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Mrityunjayee Mahatma Chamanlal |
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From Our Correspondent The veteran Sangh Pracharak Chamanlalji, who played an instrumental role in forging the global network of RSS, passed away at Bhakti Vedant Hospital in Mumbai on February 10. He was 83. He was admitted to the hospital on February 8th following some breathing disorder, where he died of cardiac arrest on February 10. His body was flown into Delhi from Mumbai on February 11 and was kept at Keshav Kunj, the RSS Delhi headquarter, where thousands of swayamsevaks from Delhi and adjoining States including Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh paid their tributes to the departed soul. The funeral procession that began from Keshav Kunj was joined by thousands of mourners. He was cremated at the Nigambodh Ghat on the banks of the Yamuna. The younger brother of Chamanlalji, Shri Gurudyal Grover performed the last rites. Sarsanghchalak, Shri K.S. Sudarshan, Prime Minister, Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister, Shri L.K. Advani, Union HRD Minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi and many other Cabinet Ministers, politicians, representatives of social organistsions were among the prominent persons who visited the Keshav Kunj to pay their tributes to Chamanlalji. Vice President, Shri Bhairon Singh Shekhawat paid floral tributes at Nigambodh Ghat before the cremation. After the “1947 Shaurya Smriti Samaroh” held in Amritsar on January 29, where he was honoured by the Sarsanghchalak, Shri K.S. Sudarshan, Chamanlalji reached Mumbai on February 4 to participate in the Conference of the World Council of Elders of Ancient Traditions & Culture. Since February 6, he had been feeling uneasy and had been taking some homeopathic medicines prescribed by a doctor. On February 8th night, many of the local Sangh workers called on him till 8.30 pm. He dined well that night but felt uncomfortable as he had some chest pain. He was instantly shifted to the nearest hospital—the Bhakti Vedant hospital. He was unconscious by the time he reached the hospital. His blood pressure and pulse were recorded, though feeble. Expert doctors visited throughout the day and tried their best with medicines and treatment. However, the expert on critical cases informed late noon on the 9th that his four important organs—heart, lungs, brain and kidney—had been damaged and reviving them was almost impossible. An Ayurveda expert offered to treat him and since then he had been put on higher doses of medicines together with oxygen and other support systems. His health did not deteriorate afterwards and on 10th morning the BP steadied at 90-60. His pulse also steadied. On February 10th he also suffered a cardiac arrest. Sarsanghchalak Shri K.S. Sudarshan, Sarkaryavah Shri Mohan Bhagwat, Sahsarkaryavah Shri H.V. Seshadri, VHP Working President, Shri Ashok Singhal were constantly inquiring about his health. Sahsarkaryavah Shri Madan Das and Convener, Videsh Bibhag, Dr Shankar Tatwawadi and other important workers were in Mumbai for the purpose. Prime Minister, Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee and other senior leaders also constantly inquired about his health and remained in touch with medical experts who had joined hands for the treatment. But Chamanlalji breathed his last at 8.45 p.m. on February 10. Born on March 25, 1920, in Salli village of Sialkot (now in Pakistan), Chamanlalji was the eldest of eight children of his parents belonging to a rich affluent family. He secured gold medal in MSc (Botany) in 1942 and renouncing all comforts and lucrative career, he became a Sangh Pracharak at Kullu in 1942. He was among the first batch of 58 Pracharaks that came out from Lahore in 1942. The batch included 10 post-graduates while 14 others passed the Shastri examination. In 1945 Thakur Ram Singhji, the then Pracharak who was looking after the Sangh work of Kangra region, sent him to Lahore. Thereafter, he became Karyalaya Pramukh at Jullundhar in 1947. At that time, under the guidance of Shri Madhavrao Mulye, the then Punjab Prant Pracharak, the global network of the Sangh activities was initiated and Shri Chamanlal was given the charge of maintaining the contacts with the swayamsevaks spread around the globe. Now he was one of the senior Pracharaks of the Sangh who was solely responsible to keep close contact with the swayamsevaks going abroad. Later, Delhi turned to be the main center of Vishwa Vibhag and Chamanlalji shifted to Delhi. Since 1948 he remained in Delhi and was quite instrumental in setting up and expanding the Keshav Kunj, where a library, an archive and guest rooms were established. He was so much involved in building and expanding Keshav Kunj that he almost became synonymous with Keshav Kunj. It was because of his organisational skills and hard work that such books on Sangh work as Sri Guruji Samagra Darshan, Aapatkalin Sangharsh Gatha, Pratham Agnipriksha,
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Jyoti Jala Nij Pran Ki, etc., which present the Sangh swayamsevaks’ contribution, hard work, sacrifice and dedication during the ban on RSS as well as during the infamous Emergency of 1975, were published. His efforts resulted in creating great awareness among the Hindus abroad. He visited abroad mainly on three occasions including the one in 1997 accompanying the former Sarsanghchalak, Prof. Rajendra Singh. The visit covered several countries such as Kenya, Mauritius, South Africa, UK, France, Netherlands, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The persons who would meet Chamanlalji were surprised to see his simplicity and modesty—despite the fact that he was discharging the different and vital responsibilities. With simplest of the simple clothes, he was a great soul walking around Delhi, loved equally by poor, rich and the powerful. He surpassed all records in establishing human bondage by writing hundreds of letters to people in India and abroad. Everybody