Dr K B Hedgewar: Great son of Mother India

Er T R Bhagat
No matter how many lectures we give or listen to, until we work on what is talked, we should not expect our goal to be achieved even by mistake. An eight-year child threw away the sweets distributed on the occasion of the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria’s coronation and started questioning how a handful of foreigners could rule over a vast and ancient nation like Bharat for so long. The eight-year child was none other than Keshav Balram Hedgewar, also known as ‘Janamjaat Deshbhakt’. Born on Varsha Pratipade, the Hindu New Year, April 1, 1989 at Nagpur, his parents were Baliram Pant Hedgewar and Revati, a couple of modest means. The couple had six children -three daughters and three sons, Mahadev, Sitaram and the youngest Keshav. When Keshav was just thirteen, both his parents succumbed to plague epidemic. His elder brothers, Mahadev and Sitaram Pant ensured that he received a good education. While studying in high school, he started participating in nationalist activities and unfurled banner of independence during Dusserah at Rampayali in 1907. The intensity of his urge to free Motherland grew steadily. In 1908, he was expelled from school for leading the students in raising seditious cry of ‘Vande Mataram’. He thereafter moved to Pune to complete his matriculation. After completing matriculation, he was sent to Kolkata by B S Moonje in 1910 to pursue his medical studies from where he got first-hand acquaintance with the underground movement. He soon became a core member of one of the leading revolutionary groups called ‘Anusheelan Samiti’ and also plunged himself into various social service activities. When river Damodar was in flood in 1913, he rushed to join relief team. He returned to Nagpur in 1916 as a qualified doctor but he did not practice medicine. Despite dire poverty at home, he preferred to become a physician to cure ills of the nation. By then, he had established active contact with stalwarts like Lokmanya Tilak, Dr Munje and Loknayak M S Anay. His speeches of those days were sheer fire and brimstone. It was not long before he had to face court-trials. In one such trial, he defended himself declaring, ‘The only Government that has a right to exist is a government of the people. Europeans and those who call themselves the government of this country should recognize that time for their graceful exit from country has come. He worked in various responsible positions in Congress. After getting released from prison, Dr Hedgewar continuously immersed in various social and political activities and intensified his quest for an understanding of true nature of the nation and the value of freedom struggle for emancipation from the foreign rule. He believed that Bharat is not a nation born recently. It has not only been a nation for millennia but also had made phenomenal progress in science and technology. It is also a fact of history that the cultural empire of Bharat extended to the whole of South-East Asia for over four centuries. Equally, it is sad fact of history that social disunity and dissension have been the cause of Bharat’s political subjugation by alien invaders.
The 800 year-long resistance of Hindus to Islamic rule had its own lesson for British. Seeing that physical repression would not be much avail for the British, through subtle and notso subtle ways, they attempted to subjugate the Hindu mind itself. They did succeed in parts; and a westward-looking social segment was created, mainly through enforcing the new system of education tailored to generate armies of clerks end ‘Brown Sahib’. Needless to say, in such an environment, a cleavage developed between the society and its cultural roots and legacy. The nation’s identity started eroding. To such a national self-oblivion, a cure had to be found. Congress leader’s policy of appeasement of Muslims was one symptom of the malaise. It is an irony of history that even after paying price of division of their cherished motherland, the Hindus have been created as second-order citizens by successive governments of post-independent India. This was indeed foreseen by Dr Hedgewar. Years of thinking had convinced him that a strong and united Hindu society alone is the sine qua non for the very survival of Bharat as an independent sovereign nation. Social cohesion alone could ensure national integrity. In response to this challenge, Dr Hedgewar decided to start a unique organization to solve the problems. He took a vow to remain a bachelor and devote his entire life and energy to the aforesaid noble cause. For this purpose, he founded the ‘Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’ on Vijayadashmi on Sept 27, 1925. He selected a group of young boys who would assemble in an open field every day for one hour. During that time, in addition to playing national games, he began to inculcate in them a sense of patriotism, unity, discipline, love for country and selflessness, by singing patriotic songs and narration of stories of patriotism. He appealed to the youth to spare one hour a day for the Nation by attending the ‘Shakha’ (the meeting). He visualized that the one-hour programme in the Shakha would ultimately transform the youth to devote greater time and energy to the service of the Nation.
Dr Hedgewar never used to impose his ideologies on others. In fact for the naming of Sangh, he arranged a ‘Baithak’ (meeting) in his house on April 7, 1926 where 26 persons participated and name was suggested after an elaborate discussion. Among names, ‘Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh- RSS’, ‘Jaripataka Mandal’ and ‘Bharatoddharak-Mandal’, the name RSS was finally decided. He said that irrespective of castes, religions and language etc., we are all children of Bharat Mata who shall be common deity to be worshipped by all of us and the common ideal of all and we shall strive for all-round progress and development of the nation and works towards taking the nation to the pinnacle of glory. He also said that one hour of ‘Shakha’ was to motivate Swayamsevaks to inspire them to dedicate themselves to the noble and onerous task of nation-building. Once Dr B R Ambedkar has said, “I was born a Hindu but I shall not die a Hindu”. Dr Hedgewar did not ridicule or rebuke him because he understood the ordeal Dr Ambedkar went through to say those words. So, he invited him over to Sangh to address the members. When Dr Ambedkar visited Sangh, he asked Dr Hedgewar where the untouchables were. He replied that in a Shakha there are no touchables or untouchables, there are only Hindus. Dr B R Ambedkar then realized that the Shakha was an absolutely equal place with no caste consciousness. Once Dr Hedgewar came across an area, where he saw a colony named ‘Hindu Colony’. He then remarked that why do Hindus have a colony named after them, when the entire nation belongs to them? He helped us to see the Hindus beyond a community and as a nation. Dr Hedgewar’s health deteriorated in the later years of his life after he suffered from chronic back-pain. He started delegating his responsibilities to M S Golwalker, who later succeeded him as ‘Sarsanghachalak of RSS’. In January 1940, he was taken to Rajgir in Bihar for hot spring treatment. He attended the annual Sangh Shiksha Varg (Officer Training Camp) in 1940, where he gave his last message to Swayamsevaks, “I see before my eyes today a miniature Hindu Rashtra”. He died on June 21, 1940 in Nagpur and his last rites were performed in Resham Bagh in Nagpur, which was later developed as Hedgewar Smruti Mandir. Hedgewar was described as ‘Great son of Mother India’ by former President of India Pranab Mukherjee during his visit to Hedgewar’s birthplace in Nagpur.
(The author is a retired Chief Engineer R&B and Vice-President BJP, J&K).

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