A Journal of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya
A Journal of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya A Journal of Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwavidyalaya
long and passed away on 23rd April, 1926 at the age of 55. His entire life was a sequel of unremitting struggle and dedication. Financial difficulties did not deter him from taking up challenges and fighting on new fronts. He was constantly engaged in performing multifarious tasks— publication of journals; fanning nationalist sentiments; propagation of new thoughts and ideas, setting up of voluntary organizations in order to serve the society at large. It was Vishnu Shastri Chiplunkar, an eminent Marathi writer and thinker, whose inspiration urged Madhav Rao Sapre to adopt literature and politics as his career. From him, he learnt to express his views fearlessly and in a vibrant language. He was greatly influenced and inspired by Tilak in the political field thereby developing a radical point of view.The influence of Tilak was clearly evident in his journalistic endeavours and political ideas. His political acumen was also the result of Tilak’s influence. Sapreji met Tilak in December, 1905 at the Congress session held in Benaras having gone there to attend the Congress Meeting as a delegate from Nagpur. His book “Swadeshi Movement and Boycott” published in 1906, was based on articles and essays published in “Kesri”. In order to propagate Tilak’s political ideas in Hindi speaking belt, Sapreji started the publication of “Hindi Kesari”. The motive was the attainment of Swaraj by getting rid of political slavery. In 1907, there were very few people in the Hindi speaking belt who dared to openly declare the attainment of Swaraj as the goal of the freedom movement. Madhav Rao Sapre was convinced that it was only through journalism that he could contribute a lion’s share to— a. The Freedom Movement b. To the social arena of Madhya Pradesh c. To Hindi Literature and language. Consequently in 1900, he started the publication of ‘Chhattishgarh Friend’, with the objective to the above mentioned goals. It was a persuasive and thought provoking journal. Although its contents covered a wide range of subjects like—News items, Poems, Short stories, Satire and Ideological essays, it was mainly reputed for its critical reviews. Therefore, Kamta Prasad Guru observed : The art of literary criticism in Hindi began and its influence spread with ‘Chhattishgarh Mitra’. The latter was widely welcomed and highly acclaimed, with many writers joining it, but, unfortunately it had to be closed down in 1902 due to scarcity of funds. Being a person of indomitable will, he was undeterred by difficulties. In 1905, he established the association of Hindi book publication which rolled out a series of volumes. The first volume of Hindi Literary work was published in May, 1906, containing : 12 :: January-March 2012
1. History of India, and other countries. 2. Biographies of great and eminent personages all over the world. 3. Historical plays. 4. Novels. 5. Contemporary/Current Indian Politics. 6. Science. 7. Critical Reviews. Within its ambit was published Sapreji’s ‘Swadeshi Movement and Boycott’ in August, 1906, where the significance of the Swadeshi Movement and the meaning of boycott was clearly explained. The book documents in detail the imperialist exploitation and plunder of India by the British regime resulting in India’s impoverishment. Driving home his point forcefully he says, “So long as India doesn’t attain Swaraj, efforts in other directions will fail.” He was confident that India would definitely attain Swaraj, because, in the History of the world, there is not a single example of a powerful country holding the weaker one in an endless bondage of unremitting slavery.” How could the government allow the publication of such a book? Hence, it was possibly banned in 1909. A study of “Swadeshi Movement and Boycott” makes it evident that Madhav Rao Sapre was greatly influenced by Tilak. In order to propagate Tilak’s views on colonial rule and Nationalism, he launched “Hindi Kesari”. The motive behind it was to establish a parallel to the “Marathi ‘Kesari’ started by Tilak, so that the former would create some impact in the Hindi speaking belt, that the latter had done in Maharashtra. It advocated the use of Swadeshi goods and the boycott of foreign ones, it brought out the significance of Swaraj and emphasized upon national pride and selfesteem. It boldly supported various movements and spoke in favour of revolutionaries. Besides dealing with the basic values it also contained translated essays taken from ‘Kesari’. It fanned the government’s ire, which increased in direct proportion to its increasing popularity. As a consequence Deshraj Press, and houses of Hindi Kesri’s editors were raided on August, 22, 1908, and both editors— Kholhatkar and Sapreji were arrested. In the eyes of the government , this was the first act of treason committed in the History of Hindi Journalism. Tracking him down the years one discovers the poignant moments of his life. Sapreji’s health had already deterioriated. It worsened during his three months’ imprisonment. His friends advised him to seek pardon and get his release, but he refused. Later, he was compelled to give in when his brother, Babu Rao threatened to commit suicide if Sapreji did not apologise to the Government. Being pushed into a terrible dilemma, he had to relent, thus, he put his signature on the letter of apology addressed to the government. This incident January-March 2012 :: 13
- Page 1 and 2: A Journal of Mahatma Gandhi Antarra
- Page 3 and 4: L A N G U A G E DISCOURSE W R I T I
- Page 5 and 6: Editor's Note ‘Hindi’ is primar
- Page 7 and 8: Heritage EK TOKRI BHAR MITTI Madhav
- Page 9 and 10: Discourse THE IMPORTANCE OF MADHAV
- Page 11: nationalism into literature; societ
- Page 15 and 16: anch of knowledge— natural and so
- Page 17 and 18: country, growing indignation at the
- Page 19 and 20: the consciousness of the colonized
- Page 21 and 22: and we rise above religious dogma,
- Page 23 and 24: forces of liberty and patriotism tr
- Page 25 and 26: his thoughts boldly, without fear.T
- Page 27 and 28: characteristics of the age in which
- Page 29 and 30: For, when father having been engage
- Page 31 and 32: and panegyrists going and singing p
- Page 33 and 34: I burst forth, ‘‘Aha, Niuniya!
