Why
in News?
·
The Narendra Modi government is bent on making a
course correction in Indian iconography.
·
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is systematically
erasing existing Nehru-Gandhi symbols and replacing them with Hindu or
nationalist icons.
New presiding deities of
holistic Indian history
Ø Rani Ma Gaidinliu
Ø Deen Dayal
Upadhyaya
Ø Vallabbhai Patel
Ø Nanaji Deshmukh
Ø
Syama Prasad Mookerjee
Ø
Rajendra Chola
Ø
Swami Vivekananda
Ø
Sri Aurobindo
Ø
Hemu Vikramaditya
Ø
Sri Narayana Guru
Ø
Ayyankali and
Ø Shaheed
Ashfaqullah Khan
(01) Rani Ma Gaidinliu
·
From North East (1915-1993) [born in Assam
·
Freedom fighter
·
Spent 14 years in jail from 1933 to 1947 fighting the
British
·
Jawahar Lal Nehru gave her the title ‘Rani’ / ‘Ma’ in
1937
·
Sansh Parivar decided to celebrate in 2015 as her
centenary year
·
A National Implementation Committee has asked the
government to confer a Bharat Ratna on Gaidinliu
·
Opposed the conversion of Nagas to Christians
·
Padma Bhushan Award winner
·
Postal Stamp issued
on her memory in 1996
(02) Deen Dayal Upadhaya
·
From Uttar Pradesh (1916-1968)
·
Modi’s political guru
·
Modi invoked Deen Dayal Upadhyaya name in his maiden
speech in the Central Hall of Parliament on May 20, 2014
·
Modi promised to celebrate 2015 as Upadhyaya’s
Centenary Year
·
September 25 (his birthday) would be celebrated as
‘Antyodaya Diwas’
·
2015 will be hailed as the year of Integral Humanism,
a concept propounded by Upadhyaya
·
The Modi government relaunched its rural skills
programme as Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana to train one million
rural youth by 2017
·
Modi dedicated the Make in India
·
Editor of Panchjanya (weekly) and Swadesh
(Daily)
·
In Hindi, he has written a drama Chandragupta Maurya
·
Wrote a biography of Shankaracharya
·
He translated a Marathi biography of Hedgewar(the
founder of RSS)
·
Assassinated on Feb 11, 1968 at Mughalsarai in UP,
while travelling in a train; The Congress government of the time constituted
the Chudaman Commission but no action was taken despite the fact that the
commission pointed fingers at some people.
·
Now his family has asked Modi for an inquiry.
·
From Gujarat
(Oct 31, 1875 – Dec 15, 1950)
·
Sardar Vallabbhai Patel’s birth anniversary
celebrations replaced Indira Gandhi’s death anniversary on October 31 (Congress
got so much angry and said Modi and BJP has forgotten he former PM who as assassianted)
·
Modi decided to celebrate Oct 31 as National Unity
Day (All union ministers and BJP CMs took part in the ‘Run for Unity’ program)
·
Since the government has decided to use public media
extensively, Doordarshan telecast the celebrations at Patel’s village Karamsad,
Gujarat
·
Modi’s dream project of building the world’s tallest
statue (182 metres) of Patel will take shape with Gujarat
government clearing the Rs. 2,989-crore work order to Larsen & Toubro for
building the Statue of Unity, near Narmada Dam.
·
India
·
He was one of the first Congress leaders to accept
the partition of
·
He ordered to reconstruct the Somnath
Temple in Gujarat
in 1948
·
Rajagopalachari, Nehru and Patel was commonly called
as triumvirate (ruled India
·
Patel called as “Bismarck of India”
·
Patel was a key force behind the appointment of Dr.
Ambedkar as chairman of the drafting committee
·
Patel was responsible for bringing the 2 Anglo-Indian
representations in the Lok Sabha
·
Patel was also instrumental in the founding the IAS
and IPS
·
Subash Chandra Bose strongly criticised Patel
·
In 1982 Gandhi film by Richard Attenbourg
actor Saeed Jaffrey portrayed the role of Patel
(04) Syama Prasad Mookerjee
·
From West Bengal
(1901 – 1953)
·
Barrister from England
·
Youngest VC of Calcutta
University (at this time, he established the museum of Indian Archeology
·
Active in Asiatic society of Calcutta
·
President of Hindu Mahasabha (1940-44)
·
Opposed Sarat Suharawady pact, which aimed to create
separate “Bengal ” nation
·
Minster of Industries and Supply in Nehru’s Interim
Central government
·
But resigned due to Delhi Pact
·
Founder of Bharatiya Jansangh
·
Wanted Uniform civil code
·
Wanted full integration of Jammu and Kashmir
·
Arrested in Kashmir
and kept in jail; there he died; it created wide spread rumours
·
Former PM Vajpayee in 2004 said that, the arrest of
Mookerjee in Jammu and Kashmir
·
Budget 2014: Scheme named after him (Shyama Prasad
Mukerjee Rural Mission)
·
The then Delhi’s Sheila Dikshit government named the
Municipal Corporation of Delhi’s new Rs.650-crore building Doctor Syama Prasad
Mookerjee Civic Centre (in 2010)
·
Modi government has approached the BBC for its
footage on his interview in 1953 on the future of Indian democracy—his first
and probably last to be aired.
