IN 1933 the annual session of Indian National
Congress was held in Calcutta. In those days the Congress was considered an
anti-government organization. People were arrested and police firing was resorted
to on flimsy pretexts. Delegates who were considered important enough were
arrested at Bardwan station and sent to a special jail at Asansol, which was
originally made by the East India Company for Europeans. I was also arrested
along with my three colleagues of Agra district. Eminent persons like Madan Mohan Malviyaji, Devdas, Gandhi,
Swarooprani Nehru (mother of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru), Rafi Ahmed Kidwai,
Chandrabhanu Gupta, Kanhaiyalal Khandiwala and Jagan Prasas Rawat were with us
in the jail. Malviyaji used to address us daily in the evening throughout our
stay there. Malviyaji and Mata Swarooprani used to treat all of us like their
children. One day Malviyaji emphasized in his speech that we should beg a paisa
from every man and a handful of food grains from every woman to spread the
message of our movement so that they may realize that the Congress was their
organization and that the freedom struggle was their own struggle, being run
with their cooperation and contributions. This thing might not have been
important for others but I took serious note of it. The Risis of yore
maintained themselves, their Gurukuls and Aranyaks on public alms (bhiksa). It
had been pointed out to me by Gurudev that I was to take up an important
assignment in hand. I had been wondering wherefrom the money will come for this
purpose. In jail, I got the clue. After my release I applied this formula,
while launching important projects of moral and social upliftment and
transformation. Amounts running into crores have been spent on these projects
through willing and volunteer contributions (minimum of ten paisa or a handful
of grains per person per day) from lakhs and lakhs of well-wishers and friends
of the mission.
Like Gayatri and Gangotri, Congress had been the
fount of my life's course. However, after independences I concentrated only on
those tasks which could contribute to the fulfillment of political freedom. Politician's
freedom. Politicians look after the political and economic affairs of the
country. But far more important and crucial is the moral, intellectual and
social transformation of the society to usher in an era of true equality,
fraternity, freedom and harmony. This can be accomplished by persons and
organizations committed to deeper values of life. This is the task dearest to
my soul.
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