Swami Achootanand

Swami Achhootanand, (also "Swami Achutanand or Swami Hariharanand"), was a poet, critic, dramatist, historian, social reformer, former Arya Samajist and founder of the Adi Hindu movement.[1]

Swami Achootanand
Born
Hira Lal

(1879-05-06)6 May 1879
Umri, Sirsaganj, Mainpuri (now Firozabad district, Uttar Pradesh)
Died(1933-07-20)20 July 1933
Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh
NationalityIndian
OccupationSocial Reformer, Founder of Adi Hindu Movement
Years active1923-1933

Early life

Swami Achhootanand was born to Moti Ram and Ram Piari into Chamar caste and were followers of Kabir panth. His father and uncles, Kalu Ram and Subedar Mathura Prasad and elder brother, Subedar Bant Lal, all of them were in the British Indian Army.[2]

He studied in the town of Nasirabad and was well versed in eight languages – Urdu, English, Hindi, Sanskrit, Persian, Marathi, Bengali, and Punjabi. He was married at a young age to Hira Bai or Durga Bai.[3]

He joined a group of sadhus and left for a pilgrimage and lived with them for 10 years. Thereafter, he came under the influence of Swami Sachitanand of Arya Samaj and joined him. After joining he changed his name to "Swami Hariharanand" and read Vedas and Satyarth Prakash.

Adi Hindu Movement

After a series of incidents he understood Arya Samaj's actual motive is not removal of caste but keeping Dalits only under Hindu fold. He distanced himself from the movement and started campaigning against them by his writings and protests. He was invited to Delhi and successfully debated with Arya Samaji leader, Swami Akhilanand over scriptures. He then laid the foundation of "Jati Sudhar Achhoot Sabha'" and was conferred the title of "Shri 108" by proposal of Arya preacher, Pandit Ramchandra & Naubat Singh, the minister of Shahdara Samaj in Delhi.[4]

In 1922, he founded Adi Hindu Movement and pioneered the first social reform movement for Dalits in Hindi belt.[5] He advocated that Dalits to be the original inhabitants of India and later, he came to be known as "Swami Achhootanand". Swami became one of the revolutionaries in Adi movements of India and stood in row with its founders – Gopal Baba Walangkar, Bhagya Reddy Varma, B. Shayam Sunder and Mangu Ram Mugowalia.[6]

The first national Adi Hindu convention was held at Delhi in 1923 followed by Nagpur in 1924, Hyderabad in 1925, Madras in 1926, Allahabad in 1927, Bombay in 1928, Amravati in 1929 and Allahabad in 1930 with several provincial and special conventions also held at different places.

Politics

Swami Achhootanand welcomed King Edward VII, the Prince of Wales and even demanded proposals for Depressed Classes which was going to be submitted before Simon Commission.[7]

Later, he met Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar in Adi Hindu Conference at Bombay and then supported Simon Commission at Lucknow. He also supported Dr.B.R Ambedkar through telegram during Round Table Conference held in London. He strongly opposed the term 'Harijan' referring to untouchables which was coined by Mahatma Gandhi.[8]

Literary career

To bring a new awareness among the Depressed Classes he started his own publications and used to publish his poetry under his pen name “Harihar”. Swamiji was one of the "Pioneer of Dalit Literature" in Hindi.[9] In 1922, he started his first monthly paper “Achhut”, from Delhi but closed down in 1923 and again he started “Prachin Hindu” but that too closed within a year. There upon, he established, Adi Hindu Press and started publishing his journal The Adi-Hindu Journal from Kanpur between 1924–32.[9]

He was a philosopher-poet and also a playwright. He wrote six books in Hindi - "Shambuk Balidan (Drama), Achhut Pukar - Religious songs, Mayanand Balidan (biography), Pakhand Khandani, Adi-Vansh Ka Danka," etc.

His health worsened after the Virat Adi Hindu Conference held at Gwalior in 1932 and got passed away in 1933 at Zhabar Idgah in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh.

References
  1. Service, Tribune News. "Saga of Dalits' assertion". Tribuneindia News Service. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  2. Narayan, Badri (18 April 2014). Kanshiram: Leader of the Dalits. Penguin UK. ISBN 978-93-5118-670-0.
  3. राजबहादुर, Raj Bahadur (13 September 2016). "Swami Achhootanand: Progenitor of North India's Dalit movement". Forward Press. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  4. "Swami Acchutanand and Adi-Hindu Movement". Velivada. 9 May 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  5. Narayan, Badri (15 May 2019). "The Bahujan movement needs to reinvent itself". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  6. "Caste and other demons". www.telegraphindia.com. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  7. Kshīrasāgara, Rāmacandra (1994). Dalit Movement in India and Its Leaders, 1857-1956. M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-85880-43-3.
  8. भारती, Kanwal bharti कंवल (8 February 2019). "Swami Achhootanand 'Harihar': A profile". Forward Press. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  9. Kshīrasāgara, Rāmacandra (1994). Dalit Movement in India and Its Leaders, 1857-1956. M.D. Publications Pvt. Ltd. ISBN 978-81-85880-43-3.
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