Baba Amte

Baba Amte

Baba Amte in 2005
Born (1914-12-26)26 December 1914[1]
Hinganghat, Wardha, British India (present-day Maharashtra, India)
Died 9 February 2008(2008-02-09) (aged 93)
Anandwan, Maharashtra, India
Nationality Indian
Education B.A.LL.B.
Spouse(s) Sadhana Amte
Children Dr. Vikas Amte
Dr. Prakash Amte
Awards Padma Shri, 1971
Ramon Magsaysay Award, 1985
Padma Vibhushan, 1986
United Nations Prize in the Field of Human Rights,1988
Gandhi Peace Prize, 1999
Templeton Award, 1990
Website No website at present
Signature

Murlidhar Devidas Amte, popularly known as Baba Amte[2] (26 December 1914 – 9 February 2008) was an Indian social worker and social activist known particularly for his work for the rehabilitation and empowerment of poor people suffering from leprosy. He and his wife, Sadhna Amte had started an organization for the leprosy patients Anandwan in 1950. This pioneering work was started as an arogya centre below a tree in 1949.[3]

Early life

Baba Amte was born to Mr. Devidas Amte and Mrs. Laxmibai Amte in the city of Hinganghat in Wardha District of Maharashtra on 26 December 1914. It was a wealthy family. His father was a British government officer with responsibilities for district administration and revenue collection.[4] Murlidhar had acquired his nickname Baba in his childhood.[5][6][7]

He came to be known as Baba not because "he was a saint or any such thing, but because his parents addressed him by that name."[8]

He was among eight children of his father. As the eldest son of a wealthy land owner, Murlidhar had an idyllic childhood. By the time he was fourteen, he owned his own gun and hunted boar and deer. When he was old enough to drive, he was given a Singer Sports car with cushions covered with panther skin. He never appreciated the restrictions that prevented him from playing with the 'low-caste' servants' children. "There is a certain callousness in families like my family.[9]" he used to say. "They put up strong barriers so as not to see the misery in the world outside and I rebelled against it. "[10]

Dedicated works

Trained in law, he developed a successful legal practice at Wardha. He soon got involved in the Indian struggle for freedom from the British Raj, and started acting as a defence lawyer for leaders of the Indian freedom movement whom the British authorities had imprisoned in the 1942 Quit India movement. He spent some time at Sevagram ashram of Mahatma Gandhi and became a follower of Gandhism for the rest of his life. He followed Gandhism, including yarn spinning using a charkha and wearing khadi. When Gandhi got to know that he has saved a girl from British soldiers who were lewdly taunting her, Gandhi gave him the name – Abhay Sadhak (Fearless Seeker of Truth).[11]

In those days, leprosy was associated with social stigma and the society disowned people suffering from leprosy. Amte strove to dispel the widespread belief that leprosy was highly contagious; he even allowed bacilli from a leper to be injected into him as part of an experiment aimed at proving that leprosy was not highly contagious.[12]

Amte founded three [[ashram]]s for treatment and rehabilitation of leprosy patients, disabled people, and people from marginalised sections of the society in Maharashtra, India. On 15 August 1949, he started a hospital in Anandvan under a tree. In 1973, Amte founded the Lok Biradari Prakalp to work for the Madia Gond tribal people of Gadchiroli District.

Amte devoted his life to many other social causes, the most notably the Knit India movement for public awareness of the importance of ecological balance, wildlife preservation, and the Narmada Bachao Andolan. He Was Awarded With Padma Shri by government of India in year 1971.

