Rambhau Mandlik (

Marathi Marathi may refer to: *Marathi people, an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group of Maharashtra, India *Marathi language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by the Marathi people *Palaiosouda, also known as Marathi, a small island in Greece See also * * ...

: रामभाऊ मंडलिक) (1 July 1881 – 30 August 1958) was a freedom fighter and a political leader in what would laterbe the Indian state of

Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...

Personal background

Mandlik was born and brought up in Raigad, in Pen, India. His father, Narayan was a radical nationalist and a journalist. He matriculated in an early English school in Pen and went to Fergusson College,

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

, where he earned

Bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

with majors in Roman History,

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

and Jurisprudence. Due to his refusal to apologize for his radical views, he could not become Barrister.

Professional background

Since childhood, Mandlik inherited revolutionary ideology from his father. During his time at the Fergusson College, he was greatly influenced by Lokmanya Tilak, contemporary leader of Indian struggle for independence. Mandlik participated as Tilak's private secretary in the national congress at Surat in 1907Page 139, Rambhau Mandlik,by Parag Potdar Soon after his graduation, Mandlik became editor of radical nationalist newspaper "Vihari", upon Tilak's recommendation. Mandlik founded and edited a popular weekly in Raigad District called, "Kolaba Samachar". It became a powerful forum for public welfare. Rambhau courageously used it to consistently fight against all forms of injustice. Mandlik was a disciple of Lokmanya Tilak and acted as his private secretary in the national conference at Surat in 1907. British government banned and confiscated all copies of the two biographies, one on Anne Bezant and another one on Kamal Pasha published by Mandlik. Mandlik was convicted under sedition for his nationalist and revolutionary writings. He was jailed for two years and fined RS 1000. After his release, Mandlik went to Japan to seek armed assistance for Indian struggle from Indian ex-pat population but wasn't successful. By this time, focus of Indian resistance had shifted from armed resistance to non-violent movements and Mandlik aligned himself with Indian National Congress. He had significant differences with Gandhi's style of leadership and approach to politics which he viewed as unrealistic and impractical. This led to his departure from Congress in 1937 and he became involved in Savarakar's Hindu Mahasabha. He was President of Maharashtra Hindu Sabha from 1946 to 1954. From 1937 to 1954, Mandlik acted as legislator in the state assembly, representing Pen/Kolaba and Pune constituencies. Mandlik worked tirelessly on the wide range of public interest issues. He was renowned for asking by far the most number of questions to the ministers during the sessions of assembly.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mandlik, Rambhau 1881 births 1958 deaths People from Raigad district Indian independence activists from Maharashtra Journalists in British India