Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi, born on 30 December 1887, known by the pen name Ghanshyam Vyas, was an Indian independence movement activist, politician, writer and educator from the state of Gujarat. A lawyer by profession, he later turned to writer and politician. He is a famous name in Gujarati literature. In 1938, he founded the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan educational trust.
Munshi was born on 30 December 1887 in Bharuch, a city in the state of Gujarat, British India. He obtained his LLB degree in Bombay in 1910 and registered as a lawyer with the Bombay High Court.
Role of Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi in Indian Independence Struggle
•Due to Aurobindo’s influence, Munshi aligned himself with the revolutionary group and got involved in the process of making the bomb. But after settling in Bombay, he joined India’s Home Rule movement and became its secretary in 1915. In 1917, he became the secretary of the Bombay President’s Association.
•He was elected to the Bombay Legislative Assembly in 1927, but resigned under the influence of Mahatma Gandhi after the Bardoli satyagraha. In 1930, he participated in the civil disobedience movement and was initially arrested for six months. After taking part in the second part of the same movement, he was arrested again and spent two years in prison in 1932.
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• In 1934, he became the secretary of the Congress Parliamentary Council.
•As the demand for Pakistan gained momentum, he abandoned non-violence and promoted the idea of a civil war to force the Muslims to give up their demand. He believed that the future of Hindus and Muslims lay in unity in Akhand Hindustan.
• He left the Congress in 1941 due to his disagreement with the Congress but was invited back in 1946 by Mahatma Gandhi.
Post independence struggle
•After India’s independence, Munshi visited the state of Junagadh to stabilize the state with the help of the Indian Army. Munshi became the main driving force behind the renovation of the Somnath temple even after Jawaharlal Nehru’s opposition.
•Munshi was appointed diplomatic envoy and commercial agent (agent-general) to the princely state of Hyderabad, where he served until its accession to India in 1948. Munshi was on the ad hoc committee on flags that selected the Indian flag in August 1947, and on the committee, who drafted the Constitution of India under the presidency of B. R. Ambedkar.
•Munshi served as the Governor of Uttar Pradesh from 1952 to 1957. In 1959, Munshi broke away from the Nehru-dominated (Socialist) Congress Party and started the Akhand Hindustan movement. He believed in a strong opposition, so he and Chakravarti Rajagopalachari founded the Swatantra party, which was right-wing in its politics, in favor of business, a market economy and the right to private property. The party had considerable success and eventually disbanded.
•In August 1964, he chaired a meeting to establish the Hindu nationalist organization Vishva Hindu Parishad at Sandipini Ashram.
Written by : Vaishali Verma
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