K. B. Hedgewar
| Keshav Baliram Hedgewar `Doctorji' |
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| Born |
1 April 1889 Nagpur, India |
| Died | 21 June 1940 (aged 51) Nagpur, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Occupation | Physician, Political activist |
| Known for | Founder of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh |
Keshav Baliram Hedgewar (1 April 1889 – 21 June 1940) was the founding Sarsanghachalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Hedgewar founded the RSS in Nagpur in 1925, with the intention of promoting the concept of a united India rooted in indigenous ideology. He drew upon influences from the Congress Party to start the RSS as a reaction to the Malabar riots.
Hedgewar was born on 1 April 1889 in a Marathi Deshastha Brahmin family in Nagpur. His parents were Baliram Pant Hedgewar and Revati. His father was an orthodox priest and they were a family of modest means. When Keshav was thirteen, both his parents succumbed to the epidemic of plague. His elder brothers Mahadev Pant, and Sitaram Pant ensured that he received a good education.
When he was studying in Neel City High School in Nagpur, he was rusticated for singing "Vande Mataram" in violation of the circular issued by the then British government. As a result, he had to pursue his high school studies at the Rashtriya Vidyalaya in Yavatmal and later in Pune. After matriculating, he was sent to Kolkata by B. S. Moonje (National President of the Hindu Mahasabha) in 1910 to pursue his medical studies. After passing the L.M.S. Examination from the National Medical College in June 1914, he completed a yearlong apprenticeship and returned to Nagpur in 1915 as a doctor.
Hedgewar actively participated in Indian National Congress in the 1920s. But he got disillusioned with their policies and politics. The outbreak of the Hindu-Muslim riot in 1923 made him ponder over an alternate model of nation-building in India. He was deeply influenced by the writings of Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. He considered that the cultural and religious heritage of Hindus should be the basis of Indian nationhood.
Hedgewar founded RSS in 1925 on the day of Vijayadashami with an aim to organise Hindu community for its cultural and spiritual regeneration and make it a tool in getting the country free from foreign domination. Hedgewar insisted on the term 'rashtriya' (national) for his exclusively 'Hindu' organization, for he wanted to re-assert the identity of Hindu with 'rashtriya'. This can be confirmed by the 'prarthana'(prayer) sung at the end of every shakha meeting, along with the slogans of Bharat Mata Ki Jai. Hedgewar created a female wing of the organization in 1936.
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