हर दिन पावन

Veteran Sangh Pracharak, Manikchand Vajpayee passed away in Gwalior on December 27. He was 87. He had not been keeping well for some time. He breathed his last at 4.30 a.m. at Gwalior Sangh Karyalaya. He was cremated in Gwalior on December 28. Former Prime Minister Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee flown from Mumbai to Gwalior to participate in the cremation. A large number of Sangh Swayamsevaks and Prant adhikaris paid tribute to him at the Gwalior Sangh Karyalaya and later at the cremation ground. Manikchand Vajpayee, who was honoured with various awards, was born on October 7, 1919, at Bateshwar in Agra. He became a Sangh Pracharak in 1944 and in the initial nine years he worked in the Bhind area of Madhya Pradesh. He was instrumental in setting-up of a college in Bhind. He fought against Emergency and had been in jail for over 20 months. After the death of his wife in 1985, he again returned as Sangh Pracharak in the same year. He had also worked as organising secretary of Madhya Pradesh Jana Sangh from 1951 to 1954. He worked as Prant Prachar Pramukh of Madhya Bharat Prant and also worked for Swadeshi Jagaran Manch as Kshetra Sanyojak in Madhya Kshetra. Manikchand Vajpayee earned a name in Hindi journalism while working as the editor of the Indore edition of Swadesh. He wrote a number of articles that became very popular. The prominent books edited and compiled by him include Aapatkalin Sangharshgatha, Pratham Agnipariksha, Bharatiya Nari: Vivekanand ki Drishti Mein, Kashmir ka Kadava Sach, Pope ka Kasata Shikanja, etc. His book, Jyoti Jala Nij Pran ki became very popular. He also authored Madhya Bharat ki Sangh Gatha.