Madan Mohan Malaviya

Madan Mohan Malaviya, an Indian politician, educator, and scholar best known for his work in the Indian independence struggle was born on December 25, 1861, and passed away on November 12, 1946. He was the creator of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha and served as the Indian National Congress’s fourth president. He was given the respectful title of Pandit and the title Mahamana (Great Soul). Malaviya co-founded the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), which was established under the 1915 BHU Act, in Varanasi in 1916 as part of his efforts to advance modern education among Indians. With approximately 40,000 students from all over the world studying in areas such as performing arts, law, management, engineering, linguistics, sciences, and technology, it is one of the largest residential universities in the world and the largest residential university in Asia. From 1919 to 1938, he served as the Banaras Hindu University’s vice chancellor. One of the founding members of The Bharat Scouts and Guides was Malaviya. In 1919, he established The Leader, an immensely popular English newspaper that was based in Allahabad. From 1924 to 1946, he served as the Chairman of the Hindustan Times. In 1936, the Hindustan Dainik, it’s Hindi edition, was released as a consequence of his efforts. The Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, was posthumously given to Malaviya on December 24, 2014 — the day before his 153rd birthday.

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About Madan Mohan Malaviya

Malaviya was born to Pandit Brijnath and Moona Devi on December 25, 1861, in Prayagraj, India, into a Hindu brahmin household. He was born in a tiny home owned by Sawal Das of Saryakund in the Lal Diggi neighbourhood (now Malviya Nagar). Pandit Premdhar Prasad, his grandpa, was the offspring of Pandit Vishnu Prasad of Malwa, who had settled in Prayagraj while other members of his family had relocated to Mirzapur, also in Uttar Pradesh. They acquired the moniker “Malaviya” because they were from Malwa (Ujjain), which is today in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh. Five sons—Sadhodhar Prasad, Murlidhar Prasad, Vansidhar Prasad, Baldhar Prasad, and Premdhar Prasad—were born to his great-grandfather Vishnu Prasad. Lalji, Bacchulalji, Gajadhar Prasad, and Brijnath Prasad were the four sons of his grandpa Premdhar Prasad. Bihari Lal, Manohar Lal, Shayamsundar, Jaykrishna, Madan Mohan, Lakshmi Narayana, Shubhardra, and Sukhdaei were among the six boys and two girls that his father, Pandit Brijnath, had. Malaviya was his parents’ fifth child. At the age of sixteen, he wed Kundan Devi, a Mirzapur native and Nand Lal’s daughter. His forebears earned a great deal of respect for their scholarship in Sanskrit and knowledge of Hindu texts. His father liked to recite the Srimad Bhagavatam and was well-versed in Sanskrit literature.

At age five, Malaviya enrolled at Mahajani Pathsala for her first year of school. He eventually enrolled in Hardeva’s Dharma Gyanopadesh Pathshala, finished his elementary schooling, and enrolled in a Vidha Vardini Sabha-run school. He then enrolled at Allahabad Zila School (Allahabad District School), where he began publishing his poems in periodicals and magazines such as Makarand. Malaviya enrolled in the Muir Central College, which is now the University of Allahabad, in 1879. Malaviya’s family had been struggling financially, but the principal of Harrison College gave them a monthly stipend so he could finish his B.A. at the University of Calcutta. Malaviya intended to pursue an M.A. in Sanskrit, but his family’s financial situation prevented him from doing so. Instead, his father encouraged him to enter the family business of the Bhagavat recital. At the Government High School in Allahabad, Madan Mohan Malaviya started his professional career as an assistant master in July 1884.

