Umakant Keshav Apte (29 April 1903 - 1971), also known as Babasaheb Apte, was one of the first ''pracharaks'' (full-time propagators) of the Hindu nationalist organisation

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...

(RSS), taking initiation from its founder K. B. Hedgewar. Upon his death, the Babasaheb Apte Smarak Samiti was set up in his honour by RSS pracharak Moropant Pingle, which has been active in commissioning and publishing research on the history of ancient India.

Life

Apte was born on 29 April 1903 into a Chitpavan Brahmin family in

Vidarbha Vidarbha (Pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, �id̪əɾbʱə is a geographical region in the west Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Forming the eastern part of the state, it comprises Amravati Division, Amrav ...

and was said to have been infused with patriotism from a young age. His father died in 1919 and he started working as a teacher right after matriculation. However, he resigned from the job when his headmaster prohibited from celebrating

Bal Gangadhar Tilak Bal Gangadhar Tilak (; born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak (pronunciation: eʃəʋ ɡəŋɡaːd̪ʱəɾ ʈiɭək; 23 July 1856 – 1 August 1920), endeared as Lokmanya (IAST: ''Lokamānya''), was an Indian nationalist, teacher, and an independence ...

's death anniversary. In 1924, he moved to

Nagpur Nagpur (; ISO 15919, ISO: ''Nāgapura'') is the second capital and third-largest city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is called the heart of India because of its central geographical location. It is the largest and most populated city i ...

and joined the press of the ''Udyam'' magazine. He formed a ''Vidyarthi Mandal'' (student society) for discussing revolutionary ideas. Hedgewar visited the organisation in 1925 and provided enough inspiration to Apte for him to merge his fledgling organisation with the RSS. In 1927, he became one of the first people to become an

RSS pracharak The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family"), wh ...

, even before the term itself was coined.

Activism

Apte was instrumental in spreading the network of the RSS shakhas (local branches) in

Maharashtra Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...

in the early 1930s and, later, in the rest of the country. He became a key assistant to Hedgewar in the coordination of the

network. He travelled continuously and provided a special kind of help to the ''pracharaks'' by identifying and meeting persons of importance to win their patronage for the RSS ''shakhas''. He toured the Punjab province in 1935 and established contacts with both the

Hindu Mahasabha Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha (), simply known as Hindu Mahasabha, is a Hindu nationalism, Hindu nationalist political party in India. Founded in 1915 by Madan Mohan Malviya, the Mahasabha functioned mainly as a pressure group advocating th ...

and

Arya Samaj Arya Samaj () is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda Saraswati founded the samaj in the 1870s. Arya Samaj was the first Hindu ...

, laying the ground work for the spread of the RSS in Punjab. Apte died in 1971. He was honoured by RSS as a ''karmayogi''. To commemorate his keen interest in rewriting Indian history in the mould of

Hindutva Hindutva (; ) is a Far-right politics, far-right political ideology encompassing the cultural justification of Hindu nationalism and the belief in establishing Hindu hegemony within India. The political ideology was formulated by Vinayak Da ...

as well as popularising

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

, Moropant Pingley set up ''Babasaheb Apte Smarak Samiti'' in 1973 for commissioning and publishing books on these topics. This organisation in due course gave rise the all-India organisation Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojana. The RSS has also instituted a "Baba Saheb Apte Birth Centenary National Sanskrit Award" given annually in recognition of efforts for promoting Sanskrit.

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Apte, Babasaheb 1903 births 1971 deaths People from Maharashtra Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh pracharaks