As Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a specially-designed commemorative postage stamp and coin to mark the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) centenary celebrations right now, BJP Minority Morcha chief Jamal Siddiqui wrote to President Droupadi Murmu urging that the outfit’s founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar be posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna, the nation’s highest civilian honour.
In his letter, Siddiqui described Hedgewar as a “nice freedom fighter and architect of nation-building”, stressing that the highest honour wouldn’t solely recognise his “unparalleled contribution” but in addition encourage the youthful technology with nationalism.
Siddiqui argued that the RSS founder’s energetic participation within the freedom battle, his organisational expertise in nation-building, and his unifying imaginative and prescient for Indian society make him deserving of the Bharat Ratna.
“This honour wouldn’t solely recognise his private sacrifices but in addition encourage numerous swayamsevaks who serve the nation selflessly and anonymously,” Siddiqui wrote, including that in right now’s context, the place nationalism and cultural unity are being strongly emphasised, such recognition could be “inspirational”.
The letter requests the federal government to provoke the method of conferring the Bharat Ratna to the RSS founder on the earliest, marking a big second within the ongoing nationwide dialog round his legacy.
Born on April 1, 1889, in Nagpur, Hedgewar was drawn to patriotic causes from an early age. As a pupil, he overtly defied British rule by shouting “Vande Mataram” slogans at school. Throughout his medical research in bengal, he grew to become related to the Anushilan Samiti, drawing inspiration from nationalist thinkers like Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
His activism led to a number of arrests by the British. In 1921, he was jailed for a yr on sedition prices. In 1930, through the Salt Satyagraha, he was once more imprisoned for 9 months.
Undeterred, Hedgewar proclaimed: “India belongs to Indians; we demand full independence.”
In 1925, he based the RSS in Nagpur with the imaginative and prescient of uniting society and strengthening the nation towards divisive forces.
He died June 21, 1940.
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