A patriot, freedom fighter, educationist, social reformer, journalist, lawyer, and politician, Madan Mohan Malaviya is remembered as a true servant of Mother India. Today (12 November), on the occasion of his death anniversary, many Union Ministers have paid tribute to him for his commendable work for the society.
Born on 25 December 1861 in Prayagraj (then Allahabad) in Uttar Pradesh. His father, Pandit Brajnath, was a humble man, who had dedicated his life to narrating and propagating the word of God. Since their ancestors were from Malwa in Madhya Pradesh, Madan Mohan was known as ‘Malaviya’. At the age of 5, he started studying Sanskrit. While he was known for being well versed in Sanskrit, Malaviya also had a strong command over the English language.
Due to the financial condition of his family, his mother mortgaged her bangles for Malaviya’s education. In 1884, he completed his BA from Calcutta University and started teaching in a school in Allahabad. Soon after he joined the Congress Party which had been established in 1885. In the second session of Congress held in December 1886, under the chairmanship of Dadabhai Naoroji, Malviya gave a speech on the issue of representation in the councils.
A Benevolent Lawyer
Raja Rampal Singh, the King of Kalakankar, a small province in the district of Kaushambi (Uttar Pradesh), used to publish a newspaper named ‘Hindustan’ at the time. Impressed by Malaviya’s talent, Raja Rampal called him and offered to make him Hindustan’s editor. Malaviya laid down a condition that the King would never speak to him after consuming alcohol, once the King agreed to this condition, Malaviya agreed to become the editor of ‘Hindustan’.
One fine day the King broke his condition, Malaviya promptly resigned, and even after Raja Rampal apologized for his act, Malaviya stood firm on his decision. Raja Rampal then requested Malaviya to study law; the King bore all the academic expenses involved. In 1891, after completing LLB from Allahabad, Malaviya started practicing law in the district court, and by December 1893, he began his practice in the Allahabad High Court. Malaviya was known for refusing any wrongful case, even if he was offered a good sum. He would instead prefer to fight cases for the poor for free.
Madan Mohan Malaviya the Journalist
Malaviya was involved in politics and the freedom movement, but he had a unique enthusiasm for journalism. Malviya started ‘Abhyudaya’ as a Hindi weekly in 1907 and in 1915 started publishing it daily. He also started a Hindi monthly ‘Maryada’ in 1910 along with another Hindi monthly in 1921. Malaviya also started an English daily ‘Leader’ in October 1909. He was also the chairman of the board of directors of ‘Hindustan Times’ from 1924 to 1946.
Gandhi had described him as a ‘clean stream.’
Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya’s political career started with the 1886 Congress session in Calcutta. After this, he was the President of Congress four times (1909, 1918, 1930 and 1932). Mahatma Gandhi respected him a lot. He wrote about Malaviya in an issue of Young India, “Tilak looked like the Himalayas to me. When I felt that it would not be possible for me to climb so high, I went to Gokhale. He seemed like a deep ocean to me. I felt that it was not possible for me to go so deep.” Gandhi wrote, “Finally I went to Malaviya ji. He seemed like a clear stream to me and I decided to take a dip in that holy stream.”
Mahatma Gandhi gave him the title of ‘Mahamana’ and the second President of India, Dr. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, gave him the status of ‘Karma-yogi’. Malviya was a follower of both Gopal Krishna Gokhale and Bal Gangadhar Tilak, and he was considered the leader of the ideology between the moderates and extremists in the freedom struggle.
In the year 1930, when Mohandas Gandhi started the Salt Satyagraha and the Civil Disobedience Movement, he actively participated in it and was also arrested. In 1934, he was anguished by the attitude of the Congress on the decision to hold elections on a communal basis; expressing his disappointment, he resigned from the party. Malaviya then founded the Congress National Party along with Madhav Shrihari Aney. Though Malaviya had many ideological differences with Mohandas Gandhi, Gandhi’s respect for him never waned.
Establishment of BHU
Malaviya wanted to create a university combining the traditions of India’s ancient centres of learning, such as Takshashila and Nalanda, with the modern universities of the West. He chose Banaras, which was then considered to be at the centre of the centuries-old Indian tradition of knowledge and spirituality. Malaviya founded the Hindu University Society in November 1911 and quit his law practice in December 1911 to work full time on the development of the university. The Banaras Hindu University Bill was passed in 1915, and the foundation stone of the university was laid in February 1916 with the support of personalities like Dr. Annie Besant.
Malaviya had launched a massive fundraising campaign for the university since 1912, and many kings, leaders, and scholars donated huge amounts to help him build & develop the university. By the beginning of 1915, 50 lakh rupees had been collected as donations, which were donated by the Maharaja of Bikaner, the Maharaja of Jodhpur, and the Maharaja of Kashmir. It is said that Malaviya travelled from Peshawar to Kanyakumari to collect donations for the construction of the university, and during this time he managed to collect a total of 1 crore, 64 lakh rupees.
Malaviya taught a lesson to the Nizam of Hyderabad
One such story of Madan Mohan Malaviya is extremely famous, where he humbled the Nizam of Hyderabad. Malaviya approached the Nizam to collect donations for his university and asked him for financial support, which the Nizam refused. The Nizam said that he would donate only a shoe for the cause. Malaviya felt incredibly insulted, he accepted the Nizam’s shoe and took it for an auction near Charminar. When the Nizam heard about this development, he was left red faced, he called on Malaviya and gave him a huge amount as donation.
Lawyer of the accused in the Chauri-Chaura and Kakori case
Malaviya had almost given up his law practice after joining politics, but in 1922, he again wore a lawyer’s coat to save the people involved in the Chauri-Chaura. He managed to get 153 out of the 172 people acquitted. During the Kakori train action, when the famous lawyer Jagat Narayan Mulla refused to defend the revolutionaries, Pandit Ram Prasad Bismil wrote a letter to Malaviya in September 1927. After this, Malaviya sent a report to the Viceroy for the release of the people involved in this action, which was signed by 78 people. However, the Viceroy rejected this report.
Malaviya remained attached to his Hindu identity throughout his life and started the concept of bringing back Hindus who had converted to Islam. In 1932, he formed the All India Swadeshi Sangh in Varanasi to promote the Swadeshi idea. He was always concerned about the fact that Hindus have little knowledge of their own religion, and he used to go to the Magh Mela in Allahabad to preach Hinduism to the masses.
This son of Mother India, who dreamt of the country’s independence throughout his life, died on 12 November 1946 at the age of 84. Paying homage to Malaviya, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru said, “He was one of those great people who laid the foundation of modern Indian nationalism and built a magnificent building of Indian independence by placing one brick and one stone on it.” Malaviya was posthumously awarded the country’s highest civilian honor, ‘Bharat Ratna’ in 2014.
