BJP TODAY

October 1--15, 2005 - Vol. 14, No. 19

K R Malkani
Politician with a Mission

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue and a contemporary of top BJP leaders, including Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Shri Lal Krishna Advani, Shri K R Malkani was one of the few members of the old guards of the erstwhile Jan Sangh.

Born on November 19, 1921 in Hyderabad in Pakistan's Sindh Province, Shri K. R. Malkani dominated the ideological battleground of BJP and its predecessor Jan Sangh.

After the partition of India in 1947, Shri K. R. Malkani came to Delhi. He joined as a sub-editor in daily Hindustan Times in 1948. He was editor of RSS mouthpiece 'Organiser' from 1949 to 1983. For decades together Shri Malkani served the Sangh Parivar.

A teacher, a journalist and a researcher, he was associated with Congress and Students' Federation between 1939 and 1941 before joining the RSS of which he later became a Pracharak. He was also the editor of RSS newspaper 'Motherland' from 1971 till it was closed down in 1975 consequent upon imposition of Emergency and his arrest. The then Congress government forced closure of this fearless newspaper during Emergency. He was detained under Maintanence of Internal Security Act (MISA) during the Emergency and kept in jail for 19 months.

Shri Malkani was elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1994. By temperament, he always remained a teacher preaching discipline and carrying convictions on his sleeve. He never hesitated to speak up his mind often causing embarrassment to his party colleagues.

Shri Malkani was a lecturer in DG National College in Hyderabad (Sindh) from 1945 to 1947 and Niemen Fellow at Harvard University (1961-62). He was also a member of several parliamentary committees. Shri Malkani also served as a Vice-President of Deendayal Research Centre, New Delhi. This institution is contributing a lot in strengthening the constructive foundation of the nation.

He was a man of great qualities and committed to human values. Throughout his life, he fought for betterment of downtrodden and the poor. He was an eminent nationalist thinker and a dedicated political personality. He combined his political activism with a life long commitment to research-based writing. He wrote on almost all burning problems of the country.

Shri K R Malkani died on October 27, 2003 of cardiac arrest. He was 82. Shri Malkani was the 15th Lt Governor of Pondicherry and had assumed office on July 31, 2002. Shri Malkani is survived by two sons and a daughter. His wife died one-and-a-half years back.
Among his publications are The Midnight Knock (1977), The RSS Story (1980), The Sindh Story and The Politics of Ayodhya and Hindu-Muslim Relations. He will always be remembered for his book on the history of national movement in Sindh and his advocacy of Hindu-Muslim unity.

Starting his political career as a member of Jana Sangh, Malkani rose to become the vice-president of the BJP in 1991.