Pandit Sivanath Sastri, was born on January 31, 1847. Let us remember with gratitude and reverence the social reformer who ardently served the Brahma Samaj in general and was the architect of Sadharan Brahmo Samaj in particular, along with other luminaries like Ananda Mohan Bose et al. Other than his social reforms, he made his mark as an author who documented the history of his times for posterity. He was also a philosopher and a scholar who translated many important writings. It is generally not known widely but he was keenly concerned about the political events of his times and took great interest in the communist movement which was gaining momentum. We remember him on his birthday because He was the founder of the Indian Messenger, the mouthpiece of Sadharan Brahmo Samaj and its editor for a long time. We pay our homage to him on his 175th birth anniversary.
We are in the midst of a great world crisis when the neighbouring countries of Russia and Ukraine are at war. We can but condemn the aggression of Russia that is threatening the sovereignty of the independent nation of Ukraine. However, such aggressions are the outcome of the overarching desire of the world powers to dominate over the less powerful nations. Ukraine has fallen prey to the ambitions of a powerful alliance who want to spread its influence over the entire continent and the resentment of another against this advance. We earnestly feel that the independence of any nation needs to be guarded as much as we cherish the freedom of individuals. We pray for good sense and amity to prevail and mankind may come out of this crisis unscathed.
Part IV of the article on Education Reforms in India Post Independence deals with school education in this issue and we are introducing excerpts from the writings of Late Shri Beni Madhab Das which have been published by his family after his passing.