Government should honour Swami Shraddhanand
Leaders like Motilal Nehru and Dadabhai Naoroji called him the bravest leader of the time after he bared his chest and challenged the British police to fire at him. He was the only non-Islamic leader to deliver an address from the Jama Masjid.
THE UNION government should honour Swami Shraddhanand by declaring his martyrdom day, viz, December 25, as a gazetted holiday. Such a step will amount to respecting the sentiments of millions of Arya Samajists without practically adding another holiday to the list of holidays because the day is already a holiday on account of Christmas. The building where Swami Shraddhanand breathed his last is located in the congested Shraddhanand Marg (Naya Bazar) of Old Delhi. Government should acquire this building and convert it into a national monument in memory of this great freedom fighter whose activities were of prime relevance not only to the freedom struggle but also for the uplift of the downtrodden, the dalits and women.
Swami Shraddhanand, though a disciple of Arya Samaj’s founder Mahrishi Dayanand Saraswati, was an icon of national integration and fought against the British regime. He was the only non-Islamic leader invited to address from the historic Jama Masjid of Delhi as a symbol of a united India fighting against the British regime for its independence. He bared his chest and challenged the British police in front of the Town Hall at Chandni Chowk (Delhi) to fire at him. It prompted the Congress party to rally around him for its Delhi session where leaders like Motilal Nehru and Dadabhai Naoroji acknowledged that he was the bravest leader of the time. The Congress party, which is a major ally of the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government, has an opportunity to honour its pre-independence leader by taking over the building where he attained his martyrdom and declaring it a national monument.
Login
 Login through Social ID
|