Dedicated works of family members

Amte married Indu Ghuleshastri [13] (later called Sadhanatai Amte).[5] She participated in her husband's social work with equal dedication. Their two sons, Vikas Amte and Prakash Amte, and daughters-in-law, Mandakini and Bharati, are doctors. All four dedicated their lives to social work and causes similar to those of the senior Amte. Prakash and his wife Mandakini run a school and a hospital at Hemalkasa village in the underprivileged district of Gadchiroli in Maharashtra among the Madia Gond tribe, as well as an orphanage for injured wild animals, including a lion and some leopards. She left her governmental medical job and moved to Hemalkasa to start the projects after they married. Their two sons, Dr. Digant and Aniket also dedicated their lives to the same causes.[14][15] In 2008, Prakash and Mandakini received the Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership.[16]

Amte's elder son Vikas and his wife Bharati run the hospital at Anandwan and co-ordinate operations with satellite projects.[17] Anandwan has a university, an orphanage, and schools for the blind and the deaf. The Anandwan ashram is self-sufficient and has over 5,000 residents[6] and is recognised around the world. Amte later founded "Somnath" and "Ashokwan" ashrams for leprosy.

Gandhism

Amte followed Gandhi's way of life and led a spartan life. He wore khadi clothes made from the looms at Anandwan. He believed in Gandhi's concept of a self-sufficient village industry that empowers seemingly helpless people, and successfully brought his ideas into practice at Anandwan. Using non-violent means, he played an important role in the struggle for the independence of India.[18] Amte also used Gandhian principles to fight against corruption, mismanagement, and poor, shortsighted planning in the government. However, unlike Gandhi, Amte was an atheist.[19]

Narmada Bachao Andolan with Medha Patkar

In 1990, Amte left Anandwan for a while to live along the Narmada River and join Medha Patkar's Narmada Bachao Andolan ("Save Narmada") movement, which fought against both unjust displacement of local inhabitants and damage to the environment due to the construction of the Sardar Sarovar dam on the Narmada river.[20][21]

Awards

Citation: "In electing MURLIDHAR DEVIDAS AMTE to receive the 1985 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service, the Board of Trustees recognizes his work-oriented rehabilitation of Indian leprosy patients and other handicapped outcasts."

Honorary titles

Quotes

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Amte, the great social reformer".
  2. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 23 September 2015. Retrieved 2015-09-23.
  3. ↑ Students' Britannica India. Popular Prakashan. 2000. p. 62. ISBN 0-85229-760-2.
  4. 1 2 "BIOGRAPHY of Murlidhar Devidas Amte".
  5. 1 2 "Collector office chandrapur -Maharashtra Bhushan Baba Amte". Archived from the original on 24 February 2009.
  6. 1 2 "An interview with Baba Amte".
  7. ↑ Wisdom song: My Mother's Madness
  8. ↑ (as explained by his wife Sadhanatai Amte)
  9. ↑ Bhavesh Tanavade
  10. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 2011-10-20.
  11. ↑ MacFarquhar, Larissa (2015). Strangers Drowning. Penguin Press. p. 123. ISBN 978-1-59420-433-3.
  12. ↑ "Amte: The last follower of Mahatma Gandhi".
  13. ↑ Baba Amte: A Biography by ANita Kainthla
  14. ↑ "Social workers Drs. Prakash and Manda Amte inspire listeners at Asha NYC/NJ".
  15. ↑ "Dr Prakash and Dr Mandatai Amte – The Spirit of Mastek Award". Archived from the original on 9 May 2008.
  16. ↑ "Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation: Awardees".
  17. ↑ "Maharogi Sewa Samiti".
  18. ↑ "Baba Amte: The Gandhi after that Gandhi".
  19. ↑ "Baba Amte Obituary: The Economist". 28 February 2008.
  20. ↑ "Right Livelihood Award: 1991 – Medha Patkar &Baba Amte / Narmada Bachao Andolan". Archived from the original on 13 November 2007.
  21. ↑ President Pratibha Patil, Manmohan Singh condole Baba Amte's death – Yahoo! India News
  22. ↑ Microsoft Word – year-wise 07.rtf Archived 16 February 2008 at the Wayback Machine.
  23. ↑ "Jamnalal Bajaj Awards Archive". Jamnalal Bajaj Foundation.
  24. ↑ "The Miracle Worker".
  25. ↑ "Award for Baba Amte, Mashelkar". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 1 May 2005.
  26. ↑ "The various awards that Baba Amte won in his lifetime".


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