Visionary Leader, Freedom Fighter, and Cultural Luminary
Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi was born on 30th December 1887, popularly known as ‘Ghanshyam Vyas’. He founded ‘Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’, an educational trust in 1938. Under the influence of Shri Aurobindo he leaned towards revolutionary groups. But after settling in Mumbai, he joined the ‘Indian Home Rule Movement’ and became its Secretary in 1915. In 1927, he was elected to the Bombay Legislative Assembly but resigned after ‘Bardoli Satyagraha’. He participated in the ‘Civil Disobedience Movement’ in 1930 and 1932 and was arrested and spent two years in jail in 1932. Munshi was elected in the 1937 Bombay Presidency election and as Home Minister, he suppressed the communal riots in Bombay. Munshi was again arrested after he took part in ‘Individual Satyagraha’ in 1940. He died on 8 February 1971.
Contributions to Education and Literature
Author of over 50 books in Gujarati, Books in English; Gujarat and its literature; Bhagwat Gita and Modern Life; Saga of Indian Sculpture; End of an Era – Hyderabad memoirs; Warnings of History; Krishnavatara etc.
Excerpts of Speeches made by KM Munshi in Constituent Assembly
On the Role of the Constitution
“By the 15th August India will be a free and independent Dominion. We want to attain that stage as early as possible and to secure a constitution of our own which will give us the necessary strength.”
“Time is of the essence of our activities here. We have to face the world with the determined purpose of framing a Constitution for a strong India which will be great and powerful.”
Source: Amendment Of Rules Volume IV 14/07/1947
On Justice and Sovereignty
“It is difficult for me to say, but I am sure “fraud” is fraud all over the world and in all systems of jurisprudence.”
Source: Interim Report On Fundamental Rights-Contd. Volume Iii 01/05/1947
“The sovereign people are not all the people but the sovereign people of India as one unit acting through its supreme organ, the Constituent Assembly, which is creating the Constitution for the country as a whole. There is no provincial-autonomy, there is no federation by or for itself: these are not sacrosanct words. Every Government must satisfy the needs of the sovereign people of India.”
Source: Article 280A Volume X 16/10/1949
“It must be the duty of the other people, and particularly of the administration, to enforce the rule of law in such a manner that all the vestiges of feudalism disappear.”
Source: Draft Constitution — (Contd.): Part VI-A — (Contd.) Volume X 13/10/1949
On Unity and Strength of India
“We have now an India which, even without Pakistan, is as large and much more integrated and harmonious and unified than ever before in history, and it is now for us, particularly the future Parliament and the future Government of India, so to consolidate all the different parts of the country that India may emerge a strong and compact nation.”
“I feel happy also that the nightmare of the Indian States which have been a survival from Moghul and the British days is all gone and the sovereign people of India can now march forward from strength to strength and attain the cherished ideals which they have placed before the country in the Preamble to our Constitution.”
Source: Draft Constitution — (Contd.): Part VI-A — (Contd.) Volume X 13/10/1949
On Preparedness for Global Challenges
“The world, I am afraid, is moving towards another crisis, and when that crisis comes–may it never come–it should not find us unprepared.”
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Source: Amendment Of Rules Volume IV 14/07/1947
Reference : PIB