New Delhi, Dec 26 (PTI) Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday paid rich tributes to Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya and said the founder of the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) was an institution who was admired by all, irrespective of ideological differences.

Addressing a function organised on the occasion of Malaviya's 160th birth anniversary, Shah said many people in today's generation would not understand how come the same person became the Congress president as well as president of the Hindu Mahasabha.

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"Malaviya was not an individual but an institution. He was a great educationist, social reformer, political leader, journalist and even a lawyer," he said.

Shah said Malaviya was the only freedom fighter who strongly pitched for promotion of mother tongues, Indian culture and Indianness.

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He said that Malaviya had great respect for the Ganga river, cow and Hindi, and established three different organisations for the promotion and protection of the three.

"Today's journalists can't think how come the same person became the president of both the Congress as well as the Hindu Mahasabha. He was acceptable to all because of his great personality," he said.

The home minister said that Malaviya had supported Mahatma Gandhi's non-cooperation movement but opposed the Khilafat movement saying that it would lead to the country's partition.

He said that Malaviya was Congress president for four times and always tried to introduce Indian culture in it and he was the one who introduced 'Vande Mataram' to the party.

Malaviya had always worked for the promotion of Hindi and said that all Indian languages are sisters, Shah said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)