Hind Swaraj Centenary
The First Urdu Translation of Hind Swaraj, Released September 11, 2006
At a packed Aiwan-e-Ghalib Auditorium in Delhi, the first Urdu translation of Mahatma Gandhi's root text Hind Swaraj was released on September 11th. Six hundred men and women involved in dialogue on Hind Swaraj gathered that day to commemorate the centenary of the birth of Satyagraha. In honour of that monumental moment in history, when Indians of all religions, castes, and classes joined together in nonviolent resistance, Swaraj Peeth brought out the first Urdu translation of Hind Swaraj. Prof. Saiyid Hamid, an eminent intellectual and educationist, released the text to enthusiastic applause and commented that it is a serious oversight that Hind Swaraj has remained unavailable for nearly one hundred years to Urdu speaking people: “It is no ordinary service that Swaraj Peeth has rendered to us. What matters the most today is a dialogue on civilization and nonviolence, which is the subject matter of Hind Swaraj .”
Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche, Kalon Tripa, the Prime Minister of H. H. The Dalai Lama's Tibetan Government in Exile and Chairman of the Hind Swaraj Centenary Committee of Swaraj Peeth, presided over the September 11 th function. Pointing out the central place of Hind Swaraj among all of Mahatma Gandhi's writings, Prof. Rinpoche notes in his introduction to the Urdu edition:
At the foundation of all the spiritual and philosophical works everywhere in the world, there is always a root text, a thesis. All other works, literature and even scriptures are only an extension or interpretation of that fundamental text. I am not aware of any root-text or comprehensive Gandhian thesis having ever been drawn from the total corpus of Gandhiji's works. In my humble opinion, it would not be inappropriate to consider Hind Swaraj as the comprehensive root-text or thesis of Mahatma Gandhi's thought. |
Prof. Rinpoche congratulated the gathering on September 11 th for adding an important landmark in the history of Hind Swaraj. He said “it is encouraging to see so many young people assembling for Gandhian thought. It speaks of a certain renewal that Swaraj Peeth has undertaken to present Gandhiji's vision and thought in this manner.”
Prof. Anand Kumar, Professor of Sociology and Social Movements at Jawaharlal Nehru University, said that he could not believe that no Urdu translation of Hind Swaraj has existed until now! He congratulated Swaraj Peeth for meaningfully and constructively pointing out the weakness of our national dialogue; no dialogue in India is of any worth or meaning if the Gandhi of Hind Swaraj is absent from it. He remarked that it was encouraging to see so many people—particularly young men and women—participating in a celebration of Gandhiji's vision and thought!
Prof. Partha Nath Mukherjee, former Director of The Tata School of Social Work, Mumbai, a foremost social scientist and Trustee of Swaraj Peeth, dwelled on the concept of Swaraj and what it means in terms of dignity and progress for our common masses, particularly the peasants and artisans. He said he was overwhelmed by the fact that this big hall was packed mainly by them. The freedom that Gandhiji sought has eluded our villages. Instead of facilitating village-Swaraj, village Self-rule, we as a nation have gone in a different direction. But, he noted, the vision of Swaraj remain alive today; the Urdu translation of Hind Swaraj was undertaken as a result of demand created by four years of consistent Swaraj Dialogue with Urdu speaking people in Western Uttar Pradesh.
Prof. Samdhong Rinpoche presented a copy of the Urdu edition of Hind Swaraj to Maulana Anzar Shah Kashmiri of the Darul Uloom Waqf, Deoband and to each of Swaraj Peeth's regional coordinators.
Dr. Niru Vora, Secretary of Swaraj Peeth, commended the work of Swaraj Peeth's regional coordinators for their work on building interest in Hind Swaraj dialogue among the members of their communities, especially the youth and women. Arshad Qureshi, Swaraj Peeth's Western UP coordinator and the translator of this Urdu edition, said, “I am most thankful for Swaraj Peeth for entrusting the responsibility of this translation to me; it is the most sacred task I have undertaken in my life.”
Translated by Shri Arshad Qureshi, Western Uttar Pradesh Coordinator, Swaraj Peeth.
Calligraphy by Shri Zahir ul-Islam, Saharanpur.
Corrected and Supervised by Dr. Y. P. Anand, Former Director, Gandhi National Museum, New Delhi .
The Urdu manuscript was meticulously compared to the Gujarati and English editions of Hind Swaraj .
The Hind Swaraj Urdu edition is available from Swaraj Peeth, G-89 Preet Vihar, New Delhi, 110002. Price: Rs 150 or US$6.00, plus packaging and posting. Discount available for bulk orders.
Note: If a discerning reader finds any flaw in the translation, please do bring it to our notice. We will carry out necessary corrections in the second edition.
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