It was customary to start
the "Vijaya Dashami" festival celebration of RSS with a parade, for
which the Swayamsevaks gathered at the palace of the prince of Nagpur, Maharaj
Raghuji Raje Bhonsle. As RSS rapidly grew, soon, the mammoth parade gathering
had to be inevitably shifted to a larger ground. Chitnis park had a suitable
ground, but it was under the jurisdiction of Nagpur city corporation; and the
mayor was Shri Samiullah Khan, who happened to be a Muslim. Because of this,
some people expressed doubts that the permission to stage the parade from
Chitnis park may not be granted.
Doctorjee personally went
to see Shri Khan to request his authorization to use the park. Since Shri Khan
had gone to his native village near Nagpur, Doctorjee went there and finally
met him. Shri Khan welcomed Doctorjee with great respect and affection. He
said: "Oh Doctorjee! why did you have to come this far, and take all this
trouble, only to ask my insignificant permission? For a great man like you,
every park and facility of Nagpur city corporation is always open, with a
welcome!".
Doctorjee humbly thanked
him and said: "Sir, what you say is right, but isn't it still my duty to
get your formal authorization prior to setting up the program?"
"You didn't have to
come in person this far for that" said Shri Khan; "You could have
simply sent a note. As a mayor, I am eager to be of service to men of integrity
like you. Others often use the park and leave behind lots of dirt, and never
bother to even ask for the authorization to use it. On the contrary, I have
heard that your people take meticulous care to leave behind clean premises and
happy neighbors. Please feel free to use the Park anytime you want.”
This shows how even Muslims
had great respect for Doctorjee.
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