- Page 35 and 36: aid. The flower was punished forthw
- Page 37 and 38: years in this guileful world I roam
- Page 39 and 40: form. Now, once again there was a s
- Page 41 and 42: Discourse LIFE AND IDEALS OF PREMCH
- Page 43 and 44: and the train also arrived, but cou
- Page 45 and 46: Discourse THE CONCEPT OF INDIANNESS
- Page 47 and 48: of first novel goes to the Genji Mo
- Page 49 and 50: untouchable boy. The boy is from
- Page 51 and 52: eligious leaders. Premchand in his
- Page 53 and 54: · Partition of India and growth of
- Page 55 and 56: 2) Ghar ki Raah, Indra Basawada, Sa
- Page 57 and 58: Sahai, Nagendra, Bhagwat Sharan Upa
- Page 59 and 60: two women (Rekha and Gaura) simulta
- Page 61 and 62: significant. Since real aspects lik
long and passed away on 23rd April, 1926<br />
at the age <strong>of</strong> 55. His entire life was a<br />
sequel <strong>of</strong> unremitting struggle and<br />
dedication. Financial difficulties did not<br />
deter him from taking up challenges and<br />
fighting on new fronts. He was constantly<br />
engaged in performing multifarious tasks—<br />
publication <strong>of</strong> journals; fanning nationalist<br />
sentiments; propagation <strong>of</strong> new thoughts<br />
and ideas, setting up <strong>of</strong> voluntary<br />
organizations in order to serve the society<br />
at large.<br />
It was Vishnu Shastri Chiplunkar, an<br />
eminent Marathi writer and thinker, whose<br />
inspiration urged Madhav Rao Sapre to<br />
adopt literature and politics as his career.<br />
From him, he learnt to express his views<br />
fearlessly and in a vibrant language. He<br />
was greatly influenced and inspired by<br />
Tilak in the political field thereby developing<br />
a radical point <strong>of</strong> view.The influence <strong>of</strong><br />
Tilak was clearly evident in his journalistic<br />
endeavours and political ideas. His political<br />
acumen was also the result <strong>of</strong> Tilak’s<br />
influence. Sapreji met Tilak in December,<br />
1905 at the Congress session held in Benaras<br />
having gone there to attend the Congress<br />
Meeting as a delegate from Nagpur. His<br />
book “Swadeshi Movement and Boycott”<br />
published in 1906, was based on articles<br />
and essays published in “Kesri”. In order<br />
to propagate Tilak’s political ideas in <strong>Hindi</strong><br />
speaking belt, Sapreji started the publication<br />
<strong>of</strong> “<strong>Hindi</strong> Kesari”. The motive was the<br />
attainment <strong>of</strong> Swaraj by getting rid <strong>of</strong><br />
political slavery. In 1907, there were very<br />
few people in the <strong>Hindi</strong> speaking belt who<br />
dared to openly declare the attainment<br />
<strong>of</strong> Swaraj as the goal <strong>of</strong> the freedom<br />
movement. Madhav Rao Sapre was<br />
convinced that it was only through<br />
journalism that he could contribute a lion’s<br />
share to—<br />
a. The Freedom Movement<br />
b. To the social arena <strong>of</strong> Madhya<br />
Pradesh<br />
c. To <strong>Hindi</strong> Literature and language.<br />
Consequently in 1900, he started the<br />
publication <strong>of</strong> ‘Chhattishgarh Friend’, with<br />
the objective to the above mentioned goals.<br />
It was a persuasive and thought provoking<br />
journal. Although its contents covered a<br />
wide range <strong>of</strong> subjects like—News items,<br />
Poems, Short stories, Satire and Ideological<br />
essays, it was mainly reputed for its critical<br />
reviews. Therefore, Kamta Prasad Guru<br />
observed : The art <strong>of</strong> literary criticism<br />
in <strong>Hindi</strong> began and its influence spread<br />
with ‘Chhattishgarh Mitra’. The latter was<br />
widely welcomed and highly acclaimed,<br />
with many writers joining it, but,<br />
unfortunately it had to be closed down<br />
in 1902 due to scarcity <strong>of</strong> funds. Being<br />
a person <strong>of</strong> indomitable will, he was<br />
undeterred by difficulties. In 1905, he<br />
established the association <strong>of</strong> <strong>Hindi</strong> book<br />
publication which rolled out a series <strong>of</strong><br />
volumes. The first volume <strong>of</strong> <strong>Hindi</strong> Literary<br />
work was published in May, 1906,<br />
containing :<br />
12 :: January-March 2012
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