Book Release Function at Sevagram and Bengaluru

 Hindi , English and Kannada versions of 1924 Congress Session Pictorial Book Released at Sevagram Ashram and Gandhi Bhavan Bengaluru 

Book release function at Sevagram Ashram 

On the occasion of  77 th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi's martyrdom, the Hindi translation of the book " The 1924 Belgaum Congress Session:A Pictorial Narrative of Mahatma Gandhi's Presidential Debut at the Belgaum Congress Session-1924: A Pictorial History" written by Dr. Siby K. Joseph and Dr. Basavaraj N. Akki was released at a programme at Sevagram Ashram. The book was translated by Vivek Kumar Shaw, a research scholar at Mahatma Gandhi International Hindi University,Wardha.The cover design was made by Shri Susheel Kumar Gotla in artist from Hyderabad.The book was published by Somesvara Publications Dharwad. 

Book Cover designed by Susheel Kumar Gotla 

The main objective of this book is to acquaint the younger generation with the significance of Mahatma Gandhi's presidential leadership at the Belgaum Congress Session-1924 and the valuable lessons learned from it, so that they can understand Gandhi's ideals and values and incorporate them into their lives.

Speaking after the release, Vivek Kumar Shaw, the translator of the book, said that this book reminds us of an important chapter in our national history when Mahatma Gandhi presided over the Congress at Belgaum in Karnataka in 1924. This was his only presidency of the Congress during his lifetime. The book reminds us of that historic moment when Gandhi led the Congress and took the country forward towards independence.

The book release program was organized at the Bapu Kuti premises of Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan,Wardha.Dr Abhay Bang  an internationally recognised public health expert, and the founder director of SEARCH (Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health) Gadchiroli in Maharashtra,Dr. Nishikant Kolge,Gandhian Scholar and author of Gandhi Against Caste and Professor, Distance Education, DDE,MANUU,Hyderabad  the first  author of the book, Dr. Siby K. Joseph, Director of the Sri Jamnalal Bajaj Memorial Library and Research Centre for Gandhian Studies, and  Shri Vijay Tambe, Secretary of Sevagram Ashram,  Shri Vivek Kumar Shaw  the translator of the book were  present on the occasion. 

To make the book more accessible, the original  English and Hindi  were uploaded to archive.in. 

https://archive.org/details/the-1924-belgaum-congress-session-a-pictorial-narrative-of-mahatma-gandhis-presidential-debut

https://archive.org/details/belgaum-congress-1924-session-pictorialbook-hindi

The book was a project of the Library and Research Centre of Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan, Wardha.

 The book was also translated into Kannada. The original English  version and Kannada E book were released  at Gandhi Bhavan Bengaluru in a function.

Book Release at Gandhi Bhavan Bengaluru 

Shri H K Patil Hon’ble minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs,Government of Karnataka,Dr. Wooday P. Krishna President Karnataka Gandhi Smarak Nidhi ,Prof.D.Jeevan Kumar Managing Trustee Sarvodaya International Trust Dr.Basavaraj Akki co-author of the book were present on the occasion.Dr.Basavaraj Akki succinctly explained the significance of the book. 

Dr.Basavaraj Akki addressing the function 

Kannada Translation of book 

The link of E book in English and Kannada respectively are:

https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=yNI5EQAAQBAJ

https://play.google.com/store/books/details?id=byJBEQAAQBAJ

All these can be accessed without incurring any cost.

Book Cover of Upcoming Reprint 

Belgaum in 1924: When Gandhi chaired party meet

• The Indian Express (Delhi Edition) 
• 29 Dec 2024
• SHYAMLAL YADAV
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

PMML, New Delhi (PMML accessed it from Kalli's Art Studio)

Mohammed Ali handing over the conference presidency to Mahatma Gandhi at the Congress session in Belgaum in 1924.

WITH A crucial meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) having been held in Karnataka’s Belagavi on December 26-27, the country’s main Opposition party returned to the same city exactly after 100 years. On December 26-27, 1924, the party held its 39th session in Belgaum (now Belagavi) — the only meet to be chaired by Mahatma Gandhi.

The meet is significant for more reasons — not only was it a watershed moment in India’s freedom struggle from the British, it also marked a turning point in the history of the Congress, established in 1885. Freedom fighter B Pattabhi Sitaramayya writes in his 1935 book, History of Indian National Congress, “In the history of non-cooperation, Belgaum is a landmark. The revolt against Gandhism was almost complete. The Congress stood at the parting of ways.”

