99 Years Since the Supreme Sacrifice of Swami Shraddhanand
AVS
Who Was Swami Shraddhanand?
After Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati, Swami Shraddhanand played a major role in spreading the messages and calls of Vedic Dharma across India. He was a beloved disciple of Dayanand Saraswati Swami. His name in his pre monastic life was Munshi Ram.
Swamiji actively took part in the Khilafat movement and the Non Cooperation movement initiated at the call of Gandhiji. His warning that mixing religion with political freedom movements would lead to grave consequences later proved true. Though the Khilafat movement initially targeted the British, it later turned against Hindus. Thousands of Hindus were forcibly converted to Islam! Those who refused were killed. Mothers and sisters were subjected to brutal assaults and humiliation. Numerous temples were destroyed. Wells, including the Toovur well in Malabar, were filled with the bodies of Hindus. The cries of half alive victims echoed continuously from those wells. Through the powerful call of Vedic Dharma, Swami Shraddhanand brought back thousands who were forcibly converted during the Mappila rebellion to their Swadharma.
The Vaikom Satyagraha was launched in 1924 to secure the right of all Hindus to walk on the public roads surrounding the Vaikom temple. At that time, oppressed people who were denied this freedom were granted access to public roads if they converted to Christianity or Islam. Not only that, they were even allowed to enter the homes of ‘Savarnas’ and sit on chairs along with them. Due to such extreme injustice, Swami Vivekananda referred to Kerala as a ‘lunatic asylum’. The struggle for the rightful justice and dignity of Hindus was led by spiritual personalities and Mahatmas from within Hindu society itself. Swami Shraddhanand was one such great Sannyasi who provided leadership to the Vaikom Satyagraha. Dr B R Ambedkar described him as the greatest warrior of the so – called untouchables and oppressed sections! Swamiji strongly called upon the Hindu society to practice self – protection.
Swami Shraddhanand worked continuously to strengthen the Arya Samaj Shuddhi movement, which aimed at bringing those who had taken away from Dharma back to Vedic Sanatana Dharma. Including 1,63,000 Malkana Rajputs, he brought lakhs of people back to their Swadharma. These Dharma protection efforts created deep resentment among Muslim extremists, who secretly planned his assassination.
Swami Shraddhanand, who carried forward both service to Hindu society and the freedom struggle, attained a brave death in 1926 after being shot by the Islamic extremist Abdul Rashid.
Although Swami Shraddhanand’s murder was recorded as a great loss to national life and as a result of blind religious hatred, a highly controversial action came from Gandhiji. Gandhiji opposed the death penalty given by the government to Rashid, the assassin of Swamiji. Nevertheless, in 1927, Abdul Rashid was hanged by the British administration.
Later, Gandhiji attempted to portray the executed killer Jihadi Rashid as a martyr giving him the title “Shaheed”. Gandhiji participated in prayer gatherings held to grant Rashid a place in the seventh heaven and referred to him as ‘Shaheed’ and ‘Bhai Rashid’. Gandhiji’s policy of Muslim appeasement, which justified a murderer while ignoring the principle of Ahimsa, has been widely criticized. At the same time, Gandhiji did not hesitate to oppose revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh in the name of Ahimsa. This contradiction has been pointed out by many historians.
In any case, history records that the sacrifice of Swami Shraddhanand became a powerful inspiration for strong Hindu organizational movements.
This noble Sannyasi who gave his life for Vedic Sanatana Dharma ideals must be remembered daily by us Sanatanis. Hundreds of salutations at the sacred feet of Swamiji.