·
Though Mookerjee was a renowned educationist, no
university has been named after him yet
Quick Flashback about Delhi
·
Signed between Nehru and Pakistan
·
To prevent communal violence and persecution of
refugees.
Salient Features
Ø Equal citizenship
to minorities in both countries. Their minority rights will be enforced.
Ø Refugees can
return to dispose their properties.
Ø Abducted women,
looted properties will be returned.
Ø Forced religious
conversions will be unrecognized.
Ø We’ll appoint
minority commissions to implement these terms.
Ø Shayama Prasad
Mukerjee opposed this pact because two similar agreements were made in past but
they were failure. So, he felt Pakistanis would not honor this third agreement
either.
(05)
Rajendra Chola
·
From Tamil Nadu (1012 – 1044 CE)
·
It has carefully picked up
personalities who represent the Hindu identity in the South, where they are
very keen to expand their base.
·
BJP/ RSS are eyeing Kerala and Tamil Nadu for their
political win in a big way
·
As Gangaikondacholapuram in Thanjavur celebrated the
1,000th anniversary of the coronation of Chola ruler Rajendra Chola, the RSS
declared its support for the event.
·
Mohan Bhagwat had first invoked Chola during his
Vijay Dashami annual lecture in early October.
·
Chola had created a Tamil Hindu empire that stretched
right up to the Malacca covering Sri Lanka ,
Lakshadweep, the Maldives , Myanmar , Indonesia ,
Malaysia , Laos , Cambodia
and Vietnam
·
During his rule, several grand temples and stupas
were constructed in India , Sri Lanka and South East
Asia .
·
Rajendra Chola also set up a University for the study
of the Vedas.
·
To promote cultural unity he sent his general Aryan
Rajrajan to bring holy water of the Ganga ,
which he ceremonially mixed with the Kaveri waters to build a grand lake. It
earned him the sobriquet Gangai Konda Cholan
·
The Sangh and its affiliated bodies are chalking out
programmes to mark the event.
.jpg)
(06) Swami Vivekananda
·
From West Bengal (12
Jan 1863 – 04 Jul 1902)
·
His birthday (Jan 12) is being celebrated as National Youth Day
·
Modi would be attending a
function on November 19 to mark the centenary celebration of RSS parcharak
Eknath Ranade, who was instrumental in setting of Vivekananda Rock Memorial in
Kanyakumari
·
Swami Vivekananda has been Modi’s constant companion
in all his journeys.
·
Modi gifted a book on Vivekananda to Japanese PM
Shinzo Abe during his Japan
·
Modi observed that 9/11 may not have occurred had the
world followed Swamiji’s message.
·
President Obama reciprocated by gifting Modi a rare
book on the Parliament of World’s Religions of 1893, which includes a paper of
Swami Vivekananda.
·
Since 2013-14 marks the 150th birth anniversary of
Vivekananda, the Sangh Parivar is taking his message to the grassroots, having
reached out to over 40 million households.
·
To commemorate the day in 1893, when Swami
Vivekananda delivered his famous speech at the World Parliament of Religions in
Chicago (Sep 11), Smriti Irani has asked all Vice Chancellors to set up
Vivekananda chairs and study centres at their universities.
·
A girl child scholarship scheme called Swami
Vivekananda Scholarship Programme was announced under which 300 scholars would
be provided junior research fellowships offering Rs. 8,000 to Rs. 10,000 per
month.
·
Some of his books: “Raja Yoga”, “Karma Yoga”,
“My Master”, “Lectures from Colombo to Almora”
(07) Sri Aurobindo
·
From West Bengal (15
Aug 1872 -05 Dec 1950)
·
While delivering his first Independence Day speech at
the Red Fort on August 15, 2014 Modi said that Aurobindo and India
·
Modi said, Maharishi
Aurobindo, being a rebel, moved on to achieve the status of a Yoga Guru
·
BJP government is yet to announce any scheme after
Aurobindo
·
Sources say he is bound to find a place in the
history books when the government drafts a new education policy which will
review India
·
Modi had invoked Aurobindo’s name during his national
poll campaign in Kolkata in May.