The Belgaum session took place during a crucial phase in the freedom struggle and in the life of Gandhi, who had returned from South Africa in January 1915. On April 13, 1919, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre shook the country. In the same year, the Government of India Act, 1919, based on the Montagu-chelmsford Reforms, was passed by the British Parliament to meet the rising demand for self-rule in India. In September 1920, Gandhi launched the Non-cooperation Movement. On February 4, 1922, in retaliation for police firing at protesters at Chauri Chaura in UP’S Gorakhpur district, a police station was set on fire, killing all of its occupants. Eight days later, Gandhi suspended the movement, a moveopposed by a section of the Congress, including Motilal Nehru and Chittaranjan Das.

On March 10, 1922, Gandhi was given a six-year term for sedition. Nearly two years later, on January 12, 1924, he underwent a surgery for appendicitis. Jawaharlal Nehru, who would become India’s first Prime Minister, wrote in his autobiography, “India was numbed with anxiety... The crisis passed, and a stream of people began to reach Poona (now Pune) from all parts of the country to see him.” The severity of Gandhi’s condition resulted in his premature release from jail on February 5, 1924. He made a quick recovery and even a quicker return to his struggle for freedom.

Till the Belgaum meet, the Congress spent the early 1920s in a state of flux. At its 37th session in December 1922 in Bihar’s Gaya, chaired by Das, Motilal Nehru-das proposed reforming the party ideology and extending the Non-cooperation Movement to the legislature of British India. The proposal was defeated by the no-changers, led by C Rajagopalachari and Rajendra Prasad. This defeat resulted in the pro-changers, led by Motilal Nehru-das, forming the Swaraj Party in January 1923. During the party’s 38th meet in Andhra Pradesh’s Kakinada in 1923, chaired by Mohammed Ali, a resolution was passed to hold the 39th session in Belgaum, then a part of the Bombay Presidency, in December 1924. The meet’s venue was named Vijayanagara, after the Vijayanagara Empire.

As per a booklet on the 39th session, published recently by the Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan, one of the places where Gandhi lived, a hut named Vidyaranya Ashram was constructed for him. He, however, humorously referred to it as Khaddar Palace. For the convenience of delegates, on Congress’s request, a flag railway station (a spot where public transport stops on request) was set up near the venue. To arrange water for delegates, a big well, named Pampa Sarovar, was excavated.

Several crucial events unfolded in India before the Belgaum session. Jawaharlal Nehru, who had joined the party before 1920, was appointed as the founder president of the Congress Seva Dal (then called the Hindustani Seva Dal) in January 1924. In the same month, a British cinematographer Ernest Day was shot dead by activist Gopinath Saha in Calcutta (now Kolkata), who was attempting to target Calcutta Police Commissioner Charles Tegart.

Communal riots gripped the country in the second half of 1924 — in Kohat (in present-day Pakistan), Delhi, Gulbarga, Nagpur, Lucknow, Amethi, Shahjahanpur, Sambhal, Allahabad and Jabalpur. As Sitaramayya’s book states, the “Kohat riots really broke the backbone of India”. In October, Bengal was on the boil over the arrest of Subhas Chandra Bose and other Congressmen.

Meanwhile, negotiations for a truce between pro-changers and no-changers in the Congress were on. In May 1924, Gandhi held a conversation — called the Juhu Conversation since it happened in a cottage in Juhu, Bombay (now Mumbai), where Gandhi was then staying — with pro-changers or Swarajists. However, the attempt at negotiating a truce failed. A pact between Gandhi and Motilal Nehru-das was finally established during the party’s Ahmedabad meeting in June and later in November.

Though the Belgaum session was scheduled to be held in December, not many were in favour of Gandhi presiding over that session. Appointed as party secretary during the 1923 session by Mohammed Ali, Jawaharlal Nehru was appointed as the working secretary for the Belgaum meet. He writes in his autobiography, “For him (Gandhi) to become the Congress president was something in the nature of anti-climax, for he had long been the permanent super president.”

In his presidential speech at the Belgaum session, Gandhi narrated the events that had taken place since 1920 in the Congress. He also raised the issue of communal riots in India, stating that he was disturbed over incidents like the ones in Kohat. He also touched upon other prevailing issues, including untouchability.

This session saw the Congress, considered an organisation of the elite until then, make a turnaround and reach out to the masses. However, the biggest success of the Belgaum session was the ratification of the pact between Gandhi and Motilal Nehru-das, which ended infighting in the party. Other decisions taken during the session included the Congress accepting that Swarajists in government councils represented the party, while the Swarajists agreed to Gandhi’s condition to wear khadi in order to remain party members.

Article Name:Belgaum in 1924: When Gandhi chaired party meet

Publication:The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)

Author:SHYAMLAL YADAV

Start Page:13

End Page:13