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A labour of love, archive on Banaras Hindu University founder Madan Mohan Malaviya takes shape

  • January 2, 2023
  • Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
  • Category: DPN Topics
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A labour of love, archive on Banaras Hindu University founder Madan Mohan Malaviya takes shape

Subject :Modern History

Context: To create an archive on the principal founder of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU), ‘Mahamana’ Madan Mohan Malaviya, a Professor of History at the university Banaras Hindu University (BHU), Dhrub Singh, along with his two assistants, traversed the country over nearly a decade to give shape to their labour of love.

More about the news:

  • In December 2011, at a commemoration event to mark Malaviya’s 150th birth anniversary, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced various projects under the Culture Ministry to celebrate his life and achievements, including a repository dedicated to the BHU’s founder.
  • A national implementation committee was set up under the Chairmanship of Karan Singh, then Rajya Sabha MP and Chancellor of BHU, to oversee the execution of various projects.
  • The team has started the process of digitising and cataloguing the documents and various resources so that readers have better access. The archive will continue to be a work in progress and we will continue to acquire documents from different sources they discover.

About Banaras Hindu University:

  • Banaras Hindu is a Collegiate, Central and Research University located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916.
  • Origin:
    • Banaras Hindu University was jointly established by Madan Mohan Malaviya, Annie Besant, Maharaja Rameshwar Singh of Darbhanga Raj and Prabhu Narayan Singh of Narayan dynasty, while the university is the brainchild of Malviya.
    • At the 21st Conference of the Indian National Congress in Benares in December 1905, Malaviya publicly announced his intent to establish a university in Banaras. He published his plan in 1911.
    • On 22 November 1911, he registered the Hindu University Society to gather support and raise funds for building the university.
    • On 22 March 1915, then Education Minister Harcourt Butler introduced the Benares Hindu University Bill in the Imperial Legislative Council.
    • Centralised in 1916 through the Banaras Hindu University Act, Banaras Hindu University is India’s first central university. BHU celebrated its centenary year in 2015–2016.
    • Malviya invited eminent guest speakers such as Mahatma Gandhi, Jagadish Chandra Bose, C. V. Raman, Prafulla Chandra Ray, Sam Higginbottom, Patrick Geddes, and Besant to deliver a series of what are now called The University Extension Lectures between 5 and 8 February 1916. Gandhi’s lecture on the occasion was his first public address in India.
  • Organisation and administration:
    • The university is governed as per the procedures laid out in the Banaras Hindu University Act of 1915, and statutes of the university.
    • The university’s formal head is the chancellor though this is a titular figure, and is not involved with the day-to-day running of the university. The chancellor is elected by the members of the University Court.
    • The university’s chief executive is the Vice-chancellorappointed by the President of India on the recommendations of Ministry of Education which, in turn, is based on an open application process.
    • The Executive Council is the supreme executive governing body of the university and exercises all the powers on management and administration of the revenue, property, and administrative affairs of the university.
    • The Academic Council is the highest academic body of the university and is responsible for the maintenance of standards of instruction, education and examination within the university.
  • Institutes
    • Banaras Hindu University maintains six institutes – Indian Institute of Techonlology Banaras Hindu University (IIT-BHU), Institute of Science, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Institute of Medical Sciences, Institute of Environment & Sustainable Development, Institute of Management Studies
  • The University has confirmed shifting towards the All-India Common University Entrance Test (CUET) for admission to several undergraduate and postgraduate courses.
  • Two former Presidents of India, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and A. P. J. Abdul Kalam have worked and taught at the university.
  • The university is one of the eight public institutions declared as an Institute of Eminence by the Government of India.
  • In 2022 National Institutional Ranking Framework (NIRF) ranked BHU sixth among universities and eleventh overall. In NIRF 2022 rankings, BHU ranked fifth in medical20 in lawand 50 in management.

About Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya:

  • Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya was born on December 25, 1861, in Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh.
  • Political Career
    • In December 1886, Malaviya attended the second Indian National Congress session in Calcutta under the chairmanship of DadabhaiNaoroji, where he spoke on the issue of representation in Councils
    • After finishing his law degree, he started practicing law at Allahabad District Court in 1891, and moved to Allahabad High Court by December 1893.
    • Malaviya became the President of the Indian National Congress in 1909, a position he held until 1918. He was president of the Indian National Congress four times.
    • He was a moderate leader and opposed separate electorates for Muslims under the Lucknow Pact of 1916. The “Mahamana” title was conferred on him by Gandhi.
    • When 177 freedom fighters were convicted to be hanged in the Chauri-chaura case, he appeared before the court and won the acquittal of 156 freedom fighters.
    • He was a member of the Imperial Legislative Council from 1912 until 1919, when it was converted to the Central Legislative Assembly, of which he remained a member until 1926.
    • He was opposed to the politics of appeasement and the participation of Congress in the Khilafat movement.
    • In 1928, he joined Lala Lajpat Rai, Jawaharlal Nehru, and many others in protesting against the Simon Commission.
    • During the Civil Disobedience Movement, he was arrestedonly a few days after he was appointed as the President of Congress.
    • In protest against the Communal Award to provide separate electorates for minorities, Malaviya and Madhav ShrihariAney left the Congress and started the Congress Nationalist Party.
  • Other Avhievements:
    • Pandit Madan Mohan Malviya is most remembered for establishing Banaras Hindu University (BHU) in 1916. BHU is one of the largest and oldest universities in Asia. He was the vice chancellor of the Banaras Hindu University from 1919 to 1938
    • One of the most famous slogans, ‘Satyamev Jayate’ was said by Pandia Malviya in the session of 1918 when he was the President of the Indian National Congress.
    • Malaviya played an important part in the removal of untouchability and in giving direction to the Harijan movement. The Harijan Sevak Sangh was founded at a meeting in 1933 at which Pandit Malaviya presided.
    • Pandit Malviya is known for his contributions to journalism. He was the chairman of the Hindustan Times from 1924 to 1946, and he also founded many Hindi and English newspapers, namely: The Leader, Hindustan Dainik, Maryada, etc.
    • He was posthumously awarded the prestigious Bharat Ratna on March 30, 2015, by the honorable President Pranab Mukherjee.
A labour of love Modern History

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