of India namedBanaras Hindu University.
Malaviya strove to promote modern education among Indians and co-founded theBanaras Hindu University (BHU) atVaranasi in 1916, which was created under the 1915BHU Act. It is the largest residential university inAsia and one of the largest in the world,[2] with over 40,000 students across arts, commerce, sciences, engineering, linguistic, ritual, medicine, agriculture, performing arts, law, management, and technology disciplines from all over the world. He was thevice chancellor of the Banaras Hindu University from 1919 to 1938.[3][4]
Malaviya was one of the founders of theBharat Scouts and Guides.[5] He founded a highly influential English newspaper,The Leader, in 1919, published fromAllahabad.[6] He was also the chairman ofHindustan Times from 1924 to 1946. His efforts resulted in the launch of itsHindi edition namedHindustan Dainik in 1936.[7]
Malaviya was posthumously awarded theBharat Ratna, India's highest civilian distinction, on 24 December 2014, a day before what would have been his 153rd birthday.[8]
Malaviya was born inAllahabad, India, on 25 December 1861,[9] in aGaur Brahmin family[10][11][12] to Brijnath Malaviya and Moona Devi.[13] He was born in a locality known as Lal Diggi (nowMalviya Nagar) in a small house of Sawal Das of Saryakund. His grandfather, Premdhar Prasad, was the son of Vishnu Prasad. Since they hailed fromMalwa (Ujjain) in the present-day state ofMadhya Pradesh, they came to be known as 'Malaviya'. He married Kundan Devi fromMirzapur at sixteen. His ancestors were highly respected for their learning and knowledge of Hindu scriptures andSanskrit scholarship. His father also learned in Sanskrit scriptures and used to recite theSrimad Bhagavatam.[14]
Malaviya's education began at the age of five in Mahajani Pathsala. Later, he joined Hardeva's Dharma Gyanopadesh Pathshala, completed his primary education and joined a school run by Vidha Vardini Sabha. He then joined Allahabad Zila School (Allahabad District School), where he started writing poems under the pen nameMakarand which were published in journals and magazines.[7]
Malaviya matriculated in 1879 from theMuir Central College, now known as theUniversity of Allahabad. Harrison College's principal provided a monthly scholarship to Malaviya, whose family had been facing financial hardships, and he was able to complete his B.A. at theUniversity of Calcutta.[7]
Malaviya desired to pursue an M.A. inSanskrit. Still, family circumstances did not allow him to do so, and his father wanted him to pursue the family profession of Bhagavat recital instead. In July 1884, Madan Mohan Malaviya began his professional career as an assistant master at the Government High School in Allahabad.[15]
Malaviya started his political career in 1886 with an address to the Indian National Congress session in Calcutta. Malaviya would go on to become one of the most powerful political leaders of his time, being elected Congress president on four occasions.[7]
In December 1886, Malaviya attended the secondIndian National Congress session inCalcutta under the chairmanship ofDadabhai Naoroji, where he spoke on the issue of representation in Councils. His address not only impressed Dadabhai but also Raja Rampal Singh, ruler of Kalakankar estate nearAllahabad, who had founded a Hindi weekly,Hindustan, but was still looking for a suitable editor to turn it into a daily. In July 1887, Malaviya resigned from the school and joined as editor of the nationalist weekly. He remained for two and a half years, and left for Allahabad to study for hisL.L.B. In Allahabad, he was offered the co-editorship ofThe Indian Opinion, an English daily. After finishing his law degree, he started practicing law at Allahabad District Court in 1891, and moved toAllahabad High Court by December 1893.[16][17]
Malaviya became the president of the Indian National Congress in 1909, a position he held also in 1918. He was a moderate leader and opposed separate electorates for Muslims under theLucknow Pact of 1916. The "Mahamana" title was conferred on him byMahatma Gandhi.[18][19]
Malaviya renounced his practice of law in 1911 to fulfil his resolve to serve the causes of education and social service. Despite this vow, on one occasion when 177 freedom fighters were convicted to be hanged in theChauri-chaura case, he appeared before the court and won the acquittal of 156 freedom fighters.[20] He followed the tradition ofSannyasa throughout his life, adhering to his avowed commitment to live on the support of society.
