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April 10, 2026
Latest Quote Added
"This was, at the beginning of the 2000s, the only way that the Tibetans, who remained in their country, found to protest against the Chinese occupation and atrocities: self-immolation by pouring gasoline all over the body and then dropping a match. This sacrifice, reminiscent of that of Buddhist monks in Vietnam who protested the American presence, captured the imagination of the world and embarrassed the Chinese. Dolma Tsering, a member of the Tibet Parliament in Exile, notes: “Chinese propaganda gives the image of a Tibet bathed in happiness, with a bright future. The fact that 149 people have set themselves on fire since 2009 is a sign that something is wrong. »"
Young though he was, his radiant energy produced such an impression of absolute reliability that Hedgewar made him the first sarkaryavah, or general secretary, of the RSS.
- Gopal Mukund Huddar
Largely because of the influence of communists in London, Huddar's conversion into an enthusiastic supporter of the fight against fascism was quick and smooth. The ease with which he crossed from one worldview to another betrays the fact that he had not properly understood the world he had grown in.
Huddar would have been 101 now had he been alive. But then centenaries are not celebrated only to register how old so and so would have been and when. They are usually celebrated to explore how much poorer our lives are without them. Maharashtrian public life is poorer without him. It is poorer for not having made the effort to recall an extraordinary life.
I regret I was not there to listen to Balaji Huddar's speech [...] No matter how many times you listen to him, his speeches are so delightful that you feel like listening to them again and again.
By the time he came out of Franco's prison, Huddar had relinquished many of his old ideas. He displayed a worldview completely different from that of the RSS, even though he continued to remain deferential to Hedgewar and maintained a personal relationship with him.