Dr. K.B. Hedgewar – A BRIEF LIFE SKETCH
April 1, 1889: Born in Nagpur on Varsh Pratipada, Saka 1811
1901: Admission in Neil City High School, Nagpur
February 1903: Death of parents on a single day
1905: Set up a club of youth to discuss social issues, articles from newspapers.
1908: Vande Mataram movement against infamous ‘Risley Circular’ in school. Expulsion from school.
December 1, 1909: Passed Matriculation exam conducted by National Council of Education (Bengal)
1910: Left for Calcutta with letter from Dr Munje to pursue medical education and to know about revolutionary activities.
1911: Became member of Anusheelan Samiti and was accepted into its inner circle with the name ‘Koken’.
September 12, 1914: Passed LM&S exam and became a medical practitioner.
1915: Agitation against Indian Medical (Bogus Degree) Bill in Calcutta.
1916: His close friend Hari Krishna alias Appaji Joshi started Rashtriya Swayamsevak Mandal at Wardha drawing inspiration from Dr Hedgewar.
1916: Met Lokmanya Tilak at Gaikwad Wada in Pune and later went to Shivneri
1916-19: Organised revolutionary activities in Central Provinces with his friend Pandhrinath alias Bhauji Kawre and Ganga Prasad Pandey.
December 1918: Member of Nagpur National Union.
January 1920: Formation of “Bharat Swayamsevak Mandal with Dr LW Paranjape as president and Dr Hedgewar as secretary.
December 1920: Took active part in Nagpur session of the All India Congress Committee.
January 1921: Decided to participate in Non-Cooperation Movement of Congress.
February 23, 1921: Charged for sedition for his speeches.
August 19, 1921: Sentenced for his defence speech, which the court considered more seditious than his speeches outside for one year RI.
July 12, 1921: Released from jail. Felicitation meeting at Nagpur. Speeches by Dr NB Khare, Hakim AJmal Khan and Motilal Nehru.
1922: Helped in founding Anath Vidyarthi Grih for orphan boys.
1923: Decided to launch Swatantrya daily on cooperative basis.
1923: Active participation in satyagraha for allowing procession in front of mosques.
February 1924: Meeting with Mahatma Gandhi at Wardha.
March 1925: Meeting with Veer Savarkar at Ratnagiri.
September 27, 1925, Vijayadashmi: Foundation of RSS at a meeting held at Doctorji’s house in New Shukrawari area of Nagpur. No name was fixed in this meeting. The first meeting was attended by Bhauji Kawre, Anant Ganesh alias Anna Sohoni, Vishwanathrao Kelkar, Balaji Huddar, Baapurao Bhedi and Prabhakar Balwant alias Bhayaji Dani.
February 18, 1925: First Shakha outside Nagpur starts at Wardha in presence of Dr Hedgewar.
April 17, 1926: Rashtriya Swayam-sevak Sangh formally gets the name. 26 members attended the meeting.
April 15-June 15, 1927: First RSS Summer Training Camp then known as OTC begins. 17 selected youth attended the first camp.
June 27, 1927: Another Shakha at Mulava in Yavatmal District begins.
March 1928: Initiation ceremony of swayamsevaks at Starkey Point near Nagpur. Selected 99 swayamsevaks were present.
July 3, 1928: Guru Pujan started in RSS. Bhagwa Dhwaj placed as Guru and the first offering of Guru Dakshina amounted to Rs 84 and some anas.
October 23, 1928: First route march on Vijayadashmi Day with over 500 swayamsevaks in uniform.
December 1928: Attends AICC session at Kolkata in the capacity of Member Central Provinces Congress Committee. Met Subhas Chandra Bose, the commanding officer of ‘Congress Swayamsevak Dal’. Had detailed discussion with him along with Ganesh Damodar Savarkar.
November 9-10, 1929: Meeting of Sanghchalaks at Doke’s Muth in Nagpur. 30 Sanghchalaks attended the meeting. Doctor Hedgewar declared as “Sarsanghachalak” of the RSS by Appaji Joshi and offered first “Sarsanghachalak Pranam” at Mohite Shakha.
January 21, 1930: Directed all shakhas to congratulate Congress Party for passing a resolution for full freedom on January 26, 1930.
1930: RSS had 75 shakhas and 5,000 swayamsevaks.
July 12, 1930: Dr Paranjape appointed as Sarsanghachalak as Dr Hedgewar decides to participate in Jungle Satyagraha.
July 21, 1930: Jungle Satyagraha near Yavatmal. Arrested and sentenced to nine month RI. Remained in jail from July 22 to February 14, 1931.
July 1931: Took active lead in organising a couple of ‘Shuddhi’ programme (Ghar Vapasi) in Nagpur.
April 1932: First meeting with Prof MS Golwalkar who had come to Nagpur on vacation from Kashi.
May 2, 1932: Departure for Karachi to attend Tarun Hindu Parishad. Stayed at Karachi from May 5 to 11. Started shakha at Karachi on 10th.