He was a member of theImperial Legislative Council from 1912 until 1919, when it was converted to theCentral Legislative Assembly, of which he remained a member until 1926.[21] Malaviya was an important figure in theNon-cooperation movement.[22] He was opposed to the politics of appeasement and the participation of Congress in theKhilafat movement.
In 1928, he joinedLala Lajpat Rai,Jawaharlal Nehru, and many others in protesting against theSimon Commission, which had been set up by theBritish to consider India's future. Just as the "Buy British" campaign was sweeping England, he issued amanifesto on 30 May 1932 urging concentration on the "Buy Indian" movement in India.[23] Malaviya was a delegate at theSecond Round Table Conference in 1931.
During theSalt March, he was arrested on 25 April 1932 along with 450 other Congress volunteers in Delhi, only a few days after he was appointed as the president of Congress following the arrest ofSarojini Naidu.[24] In 1933, at Calcutta, Malaviya was again appointed as the president of the Congress. Before independence, Malaviya was the only leader of the Indian National Congress to be appointed as its president for four terms.
On 24 September 1932, an agreement known asPoona Pact was signed betweenDr. B R Ambedkar (on behalf of the depressed classes among Hindus) and Mahatma Gandhi (on behalf of the other Hindus). The agreement guaranteed reserved seats for the depressed classes in the provisional legislatures within the general electorate, and not by creating a separate electorate. Because of the pact, the depressed class received 148 seats in the legislature, instead of the 71 as allocated in theCommunal Award proposal of the British prime ministerRamsay MacDonald. After the pact, theCommunal Award was modified to include the terms as per the pacts. The text uses the term "Depressed Classes" to denote Untouchables among Hindus who were later called Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under India Act 1935, and in the Indian Constitution of 1950.[25]
In protest against theCommunal Award to provide separate electorates for minorities, Malaviya andMadhav Shrihari Aney left the Congress and started theCongress Nationalist Party. The party contested the1934 elections to the central legislature and won 12 seats.[26]
Malaviya started his journalistic career as editor of the Hindi dailyHindustan in 1887. Raja Rampal Singh of Kalakankar (Pratapgadh District), impressed by the speech and personality of Malaviya during the second Congress Session in Calcutta held in 1886, requested him to assume this position.[27][28]
In 1889, he became the editor of the "Indian Opinion". After the incorporation of "Indian Opinion" with the "Advocate" of Lucknow, Malaviya started his own Hindi weekly "Abhyudaya"(1907–1909 under his editorship).[15]
Malaviya's poems (sawaiyas) were published sometime in 1883–84 under the pseudonym of 'Makrand' inHarischandra Chandrika magazine (published byBharatendu Harishchandra). His articles on religious and contemporary subjects were published in 'Hindi Pradeepa'.[27]
When the British government promulgated The Newspaper (Incitement to Offences) Act in 1908[29] and theIndian Press Act, 1910, Malaviya started a campaign against them and called for an All India Conference in Allahabad. He then realised the need of an English newspaper to make the campaign effective throughout the country. As a result, with the help ofMotilal Nehru, he started an English daily, theLeader, in 1909, where he was Editor (1909–1911) and President (1911–1919).[27]
In 1910, Malaviya started the Hindi paperMaryada.[27]
In 1924, Malaviya along with the help of national leadersLala Lajpat Rai,M. R. Jayakar and industrialistGhanshyam Das Birla, acquiredThe Hindustan Times and saved it from an untimely demise.[30] Malaviya raised Rs. 50,000 for the acquisition, with Birla paying most of it. Malaviya was the chairman ofHindustan Times from 1924 to 1946. His efforts resulted in the launch of its Hindi edition 'Hindustan' in 1936. The paper is now owned by theBirla family.
