Author: Our Correspondent
Publication: Organiser
Date: October 3, 2004
URL: http://www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=44&page=2
"The critics of RSS, many times,
try to implicate it on several issues. But the fact is that the ideology
or work, which after completing four genera-tions is now entering the fifth,
cannot make progress on negative thinking. Therefore, criticising RSS for
negative thinking is an injustice to it. The Sangh is making progress because
of the Pracharaks like Baba Saheb Apte who for 50 years continuously nurtured
and watered the plant that Dr Hedgewar had sown as a seed," said the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh Sar-sanghchalak Shri K.S. Sudarshan. He was speaking
at the concluding session of the Baba Saheb Apte birth centenary celebrations
in Delhi on September 22.
The chief guest at the function
was the Vice President of India, Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat. He said,
"India can again achieve the place of Vishwaguru if we properly identify
our ancient knowledge and make its best use. We shall have to prove that
the ´Pushpak´ viman and the battle between Ram and Ravana were
a reality and the arrows used during the battle were in fact today´s
missi-les. The progress that Germany and Japan have been making today is
because of the knowledge that they took from India centuries ago. Therefore,
our scientists need to study the Vedas and Indian culture connecting them
with science so that India can be put back on the path of progress."
Shri Suresh Soni, RSS Sahsarkaryavah
and Shri Satyanarayan Bansal, Delhi Prant Sanghchalak were also present
on the occasion. Shri Krishna Vallabh Prasad Narayan Singh, popularly known
as Babuaji, president, Baba Saheb Apte birth centenary celebrations committee
and Poorvi Kshetra Sanghchalak presided over the function. The Vice President
also released a souvenir on the occasion. Earlier the Sarsanghchalak inaugurated
a library established in memory of veteran Sangh Pracharak, Moropant Pingle,
at Apte Bhavan in Keshav Kunj. The library will have more than 1,000 rare
books related to history.
Shri Shekhawat said, "Today´s
concept of globalisaiton that is being propagated as the Western concept
is in fact a concept that India had been talking of since centuries as
krinvantovishwa-maryam." Highlighting the life and works of Baba Saheb,
he said the work that Apte had done in the interest of the society and
the nation needs to be emulated. He was a great inspiration for me," he
said.
Shri Sudarshan, appealed to the
countrymen to ensure that education to children is imparted only in Indian
languages. He stressed on the need for education in all subjects up to
research level in Indian languages only.
Speaking on the occasion Shri Suresh
Soni described Baba Saheb Apte as the foundation stone for the Sangh work.
Shri Babuaji pointed out that Apte´s
birth centenary celebrations had begun on September 2, 2003 in two phases-from
Yeotmal in Maharashtra where he was born. In the first phase, public meetings
were organised in all the districts of the country on the life of Baba
Saheb and in the second phase, group discussions and seminars were held
on five topics-reforming Indian history, the Vedic Aryan problem, Indian
system of time tabulation, Vedic Saraswati research campaign and universality
of Hindu culture. A large number of prominent personalities of Delhi from
all walks of life were present in the packed FICCI auditorium. Prominent
among those included Thakur Ram Singh, Kedarnath Sahani, Sunder Singh Bhandari,
Kailashpati Mishra, J.P. Mathur, Acharya Giriraj Kishore, Prof. Balraj
Madhok and others.
Given below is the gist of the Sarsanghchalak's
speech
Since childhood we have been singing
a song-Vritapatra mein naam chhapega, pehanunga swagat sam har; chhor chalo
ye kshudra bhavana, Hindu rashtra ke taranhaar. If we have to see it practically,
it can be seen in Baba Saheb Apte´s life. This year his birth centenary
is being celebrated all over the country, but people do not know who was
Baba Saheb Apte. The strong and gigantic RSS work seen today is because
of the hard work and dedication of people like Baba Saheb.
This is the birth centenary year
of two great personalities-Baba Saheb Apte and Laxmibai Kelkar, the founder
of Rashtra Sevika Samiti. Baba Saheb presented a practical example to those
working for the nation and Mausiji, as Lakshmibai Kelkar was popularly
known, set an ideal of Indian womanhood who has not only to maintain the
family but also to become a strong pillar of national progress. Incidentally,
both these personalities received inspiration from Bal Gangadhar Tilak.
