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Prime Minister of India pays tribute to Madan Mohan Malviya on his birth anniversary
About Madan Mohan Malviya(1861-1946)
- Known as ‘Mahamana’(a luminous mind and magnanimous heart), a title was given by Rabindranath Tagore, he was born on 25th December 1861, in Allahabad
- Malaviya was the son of Pandit Brij Nath, a noted Sanskrit scholar, and his early education took place at two Sanskrit pathshalas (traditional schools).
- After graduating from Muir Central College, Allahabad, in 1884, he took up teaching in a local school.
- He was a scholar, educational reformer, and a leader of the Indian nationalist movement
- Malviya made his political debut at the 1886 Calcutta (Kolkata) session of the Indian National Congress. And was elected president of Congress four times
- In protest against the Communal Award, Madan Mohan Malaviya and Madhav Aney split away from the Indian National Congress and started Congress Nationalist Party in 1934.
- He also served on the Imperial Legislative Council (1909–20)
- Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya was also one of the founders of Scout and Guide in India. Madan Mohan Malaviya was conferred the Bharat Ratna posthumously in 2014.
His contributions
- Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya was the one who popularized the term ‘ Satyamev Jayate’ which means ‘Truth Alone Triumphs’.
- Malviya participated actively in debates on issues including free and compulsory primary education, the prohibition on recruiting of Indian indentured labour in the British colonies, and the nationalization of railways.
- In the freedom struggle, Malaviya was midway between the Liberals and the Nationalists, the Moderates and the Extremists, as the followers of Gokhale and Tilak were respectively called.
- Though a strong supporter of Congress, Malaviya helped establish the Hindu Mahasabha (“Great Society of Hindus”) in 1906, which brought diverse local Hindu nationalist movements together.
- He is also remembered for his role in ending the Indian indenture system, especially in the Caribbean.
- His efforts in helping the Indo-Caribbeans is compared to Mahatma Gandhi’s efforts of helping Indian South Africans
- Malaviya, who was keenly interested in uplifting the educational standards of the country, was the principal founder in 1916 of the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, a premier institution of learning in India.
- He served as the university’s vice-chancellor for some two decades (1919–38) and remained active at the school until his death.
- Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya’s consciousness toward the public led to the launch of his own Hindi-language weekly, the Abhyudaya (1907), the Leader of Allahabad, an English-language daily (1909), and the Hindi monthly the Maryada (1910).
- In addition, he was chairman of the board of directors of the Hindustan Times from 1924 until he died.
Source: Britannica & The Indian Express