Political Career of Madan Mohan Malviya

Malaviya gave his first political speech in 1886 at a Calcutta meeting of the Indian National Congress. Malaviya went on to become one of the most influential political figures of his era and was four times elected as the head of Congress. Malaviya spoke about representation in councils at the second Indian National Congress meeting in Calcutta in December 1886, which was presided over by Dadabhai Naoroji. Along with Dadabhai, Raja Rampal Singh, the owner of the Kalakankar estate in Allahabad, who had launched the Hindi weekly Hindustan but was still looking for a competent editor to develop it into a daily, was also pleased by his address. Malaviya left the school in July 1887 and began working as the editor of the nationalist weekly. He stayed for 2.5 years before moving to Allahabad to pursue his L.L.B. studies. He was given the opportunity to co-edit The Indian Opinion, an English daily, in Allahabad. He began practising law in 1891 at the Allahabad District Court after earning his legal degree, and by December 1893 had transferred to the Allahabad High Court. From 1909 through 1918, Malaviya served as the Indian National Congress’s president. He was a moderate leader who rejected the Lucknow Pact of 1916’s provision for separate electorates for Muslims. He received the title “Mahamana” from Gandhi. In order to fulfil his promise to further the causes of social service and education, Malaviya gave up practising law in 1911.

Despite this commitment, he once stood in court and successfully argued for the acquittal of 156 independence fighters when 177 were found guilty and sentenced to be hung in the Chauri-Chaura case. Throughout his life, he lived according to the Sannyasa tradition and upheld his pledged vow to rely solely on social assistance. From 1912 until 1919, when it was replaced by the Central Legislative Assembly, he served as a member of the Imperial Legislative Council. He did so until 1926. Malaviya was a significant player in the campaign for non-cooperation. He disagreed with appeasement tactics and Congress’ involvement in the Khilafat movement. He followed Lala Lajpat Rai, Jawaharlal Nehru, and numerous others in opposing the Simon Commission, which the British had established to think about the future of India, in 1928. He published a manifesto on May 30, 1932, encouraging focus on the “Buy Indian” movement in India at the same time that the “Buy British” campaign was taking over England. Malaviya attended the Second Round Table Conference in 1931 as a delegate. He was detained on April 25, 1932, in Delhi as part of the Civil Disobedience Movement, just a few days after being named the new president of Congress in the wake of Sarojini Naidu’s detention. 450 other Congress workers were also detained with him.

Malaviya was reappointed as the President of the Congress in Calcutta in 1933. Malaviya was the lone member of the Indian National Congress to be elected as its president for four terms before to independence. Dr. Ambedkar and Mahatma Gandhi signed the Poona Pact on September 24, 1932, on behalf of Hindus from the lower social classes (on behalf of the other Hindus). The agreement did not establish a separate electorate but rather provided reserved seats for the underprivileged classes in the Provisional Assemblies. As a result of the agreement, the impoverished class gained 148 seats in the assembly as opposed to the 71 seats suggested by British Prime Minister Ramsay MacDonald in his proposal for a communal award. The Communal Award was altered following the pacts to include their provisions. The word “Depressed Classes” in the text refers to Hindus who were considered Untouchables and later known as Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes under the India Act of 1935 and the Indian Constitution of 1950. Malaviya and Madhav Shrihari Aney founded the Congress Nationalist Party in opposition to the Communal Award, which established separate electorates for minorities. In the 1934 battle for the central legislature, the party ran candidates and took home 12 seats.

Journalistic Career of Madan Mohan Malviya

In 1887, Malaviya began his career in journalism as Editor of the Hindi daily Hindostan. Malaviya was asked to fill this position by Raja Rampal Singh of Kalakankar (Pratapgadh District), who was impressed by his speech and demeanour at the second Congress Session in Calcutta in 1886. He was appointed Editor of the “Indian Opinion” in 1889. After “Indian Opinion” was merged with the Lucknow newspaper “Advocate,” Malaviya launched his own Hindi weekly, “Abhyudaya” (1907 – 1909 under his editorship). Malaviya’s poetry (sawaiyas) was published in the periodical “Harischandra Chandrika” sometime between 1883 and 1884 under the alias “Makrand” (published by Bharatendu Harishchandra). His essays on religious and modern topics appeared in “Hindi Pradeepa”.

