Former Prime Minister of India - Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Prime Minister releases book on ~Dr. Hedgewar~

The Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee released a book on the life of Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, a great nationalist, social reformer and founder of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS). The Deputy Prime Minister, Shri L. K. Advani was the Chief Guest and the RSS Sarsanghachalak, Shri K. S. Sudershan, the Guest of Honour. The Minister of Information & Broadcasting, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad presided over the function organized at Vigyan Bhavan and attended by several Union Ministers, Chief Ministers and Members of Parliament and senior leaders of the RSS.

The Information & Broadcasting Minister, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad said on the occasion that ideological differences should not come in the way of giving proper recognition to all great persons who contributed towards the building of the modern India. Nobody’s contribution should be berated on the basis of the narrow points of view.

Shri Prasad said the book has been published under the ‘Makers of Modern India Series’, which is being pursued in a very transparent and objective manner without discrimination with anybody. The biographies of other leaders including Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, C. N. Anadurai, Morarji Desai, Ch. Charan Singh, Sheikh Abdullah, Veer Sarvarkar, Bhagat Singh, Dr. Shayama Prasad Mookerjee and E. M. S. Nambodripad are being published by the Publications Division in this series.

Shri Prasad said that the dedication of Dr. Hedgewar towards Indian culture and national identity was incomparable. He said, Dr. Hedgewar’s ideology and works would continue to motivate and guide the patriotic people for generations to come. The author of the book, Prof. Rakesh Sinha said that the evaluation of Dr. Hedgewar’s contribution towards nation building had been an extremely difficult task. He said that it took him several years to research the material and put it together into a biography.

The Makers of Modern India is an important series published by the Division wherein the important information about lives and works of great sons of the nation are published. The book has 21 chapters and runs into about 225 pages containing all the important incidents of his life. The book encompasses the glimpses of Dr. Hedgewar’s idealism, morality, fearlessness, truthfulness and his principled adherence to his belief. It also tells about his commitment to the cause of country’s independence, cordial relations with Gandhiji, cooperation with Congress, his efforts to maintain a distance from extremism. The book will prove to be a valuable asset in the study of the hitherto untouched aspects of the country’s freedom movement.

Dr. Hedgewar was a simple man but had a great personality. From his childhood, his mind had been rebelling against the foreign rulers. From the early years of his life, he set out with his associates to work for the independence of the country. The fearlessness with which he defied the British rule and its judicial system is a unique example in itself. Dr. Hedgewar obtained his medical degree but did not take up his profession as he had taken a vow to serve the country and the society. He was full of humility, truthfulness and had a dynamic personality who performed important task of inculcating the sense of pride in the countrymen. In the short span of 51 years he achieved many important tasks including organizing a big cadre of RSS. He was not after fame and believed in constantly working away from the glare of publicity. He discouraged the people wanting to write about him, this is why there is not much literature available about him. Perhaps, this is the reason why there is lack of proper understanding amongst the people about Dr. Hedgewar and RSS – the organization set up by him. The author of the book Shri Rakesh Sinha says that he has tried to fill in this gap by writing this book.