Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi: Penman in the Battle against Communalism
- March 27, 2015
- By Abu Turab Naqvi
- 0 Comments
Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru
mounted the scaffold on 23rd of March 1931. The Whole nation was in utter
anguish, streets were flooded with
protesters agitating against the British Government for the ‘Murder’ of their
Beloved Bhagat Singh and his Comrades. Hindus, Muslims, Sikhs and all other
communities irrespective of their indifferences were mourning the death of
their heroes. All of them were supposed to come together and stand up against
the exploiters’ government of British imperialists. But, Kanpur was going in a
very different way that brought the nation’s head down with shame and disgust.
When the whole nation was standing united against the Britshers, Kanpur was
burning in the fire of Communal riots. And that riot took away a dearest son of
the nation, Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi.
Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi, a journalist,
a social worker, an esteemed politician, a fearless freedom fighter, who fought
both with pen and the sword was born on 26 October, 1890 in his maternal
hometown Atarsuyyiya Allahabad, United Province (Now Utter Pradesh). His father Shri Jainarayan was serving as a
school teacher in Gwaliar estate. He acquired his primary education in Mungaoli
and Vidisha. He was very studious and hardworking since his childhood. He had a
very vast interest in reading, including philosophy and literature. That deep
interest in reading led him to become a journalist of that repute. After
passing Middle, Vidyarthi went to Kanpur for the sake of earning. He later
returned to Vidisha on the advice of his uncle and resumed his schooling. He
appeared in the Matric examination as a private student and passed the
examination in 1907. While his stay in Vidisha, he was brooding as a penman and
came up with his first book “ Hamari Atmogsargat” in Hindi at the age of 16. He
was bound in the wedlock with Chandraprakashwati on 4 June 1909.
Before establishing himself as a
Journalist, Ganesh Shankar Vidyathi tried his skills with several professions
like Teaching, as a homeopathic doctor and also was employed in an insurance
company. In the early times of his journalism, his stories used to publish in
Saraswati, Swarajye and Karmyogi, all leading journals of their time. Acharye
Mahavir Prasad Dvivedi was very much impressed with his skills. He called him
to work for Saraswati. Ganesh Shankar worked for Saraswati during 1911 – 13. In
November 1913, he came back to Kanpur and started his own newspaper in Hindi by
the name “Pratap”. Pratap was the mouthpiece of downtrodden and exploited
citizens of the enslaved nation. Due to its legacy. Pratap faced several bans
and fines from the very beginning of its publication, but Ganesh Shankar never
let it go down. He kept on serving the nation through his pen. He was also
involved with revolutionaries by various means. A lot of times he provided
moral and financial support to the revolutionaries during their stay in Kanpur.
When Bhagat Singh reached Kanpur in 1923, he was facing severe financial
problems. Ganesh Shankar recruited him in Pratap to help him financially.
Bhagat Singh wrote several articles by the pseudo name of Balwant Singh and
received a reasonable amount that was sufficient for his livelihood.
Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi was a patriot
in the true sense. He always advocated the necessity of communal harmony among
the Hindus and Muslims of India. He utilized his journalistic skills to
propagate his vision among the masses. At the end of March 1931 communal
violence broke out in Kanpur. When the whole nation was speaking out against
the government for the death of Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, Kanpur was
witnessing the bloodshed in the name of religion. Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi was
conscious of the power of the press. He constantly appealed to the people to
not to be involved in such sentiments. It was the fateful day of 25 March 1931.
Ganesh Shankar Vidarthi was visiting a riot affected area where he met his
fate. He gave away his life while protecting a Muslim family from the rioters.
The advocate of communal harmony was lying wounded on the ground. He was not
just that fateful, when the riots halted his lifeless body was found unattended
in a heap of corpses in a hospital of Kanpur. The condition of his body was so
pitiable that it was difficult to be identified. Finally, on 29 March, the
warrior of the pen was cremated in Kanpur. Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi was
murdered, but no one can kill his ideas, his legacy of love. He will always
remain immortal through his ideas.
Notes:
1) Suresh Salil, Patrakarita Ke Yug
Nirmata: Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi (Hindi) , 2010.
2) Malwinder Jit Singh Waraich, Bhagat
Singh: The Eternal Rebel, 2007.
3). Amitabh Pandey, Patrkarita Ke
Purodha: Vidyarthi Ji, Web Version (Hindi), 2009.
4). Arvind Vidrohi, Amar Shaheed Ganesh
Shankar, Web Version (Hindi), 2010.
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