Malaviya launched a campaign against the Indian Press Act of 1910 and The Newspaper (Incitement to Offences) Act of 1908, which the British government had enacted, and demanded an All India Conference in Allahabad. He then understood that an English newspaper was necessary for the campaign to be successful across the nation. As a result, he founded the English daily “Leader” in 1909 with the aid of Motilal Nehru, serving as its editor (1909 – 1911) and president (1911 – 1919). Malaviya founded the Hindi newspaper “Maryada” in 1910. Malaviya purchased The Hindustan Times in 1924 and prevented its premature demise with the aid of national leaders Lala Lajpat Rai, M. R. Jayakar, and entrepreneur Ghanshyam Das Birla. Birla contributed the majority of the Rs. 50,000 obtained by Malaviya for the purchase. From 1924 to 1946, Malaviya served as the Chairman of the Hindustan Times. His efforts led to the 1936 release of its Hindi translation, “Hindustan.” The Birla family currently owns the newspaper. Sanatana Dharma from BHU, a publication devoted to spiritual and dharmic concerns, was founded by Malaviya in 1933.

Legal Career of Madan Mohan Malviya

Malaviya obtained his LL.B. from Allahabad University in 1891 and commenced employment in the Allahabad District Court. He started working at the High Court in 1893. He gained a lot of recognition for being one of the Allahabad High Court’s most outstanding attorneys. He retired from the legal profession in 1911, at the age of 50, when it was at its peak, so that he may go on to serve the country. Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru thought highly of his legal career, describing him as an “excellent Civil Lawyer,” and Sir Mirza Ismail stated, “I have heard a famous lawyer declare that Mr. Malaviya would have been an ornament to the legal profession if he had so desired”.

Post the Chauri Chaura episode, in which a police station was stormed and set on fire in February 1922 as a consequence of which Mahatma Gandhi halted the then-launched Non-cooperation movement, Malaviya only put on his lawyer’s robe once again, in 1924. For the attack, the sessions court had sentenced 170 people to death by hanging. Malaviya, on the other hand, defended them at the Allahabad High Court and was successful in preserving 155 of them.

Banaras Hindu University (BHU)

When Annie Besant and Malaviya first met in April 1911, they made the decision to strive for a common Hindu university in Varanasi. Besant and her fellow trustees of the Central Hindu College, which she created in 1898, likewise consented to the Indian government’s demand that the college joins the brand-new university. Banaras Hindu University (BHU) was thus founded in 1916 as a result of parliamentary legislation known as the “Banaras Hindu University Act of 1915”, and it is still a well-respected educational institution in India. He quit his position as Vice-Chancellor of BHU in 1939, and S. Radhakrishnan, who would later become President of India, took over. BHU is the largest residential university in Asia, covering an area of the 16.5 kilometre square (4,100 acres) and housing over 30,000 students. From 1948 to 1951, Pandit Govind Malaviya, the vice chancellor of BHU, served as Malaviya’s son. Since 2018, his grandson Justice Giridhar Malaviya has served as Chancellor of BHU.

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Social Service by Madan Mohan Malviya

To prevent the damming of the Ganga, Malaviya established the Ganga Mahasabha. He forced the British administration to sign an agreement guaranteeing the continuing flow of the Ganga in Haridwar and protection from future obstruction by the Ganga Mahasabha and other Hindu religious leaders. The Agreement of 1916, also known as Aviral Ganga Raksha Samjhuata, is this arrangement. Malaviya was crucial in eradicating untouchability and providing the Harijan movement direction. In 1933, Pandit Malaviya presided over a meeting that resulted in the founding of the Harijan Sevak Sangh.

“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.” – Madan Mohan Malaviya

Malaviya used the Hindu solution of bestowing Mantradksh upon untouchables in order to address the issue of untouchability. Mantras would be a certain method of enhancing their social, political, and spiritual well-being, he claimed. He campaigned for the elimination of other social obstacles, such as caste distinctions in temples. Malaviya made a big contribution to ensuring that the so-called untouchables may enter any Hindu temple. A group of 200 Dalits and Hindu Dalit (Harijan) leader P. N. Rajbhoj demanded access to the Kalaram Temple on a Rath Yatra day in March 1936. In the presence of Kalaram Temple priests, Malaviya granted the gathered people Diksha and allowed their entrance into the temple. They later took part in the Kalaram Temple’s Rath Yatra. On December 15, 1889, he and his friend Lala Brajmohan Jee Bhalla founded the Bharati Bhawan Library in Allahabad. Malaviya founded the Hindu Hostel (Hindu Boarding House) for boys in Allahabad in 1901.

