B.S. Moonje

The Story

Born in Bilaspur and trained as a doctor, Moonje built a successful surgical practice in Nagpur — but his energies went to national service. A close associate of Tilak, he worked in the Deccan, organised relief in the plague years, and was drawn into the Arya Samaj and the shuddhi movement of the early twentieth century.

He was among the founders of the Hindu Mahasabha and the All-Bhārat Military Schools movement, arguing — after the world wars — that the youth of Bhārat must be trained in arms for the nation's defence. He was also a key figure in the founding years of the RSS, supporting its growth from Nagpur, and in the DAV institutions that spread education across northern Bhārat.

In his later years he became President of the Hindu Mahasabha, and he died in 1948. He is remembered as a man of formidable organisational energy — a doctor who spent his life healing and strengthening the nation rather than just its patients.