Sachindra Nath Sanyal November 3, 2009

Sachindra Nath Sanyal (b. 1893 Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh – d. 7 Feb 1942, Gorakhpur Jail, Uttar Pradesh) an Indian revolutionary and a founding member of Hindustan Republican Association (HRA, which after 1928 became the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association or HSRA) that was created to carry out revolutionary activities against the British Empire in India. He was the inspiration for revolutionaries like Chandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singh.

Sanyal was extensively involved in the plans for the Ghadar conspiracy, and went underground after it was exposed in February, 1915.

He was sentenced in Kakori train robbery and was tried and sentenced to life for the same.He was sent to the dreaded Cellular Jail in the Andamans and in jail he wote the famous book “Bandi Jeevan” (A Life of Captivity). This book would become the bible for a generation of revolutionaries fighting British rule.

சக்ரவர்த்தி ராஜகோபாலாச்சாரி November 3, 2009

Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari (Tamil: சக்ரவர்த்தி ராஜகோபாலாச்சாரி) (10 December 1878 – 25 December 1972), informally called Rajaji or C.R., was an Indianlawyer, freedom-fighter, politician, writer, statesman and leader of the Indian National Congress who served as the last Governor-General of India. He served as the Chief Minister or Premier of the Madras Presidency, Governor of West Bengal, Minister for Home Affairs of the Indian Union and Chief Minister of Madras state. He was the founder of the Swatantra Party and the first recipient of India’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna. Rajaji vehemently opposed the usage of nuclear weapons and was a proponent of world peace and disarmament. He was also nicknamed the Mango of Salem.

Rajagopalachari was born in Thorapalli in the then Salem district and was educated in Central College, Bangalore and Presidency College, Madras. In 1900 he started a prosperous legal practise. He entered politics and was a member and later President of Salem municipality. He joined the Indian National Congress and participated in the agitations against the Rowlatt Act, the Non-Cooperation movement, the Vaikom Satyagraha and the Civil Disobedience movement. In 1930, he led the Vedaranyam Salt Satyagraha in response to the Dandi March and courted imprisonment. In 1937, Rajaji was elected Chief Minister or Premier of Madras Presidency and served till 1940, when he resigned due to Britain’s declaration of war against Germany. He advocated cooperation over Britain’s war effort and opposed the Quit India Movement. He favoured talks with Jinnah and the Muslim League and proposed what later came to be known as the “C. R. Formula“. In 1946, he was appointed Minister of Industry, Supply, Education and Finance in the interim government. He served as the Governor of West Bengal from 1947 to 1948, Governor-General of India from 1948 to 1950, Union Home Minister from 1951 to 1952 and the Chief Minister of Madras state from 1952 to 1954. He resigned from the Indian National Congress and founded the Swatantra Party, which fought against the Congress in the 1962, 1967 and 1972 elections. Rajaji was instrumental in setting up an united Anti-Congress front in Madras state. This front under C. N. Annadurai captured power in the 1967 elections.

स्वातंत्र्यवीर विनायक दामोदर सावरकर November 3, 2009

Swatantryaveer Vināyak Dāmodar Sāvarkar (Marathi: स्वातंत्र्यवीर विनायक दामोदर सावरकर) (May 28, 1883 – February 26, 1966) was an Indian politician and an Indian Independence Movement activist, who is credited with developing the Hindu nationalist political ideology Hindutva. Commonly addressed as Veer Savarkar (वीर सावरकर,Brave Savarkar), he is considered to be the central icon of modern Hindu nationalist political parties. Savarkar’s revolutionary activities began when studying in India andEngland, where he was associated with the India House and founded student societies including Abhinav Bharat Society and the Free India Society, as well as publications espousing the cause of complete Indian independence by revolutionary means. Savarkar would publish The Indian War of Independence about the Indian rebellion of 1857that would be banned by British authorities. He was arrested in 1910 for his connections with the revolutionary group India House. Following a failed attempt to escape while being transported from Marseilles, Savarkar was sentenced to 50-years imprisonment and moved to the Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

While in jail, Savarkar would pen the work describing Hindutva, openly espousing Hindu nationalism. He would be released in 1921 under restrictions after signing a plea forclemency in which he renounced revolutionary activities. Travelling widely, Savarkar became a forceful orator and writer, advocating Hindu political and social unity. Serving as the president of the Hindu Mahasabha, Savarkar endorsed the ideal of India as a Hindu Rashtra and controversially opposed the Quit India struggle in 1942. He became a fierce critic of the Indian National Congress and its acceptance of India’s partition, and was one of those accused in the assassination of Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi, though he was acquitted by the Court. He spent the last years of his life writing and expounding on Hindutva.

स्‍वामी दयानन्‍द सरस्‍वती November 3, 2009

Maharishi Dayananda Saraswati (स्‍वामी दयानन्‍द सरस्‍वती) (February 12, 1824 – October 31, 1883) was an important Hindu religious scholar and the founder of the Arya Samaj, “Society of Nobles”, a Hindu reform movement, founded in 1875.He was the first man who gave the call for Swarajay in 1876 which was later furthered by Lokmanya Tilak.

Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati was the first to proclaim India for Indians ^[1][2]. Lokmanya Tilak also said that Maharishi Dayanand was the first who proclaimed Swarajya for Bharat i.e.India.

One of his notable disciples was Shyamji Krishna Varma who founded India House in London and guided other revolutionaries like Madam Cama, Veer Sawarkar, Lala Hardyal, Madan Lal Dhingra, Bhagat Singh and others. His other disciples were Swami Shradhanad^[3], Lala Lajpat Rai and others who got their inspiration from his writings.

His book Satyarth Prakash contributed to the freedom struggle by inspiring the freedom fighters. On the basis of these facts some believe that Maharishi Dayanand rightfully deserves to be called as Rashtrapitamah (Grandfather of the Indian Nation).^[4]

He was a sanyasi (ascetic) from his boyhood, and a scholar, who believed in the infallible authority of the Vedas.

Dayananda advocated the doctrine of karma, skepticism in dogma, and emphasised the ideals of brahmacharya (celibacy and devotion to God). The Theosophical Society and the Arya Samaj were united for a certain time under the name Theosophical Society of the Arya Samaj.

Among Maharishi Dayananda’s immense contributions is his championing of the equal rights of women – such as their right to education and reading of Indian scriptures – and his translation of the Vedas from Sanskrit to Hindi so that the common man may be able to read the Vedas. The Arya Samaj is rare in Hinduism in its acceptance of women as leaders in prayer meetings and preaching.