who met him was bound to be influenced by his affectionate approach and by his wits and smile. People who met him once carried the memories of that meeting for lifetime. In his early teens and school days he was a different kind of boy. “Whatever money he was sent in the hostel by the father, he would spend very few and send most of the amount back. Right from the school days, he was attracted to the service of the nation. He had clearly told his parents and other family members that he would work for the country throughout his life. We are proud of being his family member,” says Ashok Grover, the younger brother of Chamanlalji. “He honoured the name of our family. The whole family respected him very much for his outstanding contribution to the nation. He always lived for others and for the country. I feel proud of being his sister,” said Smt Nirmala, his youngest sister. Another sister Urmil Dhawan said that her parents too would regard him very much and feel proud that at least their one son had been working for the country. Chamanlalji was eldest in the family. He is survived by four brothers and two sisters. His one sister had passed away a few years back. Ajatshatru —K.S. Sudarshan, Sarsanghchalak Matrimandir ka samarpit deep meinChah meri yeh ki mein jalata rahun, jalata rahun And this lamp illuminated, and illuminated for long. Not only did it continue to illuminate for 60 years but it also radiated its rays to the swayam-sevaks living in different corners of the world. The feeling of oneness (atmi-yata) that reflected in his letters and articles written with selected words moved everyone. One who once came into his contact was caught with his affection like a black wasp that is caught in the lotus at the time of sunset. Since the day in 1950 Shri Chamanlal Grover came to Keshav Kunj, he became an integral and inevitable part of it. For quite some time to come, it would be difficult to adjust to the harsh reality that Chamanlalji is no longer there at Keshav Kunj. An idol of humbleness, Chamanlalji was never seen by anyone getting angry. He was an Ajatshatru (having no enemy). Whenever anyone approached him for any help at the time of difficulty he would spare no stone unturned to solve his problem and would not take rest until that person returned with a feeling of satisfaction on his face. The biggest thing is that while collecting the events and occurrences and memories of the Partition days he became the convener of the RSS history. If the books, leaflets or resolutions related to the RSS were not found anywhere, they were certainly found with Chamanlalji. He was the single archive of the RSS. It was because of his efforts that the concealed history of valour, gallantry, heroism and sacrifices made by the swayamsevaks along with other people of the society during the 1946-47 could come out. And finally collecting the whole history, he himself has become history. My humble tribute to his memories.
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Chamanlalji hamesha rahenge —Atal Behari Vajpayee “It is difficult to believe that Chamanlalji is no more. It is hard to think of Jhandewala Karyalaya without him. Collecting information about the swayamsevaks world over and passing them to the persons going abroad was his favorite work. He had dedicated himself to the cause of his work. Though, we all say that we should dedicate every moment of life and every part of the body to the nation, there are very few blessed ones who really do it. Chamanlalji was one among those blessed ones. Today the death anniversary of Pt. Deen Dayalji is also observed. The similarity between the personality of Pt. Deen Dayalji and Chamanlalji sometime surprises one. Chamanlalji has set the tradition of dedication, allegiance and selfless service, which will continue to show the way to the coming generations. Chamanlalji hamesha rehenge (Chamanlalji shall remain alive forever). Dedicated to the task and mission —L.K. Advani I became a swayamsevak of the RSS in 1942 and was in Sindh at that time. The individual who had the maximum influence on my thinking and life was Shri Rajpal Puri, who was at that time Prant Pracharak of Sindh but originally hailed from Sialkot. Because of his Sialkot origin I came to know Chamanlalji very well when after 1947 I came to this part of the country. There is hardly any doubt that one cannot think of Jhandewala without Chamanlalji. For years he had been stationed in the Delhi office of the RSS, from where he remained in constant touch with swayamsevaks spread all over the world. These contacts were made easily available to those in politics and other areas of activities. He was a person dedicated to his task and mission and spared no effort right to his last moments. Everyone used to advise him that now his age and health did not permit this much activity, yet that would not deter him from exerting his utmost for the cause to which his entire life was dedicated. Emulating his virtues, qualities, attributes, values and above all his sense of dedication to the cause will be the best homage to Chamanlalji. An appeal Chamanlalji had very close contacts with a large number of friends, who have his affectionate and inspiring memories. It has been decided that a compilation of these memories shall be brought out in a book under the guidance of Shri H.V. Seshadri. Those who wish to contribute to this cause through their reminiscences, experiences and photographs of Chamanlalji are requested to send the information and material at the following address: Shri Shyam Parande, Keshav Kunj, Jhandewala, D.B. Gupta Road, New Delhi- 110 055, Email: vishwav@vsnl.com Tel: 0091 11 2367 9914/2368 4445, Fax: 0091 11 2351 7722 Condolence messages may be sent to Chamanlalji’s younger brother (address noted below) or to RSS office, Keshav Kunj, Jhandewala. Shri Gurudayal Grover, A 2B, 180B, Ekata Apartments, Paschim Vihar, New Delhi- 110 063, Tel: 0091 11 2526 4920 —Shankar Tatwawadi Vishwa Vibhag Samyojak
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