In 1933, Malaviya startedSanatana Dharma from BHU, a magazine dedicated to religious, dharmic interests.[27]
In 1891, Malaviya completed his LL.B. fromAllahabad University and started practice in Allahabad District Court. He practised at the High Court from 1893. He earned significant respect as one of the most brilliant lawyers of the Allahabad High Court. He gave up his legal practice when at his pinnacle in 1911 on his 50th birthday so that he could serve the nation thereafter.
About his legal career, SirTej Bahadur Sapru regarded him...a brilliant Civil Lawyer and SirMirza Ismail said –I have heard a great lawyer say that if Mr. Malaviya had so willed it, he would have been an ornament to the legal profession.[31]
Malaviya only donned his lawyer's robe once more, in 1924 following theChauri Chaura incident in which a police station was attacked and set on fire in February 1922, as a result of which Mahatma Gandhi called off the then launchedNon-cooperation movement. The sessions court had sentenced 170 persons to the gallows for the attack. However, Malaviya defended them in the Allahabad High Court and was able to save 155 of them. The remaining 15 also were recommended for clemency by the High Court, whereafter their sentences were commuted from death to life imprisonment.[32][citation needed]
In April 1911,Annie Besant met Malaviya and they decided to work for a common Hindu University inVaranasi. Besant and fellow trustees of theCentral Hindu College, which she had founded in 1898, also agreed to the Government of India's precondition that the college become a part of the new university. ThusBanaras Hindu University (BHU) was established in 1916, through a parliamentary legislation, the 'Banaras Hindu University Act of 1915', and today it remains a prominent institution of learning in India.[3][33] In 1939, he left the vice-chancellorship of BHU and was succeeded byS. Radhakrishnan, who later became thepresident of India.[34]
Spread over 16.5 km2 (4,100 acres) with a student population of about 30,000, BHU is the largest residential university in Asia.
Malaviya' son Pandit Govind Malaviya served as the vice-chancellor of BHU from 1948 to 1951. His grandson JusticeGiridhar Malaviya was the chancellor of BHU from 2018 to 2024, till his demise.
Malaviya foundedGanga Mahasabha to oppose the damming of theGanga. He compelled the British government to sign an agreement withGanga Mahasabha and other Hindu religious leaders on uninterrupted flow of the Ganga inHaridwar and protection from any future obstruction. This agreement is known asAviral Ganga Raksha Samjhuata 1916 or the Agreement of 1916. Malaviya played an important part in the removal of untouchability and in giving direction to theHarijan movement. TheHarijan Sevak Sangh was founded at a meeting in 1933 at which Pandit Malaviya presided.[15]
Malaviya asserted –if you admit internal purity of human soul, you or your religion can never get impure or defiled in any way by touch or association with any man.[35]
To solve the problem of untouchability, Malaviya followed a Hindu method, of givingMantradīkshā to untouchables. He said, "Mantras would be a certain means of their upliftment socially, politically and spiritually."[35] He worked for the eradication of caste barriers in temples and other social barriers. Malaviya contributed significantly to ensuring the entry of the so-called untouchables into any Hindu temple. In March 1936, Hindu Dalit (Harijan) leader P. N. Rajbhoj along with a group of 200 Dalit people demanded entry at theKalaram Temple on aRath Yatra day.[36] Malaviya in the presence of priests of Kalaram Temple, gavediksha to the assembled people and facilitated their entry into the temple.[36] They then also participated in the Rath Yatra of Kalaram Temple.[36]
He establishedBharati Bhawan Library on 15 December 1889 with his friend Lala Brajmohan Jee Bhalla inAllahabad. In 1901 Malaviya established a boys' hostel named Hindu Hostel (Hindu Boarding House) inAllahabad.[31]
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Scouting in India was initially introduced byRobert Baden Powell, though only British, European and Anglo Indian students could join the organisation known asBritish Boy Scouts. Scouting for native Indians was started by JusticeVivian Bose, after independence in 1947. Officials from Hindustan Scouts and Guides were hired by the Government of India when the country became independent to continue the functioning of British Boy Scouts, renamed as theBharat Scouts and Guides.
