History and Art and Culture
In News: The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has paid tributes to Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya on his Jayanti. Shri Modi recalled Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya’s memorable contribution to enrich the education sphere.
Pt. MM Malviya:
- Born in Allahabad on December 25, 1861, Malviya took early education under the ‘pathshala’ system, and was proficient in Sanskrit.
- In 1879, he graduated from the Muir Central College (today’s Allahabad University) and started working as a teacher at a local high school.
Contributions:
- Founded Hindu Mahasabha in 1906
- Founded Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 1915
- served as Vice-Chancellor from 1919 to 1938.
- Malviya joined the Indian National Congress at its Calcutta session in 1886 — it had been founded a year previously at the Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Mumbai.
- He was president of INC four times – in 1909, 1918, 1932 and 1933.
- He was a social reformer and a successful legislator, serving as a member of the Imperial Legislative Council for 11 years (1909–20).
- Malviya espoused free and compulsory primary education, opposed the system of indentured labour in the British Empire, and supported the nationalisation of railways.
- In the freedom struggle, Malviya was midway between the Liberals and the Nationalists, the Moderates and the Extremists, as the followers of Gokhale and Tilak were respectively called.
- In 1930, when Mahatma Gandhi launched the Salt Satyagraha and the Civil Disobedience Movement, he participated in it and courted arrest.
- He gave two famous speeches on communal harmony- one in Lahore in 1922 and in Kanpur 1931.
- He created a non-governmental organization named Shri Mathura Vrindavan Hasanand Gochar Bhoomi in Vrindavan for Welfare of Cow
Achievements:
- He is referred to as ‘Mahamana’
- In 2015, the government bestowed Malviya with the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, 68 years after his death.
- In 2016, the Indian Railways started the Varanasi-New Delhi Mahamana Express in the leader’s honour.
- Books – A Criticism of Montagu-Chelmsford Proposals of Indian Constitutional Reform, Speeches and Writings.
Source: India today
Previous Year Questions
Q.1) During Indian freedom struggle, the National Social Conference was formed. What was the reason for its formation? (2012)
- Different social reform groups or organizations of Bengal region united to form a single body to discuss the issues of larger interest and to prepare appropriate petitions/ representations to the government.
- Indian National Congress did not want to include social reforms in its deliberations and
- decided to form a separate body for such a purpose.
- Behramji Malabari and M. G. Ranade decided to bring together all the social reform group of the country under one organization.
- None of the statements (a), (b) and (c) given above is correct in this context