December 15, 1932: Government directives to Local Self-Government bodies to desist its employees from participating in the RSS activities.
January 10, 1933: Former CP Home Minister Sir Moropant Vishwanath Joshi participated in RSS Makar Sankraman Utsav as Chief Guest.
March 27, 1933: Former CP Governor Shripad Balwant Tambe came as Chief Guest for Varsh Pratipada Utsav
May 28, 1933: Umakant Keshav alias Babasaheb Apte sent to Yavatmal for RSS work.
May 25, 1934: Sant Pachlegaonkar Maharaj merges his ‘Mukteshwar dal’ in the RSS.
December 25, 1934: Mahatma Gandhi visits RSS camp in Wardha. Dr Hedgewar meets Gandhi on December 26 in presence of Meera Behan, LB Bhopatkar and Appaji Joshi.
April 22, 1935: First OTC at Pune
May 10, 1935: Rajaram Swayamsevak Sangh established at Kolhapur.
October 13, 1935: Establishment of Hindu Military Education Society. Dr Hedgewar included amongst first executive committee of 16 members.
December 28-30, 1935: Participated in Hindu Sabha session at Pune.
May 11-June 10, 1936: Nagpur OTC. Total attendance 400 including 225 swayamsevaks from other places.
August 1936: Lakshmibai Kelkar, founder of Rashtra Sevika Samiti met in Wardha.
May 3, 1937: Participated in Sonya Maruti Temple satyagraha in Pune. Fined by the court.
June 21, 1937: Inauguration of Bhonsla Military School in presence of Shankaracharya Dr Kurtkoti.
August 27, 1937: Guard of Honour in Lahore Camp. Later meets Sir Gokulchand Narang of Punjab and leaves for Delhi.
December 12, 1937: Veer Savarkar visits Nagpur Sangh Shakha.
April 30, 1938: Pune Hindu Yuvak Parishad. Grand welcome at Pune Railway Station, stayed with famous Marathi writer and journalist P K Atre.
August 15, 1938: Left for Lahore OTC along with Babasaheb Apte and Sri Guruji via Kashi, Delhi.
August 22, 1938: Mumbai Congress Government prohibits its employees from participating in RSS activities by a circular.
October 1938: Permission to swayamsevkas to participate in Bhaganagar Satyagraha.
December 28, 1938-January 1, 1939: Winter camp of Nagpur Shakha. Inauguration by Veer Savarkar and Kshatr Jagadguru. Many leaders of Hindu Mahasabha payed visit to this RSS camp.
April 21, 1939: Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar visits Pune OTC.
May 1-June 10, 1939: Nagpur OTC. Total swayamsevaks 780 including Punjab (20), United Province (20), Bengal (6), Bihar (4) and Madras (1).
June 17, 1939: Launching of Bhagwa Jhenda film at Minarva theatre in Pune.
June 21, 1939: To Deolali near Nasik. Stayed at Ghatate Bangalow for 15-16 days. Unfortunately fell ill at Deolali. Subhas Chandra Bose came to meet him but could not meet due to his serious condition.
October 21, 1939: Nagpur Vijayadashmi Utsav. Congress and Hindu Masasabha leader Perumal Varadrajlu Naidu was chief guest.
November 15, 1939: Balasaheb Deoras sent to Kolkata for consolidating Sangh work.
January 1940: Former revolutionary colleague of Dr Hedgewar Trailokya Nath Chakraborty meets Dr Hedgewar to discuss and explore possibilities of freedom struggle.
January to April, 1940: Stayed at Gaya and Rajgir in Bihar for health reasons. Utilised this time to start shakhas in Patna and other places. Returned to Nagpur on April 20.
April 29, 1940: Reached Pune to participate in OTC. Guided swayamsevaks on RSS ideology. Stayed for 15 days in Pune OTC.
May 11, 1940: Meeting of important senior workers of RSS. Veer Savarkar addressed the meeting on request of Dr Hedgewar.
May 16, 1940: Reached Nagpur from Pune accompanied by Gaya Sanghachalak Krishna Vallabh Prasad Sahay alias Babuaaji.
May 1-June 10, 1940: Nagpur OTC. Participation of 1350 from almost all provinces of India.
May 20, 1940: Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee meets Doctor Hedgewar.
June 9, 1940: Doctorji addresses swayamsevaks at OTC. The speech became his most memorable parting address.
June 15, 1940: Shifted to Mayo Hospital. Shared his views regarding last rites with Yadavrao Joshi.
June 18, 1940: Moved to Ghatate’s Bangalow in civil lines.
June 20, 1940: Subhas Chandra Bose came to visit Dr Hedgewar but could not meet due to his serious health.
June 21, 1940: Doctor Hedgewar breathed his last at 9.27 am.
June 23, 1940: Ashes were immersed at Mouda near Bhandara in presence of Sanghachalaks, Dr Munje, Ghatate, Padhye and others.