Newspaper reports of the resignation of Indian Railways officer Sri Ram Vajpei on grounds of racial discrimination despite being qualified in scouting with its highest degree LT, in England prompted the then president of Congress Malaviya to inform himself about the scouting movement. With the support of other members,Hridayanath Kunzru,Girija Shankar Bajpai,Annie Besant andGeorge Arundale, Malaviya started an organisation called theAll India Sewa Samiti under Sewa Bharti unit to conduct scouting activities. While the British refused initially to recognise the scouting education imparted by the Samiti, Baden Powell himself advocated the recognition of Indian Scouting as co-curricular education in school, after a visit to India afforded him the opportunity to learn of the association's activities.
Thanks to Malaviya's efforts, scouting units from across the sub-continent came together to create the Hindustan Scouts Association. Later, the Guides association in India managed by Dr Besant also joined to form the Hindustan Scouts and Guides Association.
Malaviya also notably contributed the MAMOMA short code secret language in scouting, now widely used across the world. The name "MAMOMA" is derived from the initials of his name.[37]
The slogan "Satyameva Jayate" (Truth alone triumphs) is also a legacy of Malaviya. Presiding over the Indian National Congress session of 1918 at Delhi, he declared that this phrase from theMundaka Upanishad should be the slogan for the nation.[38]
Malaviya started the tradition ofAarti atHar ki PauriHaridwar to the sacredGanga river which is performed even today. TheMalaviya Dwipa, a small island across the ghat, is named after him and a bust of his was erected on it. The Indian Post issued stamps in his honour in 1961 and 2011 to celebrate his 100th and 150th birth anniversaries, respectively.
The Malaviya Nagar neighbourhoods inAllahabad,Lucknow,Delhi,Dehradun,Bhopal,Durg andJaipur are named after him, as is a square inJabalpur city, Malaviya Chowk.Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT) atJaipur is named after him, as isMadan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology inGorakhpur, UP. The Hostels ofIIT Kharagpur,IIT Roorkee Saharanpur Campus andBITS Pilani, Pilani and Hyderabad campuses are also named Malaviya Bhawan after him. In memory of him, Shrigoud Vidya Mandir, Indore celebrates his birth anniversary as Mahamana Divas on every 25 December. They have also declared a fellowship programme for poor Sanatan Vipra boys on this day.
Malaviya's life size portrait was unveiled in the Central Hall of India's Parliament by the then president of IndiaDr. Rajendra Prasad, and a life-size statue was unveiled in 1961 by the then president of IndiaDr. S. Radhakrishnan in front of the BHU main gate on the occasion of his birth centenary. A bust of Malaviya was inaugurated in front of the main gate leading to the Assembly Hall and outside the porch, by the formerLt. governor of Delhi, Dr. A.N. Jha, on 25 December 1971.[21]
He is also remembered for his role in ending theIndian indenture system, especially in theCaribbean. His efforts in helping theIndo-Caribbeans is compared toMahatma Gandhi's efforts of helpingIndian South Africans.[39][40]
On 25 December 2008, on his birth anniversary, the national memorial of Mahamana Madan Mohan Malaviya, "Malaviya Smriti Bhawan" was inaugurated by the then president of IndiaA P J Abdul Kalam at 53, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg, in Delhi.[41]
2011 was celebrated as his 150th birth centenary by the Government of India under the Chairmanship of India's prime ministerDr Manmohan Singh, who announced the establishment of a Centre for Malaviya Studies at the Banaras Hindu University in addition to scholarships and education related awards in his memory, and UPA chairpersonSonia Gandhi released a biography of Madan Mohan Malaviya.
On 24 December 2014, Madan Mohan Malaviya was honored withBharat Ratna, India's highest civilian honour.[8]
TheMahamana Express train (plying between New Delhi and Varanasi) was flagged off by Prime Minister of IndiaNarendra Modi on 22 January 2016. The train is named after Malaviya and is equipped with modern facilities such as bio-toilets in every coach and air-conditioned compartments.
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