02-10-2006, 10:43 PM
Some ignorant people who have no knowledge of history have been throwing mud at Maharishi Dayananda and his Arya Samaj and questioning his contributions to India in social reform and freedom movement, therefore I have compiled a small list of freedom fighters who I know were Arya Samajists or were influenced by Arya Samaji teachings:
1) Sardar Ajit Singh (uncle of Bhagat Singh), the following is taken from his own biographical sketch:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->When I was studying in middle my father, who was a sympathiser of Arya Samaj, took me to all annual gathering of Arya Samaj. There I heard a lecture on the benefits of wearing swadeshi cloth. He [the speaker] explained how the use of foreign cloth was proving a drain on the wealth of the nation. On my return, I called the village weaver, and the whole family took to swadeshi, From that day my feeling went on increasing that the alien rule was undesirable.
S. Dilbagh Singh, one of' my cousins, used to study in a Mission School where the teachers were British missionaries. I used to take it ill. I insisted on my uncle that we must start a school in Jullundur where we should have teachers of our country who should be patriots. The local Arya Samaj wanted to start a school there. Lala Sunder Dass, A prominent Arya Samajist, agreed to become Headmaster. So my uncle started a school in Jullundur. I passed my Matriculation Examinallon from that School. Sunder Dass was a great patriot. He used to preach patriotism in his speeches in school. Being a religious institution, they used to regard the Muslims as foreigners. He wrote a book called Pearl Necklace containing stories of Rajput bravery and heroism, particularly of Rang Pratap, also of Sikh Gurus. In my opinion these religious institutions have done a great harm to the country by creating division among communities of India. Sunder Dass used to preach swadeshi. As a result about 70 per cent of student, in that school took to swadeshi. It was about I893 or 1894. After finishing my education there I came to D.A.V. College. Lahore. Principal Hans Raju was very kind to me and he used to tell us about the history of other countries.
http://www.shahidbhagatsingh.org/about_ajit.htm<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->We did not trust Sikh states. Swami Parkasha Nand (though not openly) helped us a lot by visiting states as a Vedic missionary. Swami Shankara Nand also did some thing in the line.
http://www.shahidbhagatsingh.org/about_ajit.htm<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
2) Bhai Parmanand
3) Lala Lajpat Rai
4) Ram Prasad Bismil
5) Pandit Shyamaji Krishnavarma (to read more about him go here: http://www.hvk.org/articles/0803/193.html)
From Sita Ram Goel:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Congress movement was never strong in my countryside which was dominated by the Zamindara League of Sir Chhotu Ram. But the Arya Samaj movement was sweeping everything before it. Almost all men of note in the village were Arya Samajists, including the half-a-dozen freedom fighters who had been to jail. The preachers and songsters of the Arya Samaj visited our village very frequently. I was very keen to attend these sessions, many a time late into the night. It was from their lectures and bhajans that I learnt my first lessons in nationalism. The point of this nationalism, however, was turned not against the British rulers but against Muslim invaders and tyrants like Mahmud Ghaznavi, Muhammad Ghori, Alauddin Khalji and Aurangzeb. The national heroes were Prithvi Raj Chauhan, Maharana Pratap, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Guru Govind Singh, Banda Bairagi and Raja Surajmal of Bharatpur. They became a part of my religious consciousness along with the heroes of the Mahabharata and the saints and sufis of the Granth Saheb of Sri Garibdas.
http://www.voi.org/books/hibh/ch1.htm<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Founded in 1875 by Swami Dayanand Saraswati, the Arya Sabha played a notable role in the development of a new national consciousness among the Hindus. In fact, it became âthe foremost agency for planting a sturdy independent nationalism in the Punjabâ. Some of the important national leaders such as Lajpat Rai and Hans Raj were staunch Arya Samajists. It also provided a chain of educational institutions which became the centre of patriotic activities in the national struggle. Sir Valentine Chirol commented on the seditious role of the Arya Samaj that it âhas sometimes barely disguised more than a merely Platonic desire to see the British quit India. âSir Denzil Ibbetson was informed that âwhere-ever there was Arya Sanaj, it was the centre of seditious talk. âSir Mechael OâDwyer observed that â<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>an enormous population of the Hindus convicted of seditions and other political offences from 1907 to present day (1925) are members of the Samaj.â</span>
http://www.aicc.org.in/india%E2%80%99s_str...for_freedom.php<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
1) Sardar Ajit Singh (uncle of Bhagat Singh), the following is taken from his own biographical sketch:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->When I was studying in middle my father, who was a sympathiser of Arya Samaj, took me to all annual gathering of Arya Samaj. There I heard a lecture on the benefits of wearing swadeshi cloth. He [the speaker] explained how the use of foreign cloth was proving a drain on the wealth of the nation. On my return, I called the village weaver, and the whole family took to swadeshi, From that day my feeling went on increasing that the alien rule was undesirable.
