Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi

Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi

Kanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi (30 December 1887 – 8 February 1971), popularly known by his pen name Ghanshyam Vyas, was an Indian independence movement activist, politician, writer and educationist. A lawyer by profession, he later turned to author and politician. He founded Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, an educational trust, in 1938. Munshi wrote his works in three languages namely Gujarati, English and Hindi.

About Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi in brief

Summary Kanaiyalal Maneklal MunshiKanhaiyalal Maneklal Munshi (30 December 1887 – 8 February 1971), popularly known by his pen name Ghanshyam Vyas, was an Indian independence movement activist, politician, writer and educationist from Gujarat state. A lawyer by profession, he later turned to author and politician. He founded Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, an educational trust, in 1938. Munshi wrote his works in three languages namely Gujarati, English and Hindi. Before independence of India, Munshi was part of Indian National Congress and after independence, he joined Swatantra Party. He held several important posts like member of Constituent Assembly of India and minister of agriculture and food of India.

He was one of the founding members of Vishva Hindu Parishad. He believed that the future of Hindus and Muslims lay in unity in an ‘Akhand Hindustan’ (Hindus and Muslims) Munshi also initiated Van Mahotsav-long week to increase area under forest cover to increase forest cover. He planted millions of trees across the country and lakhs of trees are planted every year in the month of July. He started a strong movement to separate the Congress Party and Nehru-dominated Akhand-dominated Congress. He died in February 1971 at his home in Mumbai. He is buried at the Rajpath Cemetery in Mumbai, Mumbai. His son is also a well-known author in Gujarati.