Nationality Indian Died 1969, Gorakhpur | Religion Hindu Constituency Gorakhpur | |
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Born 1894 ( 1894 ) Political party Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha Occupation Mahant of Gorakhnath Math Party Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha | ||
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Mahant Digvijay Nath (1894-1969) was the mahant, i.e., head priest, of the Gorakhnath Math in Gorakhpur, India. He was also a militant Hindu activist and a politician of the Hindu Mahasabha, who was arrested for inflaming passions against Mahatma Gandhi, leading to his assassination. Nath played a leading role in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in 1949, which culminated in the placing of Rama idols inside the Babri Masjid, in an effort to revive the Hindu Mahasabha after its implication in the Gandhi assassination. Nath was elected as the MP for Gorakhpur in 1967 on a Hindu Mahasabha ticket. He has been called the "most cunning sadhu of the twentieth century."
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Early life
Digvijay Nath was born Nanhu Singh in 1894 in Udaipur, Rajasthan in a rajput thakur family. His parents died when he was 8 years old. His uncle gave him away to a Nathpanth yogi called Phool Nath, who took him to the Gorakhnath Math (monastery) in Gorakhpur. Nanhu Singh grew up in the monastery and went to study in the St. Andrews College in Gorakhpur. He was an average student but excelled in sports, especially, hockey, horse-riding and tennis. In 1920, he left his education to take part in politics.
In 1932, Baba Brahma Nath became the mahant of the Gorakhnath Math and initiated Nanhu Singh into the Nath panth tradition. After his death in 1935, the leadership of the math passed to Digvijay Nath, who was anointed as the mahant on 15 August 1935. Despite being a mahant, Nath continued his pastime of playing lawn tennis as well as his political activities. Whereas the Gorakhnath math was traditionally venerated by both Hindus and Muslims, especially lower caste communities, under Digvijay Nath it became a radical centre of religio-political power controlled by thakurs.
Political career
Digvijay Nath joined the Congress in 1920, and participated in the non-cooperation movement in 1922. He was arrested for taking an "active part" in the Chauri Chaura incident where a police station was burnt down, killing 23 policemen, causing Mahatma Gandhi to abort the movement.
Nath joined the Hindu Mahasabha in 1937 when V. D. Savarkar became its President, and rose to become the head of the party in the United Provinces. His status as the mahant of the Gorakhpur Math as well as his political acumen helped him rise fast. He was radically anti-Muslim.He told The Statesman in 1952 that, if the Hindu Mahasabha attained power, it would deprive the Muslims of the right to vote for five to ten years, until they proved "their loyalty to India." He incited Hindus to kill Mahathma Gandhi in a public meeting on 27 January 1948, three days before the actual assassination. He was subsequently arrested, along with Professor Ram Singh and V. G. Deshpande, but released after 9 months.
Soon after his release from prison, Digvijay Nath started making plans to revive the Hindu Mahasabha, which had invited the public's revulsion for its role in the assassination of Gandhi. The capture of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya was a key plank of his plan.