·
BJP chief Amit Shah also said about Aurobindo
·
While Tilak popularised politics and gave it a force
and vitality it had hitherto lacked, Aurobindo spiritualised it and became the
high-priest of nationalism as a religious creed …… The (Freedom) Movement was
specially or more directly inspired by the teachings of Bankim Chandra,
Vivekananda and Aurobindo – Historian Majumdar
·
Some of the books by Aurobindo: “Collected Works”,
“Life Divine”, “Synthesis of Yoga”, “Savitri”, “Agenda”
(08) Nanji Deshmukh
·
From Maharashtra (11
Oct 1916 – 26 Feb 2010)
·
Modi had paid tribute to Nanaji’s organizational
skills during the launch of the six volume work on the ideologue, ‘Viraat
Purush’
·
Mookerjee and Upadhyaya were the political prophets
of Hindutva
·
Grand old man of the Sangh, Nanaji Deshmukh was its
philosophical and social anchor.
·
Actively participated in Bhoodam Movement started by
Vinobha Bhave
·
Strongly opposed Indira Gandhi’s emergency
·
Deshmukh’s birth centenary is being planned in a big
way next year.
·
The Deendayal Research Foundation would be promoting
projects started by Nananji around Chitrakoot and Banda districts in Uttar
Pradesh.
·
Nominated to Rajya Sabha by NDA in 1999
·
Awarded Padma Vibhushan
(09) Samrat Hemu Vikramaditya
·
From Haryana (1501 – 1556)
·
The BJP is harking back to India
·
One such hero is Samrat Hem Chandra Vikramaditya, also
called Hemu
·
Hemu captured
·
The RSS organised a seminar on Hemu at the
prestigious National Museum in Delhi
·
These are not new icons. One-sided history has been
the fashion. Our national heroes were ignored. Some historians who were afraid
are now coming forward. Our supporters are there in all research organisations
– RSS
·
Hemu won won 22 battles against Afghan rebels from
1553–1556 from Punjab to Bengal . At the 2nd
battle of Panipat, Hemu was on verge of victory when he was struck by an arrow
in his eye. He was captured and beheaded by Akbar. – Haryana Government website
(10) Sree Narayana Guru
·
From Kerala (1856 – 1928)
·
The Sangh and its affiliated
bodies are chalking out programmes to mark the event. It’s not Tamil Nadu alone
where the BJP has cast its saffron net. In Kerala, where polarization is deep,
the party is wooing local icons.
·
Last year Modi visited 19-century Ezhava reformer Sri
Narayana Guru’s Sivagiri Mutt located near Thiruvananthapuram and called for an
end to untouchability, both social and political.
·
Modi said: Hindu society has always produced saints,
social reformers. People have followed their path and corrected the wrongs in
society. A big name in that is that of Sree Narayana Guru Swamy
·
Commemorative coins issued by the RBI in 2006 on the
occasion of his 150th birth anniversary
·
Translated the much famed Tamil Thirukural
(11) Mahatma
Ayyankali
·
From Kerala (1863 -1941)
·
Modi reached out to Dalits
when he attended the 152th birth anniversary of Dalit icon, the Kerala-born
Ayyankali in Delhi
·
Modi hailed Ayyankali as social reformer who fought
against the social evils, even before Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar.
·
In 1913 when Ayyankali was denied permission to
organise a conference of Dalits, he held it at sea, on a platform created by
lashing several boats together.
·
If Mahatma Gandhi’s Dandi March was a turning point
in India
·
From Uttar Pradesh (1900 – 1927)
·
The new political pantheon is not exclusively Hindu,
either
·
Shaheed Ashfaqulla Khan is the only Muslim freedom
fighter whose picture adorns the wall of the BJP office
·
An aspiring revolutionary and poet, Ashfaqullah felt
let down when Gandhi called off Non-Cooperation Movement after the Chauri
Chaura incident
·
He used to write with the pen name of ‘Hasrat’ and
‘Warsi’
·
Mostly wrote Urdu poet but also wrote in English and
Hindi
·
Involved in much famous Kakori Train Robbery along
with 8 members
·
British shocked; put CID investigation; CID traced
all except Ashfaqulla
·
Ashaqfulla escaped to Delhi
in a plan to leave India and
meet Lala Har Dayal (for seeking his help in freedom for India
·
But he was caught by police with the help of his own
friend named Pathan
·
British awarded 4 persons to death sentence in this
conspiracy case (Ashfaqualla, Ram Prasad Bismail, Rajendra Lahiri and Thakur
Roshan)
·
His famous quote: “Only for the love of our
country I suffer so much”
·
On his birth anniversary on October 22, the BJP paid
rich tributes
·
A party source says that plans are afoot to honour
Ashfaqullah’s role in the freedom movement.
·
In Hindi film Rang De Basanti, actor Kunal
Kapoor has portrayed the role of Ashfaqullah Khan
Indeed BJP/RSS are perpetuating the forgotten heros of India.
ReplyDelete