S. Dilbagh Singh, one of' my cousins, used to study in a Mission School where the teachers were British missionaries. I used to take it ill. I insisted on my uncle that we must start a school in Jullundur where we should have teachers of our country who should be patriots. The local Arya Samaj wanted to start a school there. Lala Sunder Dass, A prominent Arya Samajist, agreed to become Headmaster. So my uncle started a school in Jullundur. I passed my Matriculation Examinallon from that School. Sunder Dass was a great patriot. He used to preach patriotism in his speeches in school. Being a religious institution, they used to regard the Muslims as foreigners. He wrote a book called Pearl Necklace containing stories of Rajput bravery and heroism, particularly of Rang Pratap, also of Sikh Gurus. In my opinion these religious institutions have done a great harm to the country by creating division among communities of India. Sunder Dass used to preach swadeshi. As a result about 70 per cent of student, in that school took to swadeshi. It was about I893 or 1894. After finishing my education there I came to D.A.V. College. Lahore. Principal Hans Raju was very kind to me and he used to tell us about the history of other countries.
http://www.shahidbhagatsingh.org/about_ajit.htm<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->We did not trust Sikh states. Swami Parkasha Nand (though not openly) helped us a lot by visiting states as a Vedic missionary. Swami Shankara Nand also did some thing in the line.
http://www.shahidbhagatsingh.org/about_ajit.htm<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
2) Bhai Parmanand
3) Lala Lajpat Rai
4) Ram Prasad Bismil
5) Pandit Shyamaji Krishnavarma (to read more about him go here: http://www.hvk.org/articles/0803/193.html)
From Sita Ram Goel:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Congress movement was never strong in my countryside which was dominated by the Zamindara League of Sir Chhotu Ram. But the Arya Samaj movement was sweeping everything before it. Almost all men of note in the village were Arya Samajists, including the half-a-dozen freedom fighters who had been to jail. The preachers and songsters of the Arya Samaj visited our village very frequently. I was very keen to attend these sessions, many a time late into the night. It was from their lectures and bhajans that I learnt my first lessons in nationalism. The point of this nationalism, however, was turned not against the British rulers but against Muslim invaders and tyrants like Mahmud Ghaznavi, Muhammad Ghori, Alauddin Khalji and Aurangzeb. The national heroes were Prithvi Raj Chauhan, Maharana Pratap, Chhatrapati Shivaji, Guru Govind Singh, Banda Bairagi and Raja Surajmal of Bharatpur. They became a part of my religious consciousness along with the heroes of the Mahabharata and the saints and sufis of the Granth Saheb of Sri Garibdas.
http://www.voi.org/books/hibh/ch1.htm<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Founded in 1875 by Swami Dayanand Saraswati, the Arya Sabha played a notable role in the development of a new national consciousness among the Hindus. In fact, it became âthe foremost agency for planting a sturdy independent nationalism in the Punjabâ. Some of the important national leaders such as Lajpat Rai and Hans Raj were staunch Arya Samajists. It also provided a chain of educational institutions which became the centre of patriotic activities in the national struggle. Sir Valentine Chirol commented on the seditious role of the Arya Samaj that it âhas sometimes barely disguised more than a merely Platonic desire to see the British quit India. âSir Denzil Ibbetson was informed that âwhere-ever there was Arya Sanaj, it was the centre of seditious talk. âSir Mechael OâDwyer observed that â<span style='font-size:14pt;line-height:100%'>an enormous population of the Hindus convicted of seditions and other political offences from 1907 to present day (1925) are members of the Samaj.â</span>
http://www.aicc.org.in/india%E2%80%99s_str...for_freedom.php<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->