Scouting

Only British, European, and Anglo-Indian pupils may join the organisation known as the British Boy Scouts, which Robert Baden Powell first introduced to India. After India gained independence in 1947, Justice Vivian Bose began scouting for local Indians. When India gained independence, the government engaged representatives from Hindustan Scouts and Guides to carry on the work of British Boys Scouts, now known as The Bharat Scouts and Guides. The then-President of Congress Malaviya became aware of the scouting movement as a result of newspaper coverage regarding Indian Railways Officer Sri Ram Vajpei’s resignation due to racial prejudice despite having earned the highest degree in scouting—LT—in England.

Malaviya founded the All India Seva Samiti under the Sewa Bharti unit with the help of other members Hridayanath Kunzru, Girija Shankar Bajpai, Annie Besant, and George Arundale to carry out scouting activities. Although the British initially refused to acknowledge the scouting education provided by the Samiti, Baden Powell himself advocated for the recognition of Indian Scouting as co-curricular education in schools after having the chance to learn about the association’s activities during a visit to India. The Hindustan Scouts Association was founded by scouting groups from all over the subcontinent as a result of Malaviya’s efforts. Later, the Dr. Besant-run Guides association in India united to become the Hindustan Scouts and Guides Association. Malaviya made a significant contribution to the development of the now-common MAMOMA short code secret language for scouting. His name’s initials are used to create the name “MAMOMA”.

Legacy of Madan Mohan Malviya

Another one of Malaviya’s legacies is the saying “Satyameva Jayate” (Truth alone wins). This statement from the Mundaka Upanishad should be the national anthem, he proclaimed while presiding over the Indian National Congress session in Delhi in 1918. Malaviya established the still-performed Aarti practice at Har ki Pauri Haridwar to the revered Ganga river. A bust of him was built on the Malaviya Dwipa, a small island across the ghat, which bears his name. In 1961 and 2011 to commemorate his 100th and 150th birthdays, the Indian Post issued stamps in his honour. Malaviya Chowk, a square in Jabalpur City, and the Malaviya Nagar neighbourhoods in Allahabad, Lucknow, Delhi, Dehradun, Bhopal, Durg, and Jaipur bear his name. Both the Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, and the Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT) in Jaipur bear his name. In his honour, Malaviya Bhawan is the name of the dorms at IIT Kharagpur, IIT Roorkee Saharanpur Campus, and BITS Pilani’s Pilani and Hyderabad campuses. Every year on December 25th, Shrigoud Vidya Mandir in Indore observes Mahamana Divas to commemorate his birth. On this day, they have also announced a fellowship programme for underprivileged Sanatan Vipra boys.

The then-President of India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, revealed a life-size portrait of Malaviya in the Central Hall of the Indian Parliament, and on the anniversary of the centennial of his birth, Dr. S. Radhakrishnan unveiled a life-size statue in front of the main gate of the BHU. On December 25, 1971, Dr. AN Jha, a former lieutenant governor of Delhi, unveiled a bust of Malaviya outside the porch and in front of the main Gate leading to the Assembly Hall. The national memorial of Mahamana Madan Mohan Malaviya, “Malaviya Smriti Bhawan,” was opened by the then-President of India, A P J Abdul Kalam, on December 25, 2008, his birthday. It is located at 53, Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Marg in New Delhi. Under the direction of India’s prime minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh, the government of India commemorated Madan Mohan Malaviya’s 150th birthday in 2011. Sonia Gandhi, then chairperson of the UPA, also published a biography of Madan Mohan Malaviya, and a centre for Malaviya studies was established at the Banaras Hindu University.

Madan Mohan Malaviya received the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian accolade in India, on December 24, 2014. On January 22, 2016, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi signalled the departure of the Mahamana Express, which runs between New Delhi and Varanasi. The Malaviya named train is furnished with contemporary amenities including air-conditioned rooms and bio-toilets in every coach.

Works of Madan Mohan Malviya

• In Vrindavan, he founded a non-profit organisation called Shri Mathura Vrindavan Hasanand Gochar Bhoomi for the welfare of cows.
• A critique of the Montagu-Chelmsford constitutional reform ideas for India. Printed in 1918 by C. Y. Chintamani.
• Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya’s speeches and publications. 1919 G.A. Natesan published it.

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