New Delhi, March 31: Keshav Baliram Hedgewar was born on April 1, 1889, into an affluent Brahmin family in Nagpur. At a young age, he witnessed the terrifying face of death. In 1902, a plague epidemic swept through Nagpur. His parents selflessly cared for the patients, ultimately contracting the disease themselves. At just 13 years old, Keshav witnessed both of his parents’ pyres burning on the same day.
From childhood, he harbored a deep-seated hatred for the British. At the age of eight, during Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee in 1897, he threw sweets distributed for the occasion into a trash bin, declaring that celebrating a foreign power was an insult to his motherland. He was expelled from school for chanting ‘Vande Mataram’ during high school.
In 1910, Hedgewar moved to Kolkata to pursue medical studies. After becoming a doctor, he returned to Nagpur but never practiced medicine for profit. Instead, he joined the Indian National Congress and was sentenced to a year of hard labor for delivering fiery speeches during the Non-Cooperation Movement in 1921.
The time after his release from prison was marked by ideological turmoil. The communal riots that erupted across the country, following Mahatma Gandhi’s support for the Khilafat Movement, deeply affected Hedgewar. He analyzed the sociological aspects of India’s subjugation and realized a bitter truth: the British ruled not just through military might but also through the divisions, untouchability, and fragmented society among Indians.
He understood that while bombs and guns might drive the British away, a hollow society would lead to renewed subjugation. He felt the need for long-term character building rather than immediate political agitation.
This ideological reflection led to the founding of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on September 27, 1925, during Vijaya Dashami, in a field in Nagpur with a few children.
Hedgewar envisioned the ‘Shakha’ not just as a physical training ground but as a ‘micro-lab’ for social equality. Young people from different castes and economic backgrounds played together in the same uniform and shared meals, breaking down centuries-old barriers of untouchability.
He kept the RSS away from everyday party politics but never turned his back on the freedom struggle. In 1930, when Gandhi initiated the Civil Disobedience Movement, Hedgewar stepped down from his position as Sarsanghchalak and participated in the ‘Jungle Satyagraha’ with thousands of volunteers, enduring nine months of harsh imprisonment in Akola. Furthermore, when the great revolutionary Bhagat Singh went missing after the Lahore Conspiracy Case, Hedgewar risked his life to provide him with a secret refuge in Nagpur.
When he passed away on June 21, 1940, at the age of 51, he had already sown the seeds that would grow into a mighty banyan tree. The true strength of his legacy was witnessed in 1989, during his centenary year, which proved to be a transformative moment for Indian politics and society.
The RSS launched a nationwide outreach campaign that broke records. Its workers reached over 216,000 villages and made direct contact with approximately 15 million families. This campaign raised a massive ‘Seva Nidhi’ of 110 million rupees, which was used to establish schools, hospitals, and vocational centers in tribal and rural areas.
In 1989, the then Congress government refused to issue a commemorative postage stamp for Dr. Hedgewar. In response, the RSS printed one million postcards featuring a map of ‘Akhanda Bharat’ and distributed them across the country. Ultimately, in 1999, then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee issued an official postage stamp in his honor.
My name is Narendra Jijhontiya. I am an experienced content writer with several years of expertise in the field. Currently, I contribute to Daily Kiran, creating engaging and informative content across a variety of categories including TECHNOLOGY, health, travel, education, and automobiles. My goal is to deliver accurate, insightful, and captivating information through my words to help readers stay informed and empowered.
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