When Mausiji was a minor, her mother along with other women of her locality
would read Kesari, the newspaper edited by Tilakji. The founder of RSS,
Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, too received inspiration from Kesari.
Baba Saheb Apte was impressed with
Tilak since his school days. His father passed away in 1919 and his mother
somehow continued with his education. When he completed high school, his
mother advised him to take up a job to support the family. But he reminded
the mother that she had dedicated him to the deity when he had fallen seriously
sick and that he was alive only to work for the nation. His mother then
blessed him for it. Meanwhile he got a job in a government school.
Dr Hedgewar identified the talent
and deep study of Baba Saheb Apte. He felt that he was the best person
to provide samskars to the people. That is why he entrusted the task of
Baudhik Vibhag to Baba Saheb during the first RSS Sangh Shiksha Varg held
in 1927. Though there was no official Baudhik Pramukh in the Sangh, Baba
Saheb remained the undisputed Baudhik Pramukh for years. Impressed with
his talent, Dr Hedgewar declared that Baba Saheb was a third-year OTC trained.
Today it is a matter of shame for
us that even after 57 years of Independence, there is not even a single
school, college or university that can provide complete education in the
contact language of the country. We expect all people of the country to
learn Hindi. But in Hindi-speaking areas, we prefer to teach our children.
People feel quite happy when their children call them Mummy and Daddy.
Have we ever realised that by teaching children in English medium right
from childhood, we are taking them away from the bhavjagat of our Indian
languages? Every language has its own bhavjagat. It is a fact that the
bhavjagat of Indian languages is different from Western languages and it
cannot be translated into Western languages. How would one translate, Mere
to girdhar gopal, dusro na koi, into English? What will an Englishman understand
if he is told that "only the mount bearer cowherd is mine and nobody else's."
But any person speaking any Indian language can understand the meaning
of Girdhar Gopal. There is no relation except father-mother, brother-sister,
son-daughter, husband-wife, uncle-aunt and nephew-niece in English language.
Our bhav cannot be translated into English, as the mentality and thinking
of Western people is different.
Baba Saheb Apte stressed on this
very much. He said everything should be in our own languages. We all must
think that there should be a university at least in Hindi-speaking states
where all subjects including engineering, medical, etc. are taught in Hindi
alone. Only then we can tell others to study in their own languages. But
now the train is moving in the wrong direction. We should not commit more
mistakes by teaching children in English-medium schools. The child who
is taught English right from the beginning can read only English books
that are mostly authored by foreign writers. That is why they feel there
is no harm in marriage between two lesbians, since it is acceptable in
the West. That is why Baba Saheb emphasised on use of Indian languages
and Sanskrit.
We know that the history we are
being taught today has been authored by British scholars and they distorted
it as per their needs. Our glorious past conspicuously vanished right in
front of our eyes. Today if there is any effort to teach that glorious
past, the move is condemned as saffronisation. The Marxputras and Macaulayputras
do not let that true history to come out. Today at the concluding ceremony
of Baba Saheb Apte´s birth centenary year, we all should resolve
that the true and glorious history of the country is taught to our children.
Rishi Aurbindo too had said that only that country makes progress whose
young generation knows the glory of past, realises the pain of present
and has bright dreams for future. We do not know the glory of the past,
that is why we do not realise the pain of the present; hence there is no
inspiration for the future. Today the young generation can do nothing but
to ape the West.
About 106 delegates all over the
world assembled in New York in August last year to discuss the means to
protect the environment at the Earth Summit. After a deep discussion for
three days they selected 40 issues on which there was unanimity. On the
fourth day, when the official document was to be signed, the Indian representative
distributed the English translation of Bhoomisukta of Atharvaveda that,
apart from those 40 issues, contained 22 other issues also. The participants
questioned the Indian representative why he had not distributed the document
on the very first day of the meeting. Finally the delegates accepted that
sukta instead of any other document. We have great achievements in science
and mathematics. Today, several formulae of Vedic mathematics are being
taught in schools of England. But any such move in India is termed as saffronisation.
We need to identify all these moves to understand the glorious past and
knowledge and make use of what is necessary as per the changing times.
Baba Saheb Apte lived for the propagation of this knowledge and had set
ideals before the people. We can acquire inspiration from him.
