Madan Mohan Malaviya

Madan Mohan Malaviya (25 December 1861 — 12 November 1946; was an Indian scholar, educational reformer and activist notable for his role in the Indian independence movement.

Quotes

• I recall an incident told by a senior Shankaracharya Swamiji, a shishya of Karapatri Swamiji Maharaj, that Pandit Madan Mohan Malviyaji, the founder of Banaras Hindu University, was terminally ill and was getting treated on the university campus, which is outside of the aforementioned geography of Kashi. He was once questioned by a Vedic scholar. ‘Why isn’t he spending his final days within the sacred area?’ asked the scholar. ‘Doesn’t he have shraddha (faith) that by giving up [his] body there one attains mukti (liberation)?’ Malviyaji replied that he intentionally avoided staying in Kashi. He was not seeking liberation in that birth as his vision was to establish a large Hindu gurukul where students were grounded in ancient practices that were also relevant in the present. But this dream ended up as something else as the first graduate batch from BHU were the children of ‘Macaulay’. Malviyaji wished for another birth to rectify this. He felt that if he died in Kashi, he might miss that opportunity. Such was his conviction in the efficacy of mukti in Kashi, which is also common to all practicing Hindus.
  • Sri Sri Abhinava Shankara Bharathi, quoted in Vikram Sampath - Waiting for Shiva_ Unearthing the Truth of Kashi's Gyan Vapi-BluOne Ink (2024)

• “For numerous years, Hindus have invested tremendous efforts at fostering Hindu-Muslim unity with a spirit of magnanimity. At every turn, Hindus have come forward on their initiative to cooperate with Muslims and have yielded to their demands. However, when I increasingly noticed that the tolerant spirit of the Hindu society has been mistaken for its weakness, it has filled me with immense sadness. Each time the Hindu society has extended its cooperative hand, a corresponding measure of response has not emanated from the Muslim society. I am uttering these words after a lifetime of deep contemplation. Till the time the Hindu society does not strengthen its own condition and plight, there will be no solution for the Hindu-Muslim problem.
• “There are two urgent and important duties before the Hindu leaders of our society: the first duty is towards their Matrubhoomi; the second is towards their Dharma, culture, and their brethren. The immediate need of the hour is the fact that the Hindu society should organize itself as an unified whole. No group or section of the Hindu society is exempt from this duty. This calls for selfless service on the part of the last Hindu, done in a spirit of devotion to the Matrubhoomi. It is essential to forget distinctions of Jati and Varna. All Hindus must symbolize the ideal of Hindutva in their own selves and come forward for the protection of their eternal Hindu culture even if it means sacrificing their lives.
• “In the present situation, there is actually no need to even seek the reasons for the aforementioned organization and unification of Hindus. The most important reason is clearly evident—the declared aims and goals of Muslim religious and political organisations and their actions across the nation. The poisonous speeches of Muslim leaders; the kind of focused and deliberate pamphleteering done by anonymous Muslim organisations; the dangerous political and religious overtones taken by the Muslim League; the genocide of Hindus in Calcutta; the incessant flood of messages from East Pakistan calling Muslims to wage war against Hindus across the country and unleash large scale riots; forcible conversions of Hindus to Islam; abducting, raping and converting Hindu women; mercilessly slaughtering innocent Hindu infants; destroying temples; looting Hindu shops—this has been the continuous story over the last few months. It is imperative that immediate steps need to be taken by Hindus to halt and prevent such atrocities.
• “It is clear to plain sight that all these brutalities are not accidental. If the Hindu society is serious about its own honour and self-respect, it needs to prepare a powerful counter against such actions. Unfortunately, over the last few decades, Hindus have become associated only as a people endowed with Dharma, truth, non-violence, and peace-loving people. The spirit of Kshatra has completely vanished from the mental space of Hindus.
• “It is beyond even the imagination of Hindus that one community in the same country will have to prepare itself for a violent clash with another community. Muslims have all along misused this deep-rooted mental outlook of Hindus. Not only have they increasingly escalated their intransigent demands, they have also coloured it with the communal nature of their faith. Propaganda based on falsehood has been the foundation of their fight. Owing to all these reasons, they have attained success far beyond even their own expectations.
• “Hindus must unfailingly, selflessly, and freely extend every support to fellow Hindus—whether the support is asked or unasked. Only Hindus can support Hindus. No other community in India cares for the welfare of Hindus. Barbaric aggression, false and communal political propaganda, attempts to hasten the sunset of the Darshana of Bharatavarsha—Hindus should show no leniency against any or all such attempts, no matter how powerful they are. In addition, Hindus must safeguard against the decline in their population. If all this is not done, Hindus won’t have a future in their own homeland. Negligence is an invitation to annihilation. Therefore, laziness and inertia are not options. In this noble endeavour, valour must shine with brilliance, which in turn must inspire other Hindus. No Muslim who tries to cause trouble in the peaceful coexistence of Hindus must be tolerated.
• “I utter these words, I have offered these suggestions from a profound sense of duty towards Dharma. The Hindu society and culture is now faced with grave danger. In these tumultuous times, all Hindus must organize themselves being inspired by the same sense of existential duty and make provisions for their self-defence. At the present time, Muslim leaders have embarked on a dangerous spree of making incendiary speeches and writings. They are repeatedly throwing challenges to the Hindu community in a spirit of heightened, unprovoked aggression. Not a single leader of the Muslim League has issued even a whimper of condemnation against the genocide of Hindus in Bengal. It appears that they are delighted at this Hindu genocide. I am not calling for unleashing aggression against Muslims where they are in a minority. On the contrary, wherever Hindus are in a majority, the rights and peaceful existence of Muslims has been guaranteed. However, the exact opposite is true in places where Muslims are in a majority: the lives, property, and religious practices of Hindus have become endangered. It is precisely the lack of powerful organization and unity of Hindus that is at the root of this Hindu societal weakness and is what has emboldened Muslim obduracy.
  • quoted in The Last Will, Testament, and Warning of Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya