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Veer savarkar |
Veer Savarkar, also known as Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, was an Indian nationalist and freedom fighter who played a significant role in India's struggle for independence from British rule. He was born on May 28, 1883, in Bhagur, a small village near Nashik, Maharashtra. He passed away on February 26, 1966, in Bombay (now Mumbai), India.
Savarkar's life and work are a subject of much debate and controversy. Some view him as a heroic freedom fighter, while others consider him a divisive figure and a promoter of Hindu nationalism. In this essay, we will attempt to provide a comprehensive and detailed account of Savarkar's life and work, examining his early years, his role in the Indian freedom struggle, his political and philosophical beliefs, and his legacy.
Early Life and Education (1883-1909)
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was born into a Marathi family that belonged to the Chitpavan Brahmin caste, which was traditionally associated with learning and scholarship. His father, Damodar Hari Savarkar, was a well-respected teacher and Sanskrit scholar, while his mother, Radhabai, was a devout Hindu who instilled in him a strong sense of religious identity.
Savarkar received his early education in Bhagur, and then moved to Nashik to attend high school. He was a brilliant student and excelled in his studies, particularly in the subjects of history and politics. He was also deeply interested in literature and poetry, and was a talented writer and orator from a young age.
In 1902, Savarkar moved to Bombay (now Mumbai) to pursue higher education at Fergusson College in Pune. Here, he became involved in student politics and became a member of the Indian National Congress. he was deeply influenced by the writings of Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Bipin Chandra Pal, two leading figures of the Indian nationalist movement. and became a committed nationalist and advocate for Indian independence.
In 1904, Savarkar formed the Mitra Mela, a revolutionary student organization that aimed to overthrow British rule in India. The group's activities were largely focused on promoting Indian nationalism and organizing protests and demonstrations against British colonial rule.
Political Activism and Imprisonment (1909-1924)
In 1909, Savarkar was arrested for his involvement in the murder of a British official, W.C. Rand, in London. He was extradited to India and imprisoned in the Andaman Islands, where he spent over a decade in solitary confinement.
During his time in prison, Savarkar continued to write and publish extensively, despite the difficult conditions. He wrote several books and pamphlets on Indian history, politics, and philosophy, including his most famous work, "The Indian War of Independence," which argued for armed resistance against British colonial rule.
Savarkar's time in prison was marked by periods of intense physical and emotional suffering, including hunger strikes and beatings by prison guards. However, he remained steadfast in his commitment to Indian independence, and his writings and speeches continued to inspire and motivate others in the nationalist movement.
Release and Political Activism (1924-1947)
In 1924, Savarkar was released from prison on the condition that he renounce revolutionary activities and remain in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, for five years. He agreed to the terms and spent the next several years writing and promoting his vision of a Hindu nationalist state.
Political Career:
In 1937, Savarkar was elected president of the Hindu Mahasabha, a political party that advocated for the rights of Hindus in India. He used his platform to promote his vision of Hindutva, which he defined as a cultural and political ideology that emphasized the importance of Hindu identity and nationalism.
During World War II, Savarkar expressed his support for the Axis powers and criticized the Indian National Congress for supporting the British war effort. His views on the war and his support for Hindutva made him a controversial figure in Indian politics.
Hindutva
In contrast with Dayananda Saraswati, Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo, who were "men of religion" who introduced reforms in the society and put Hinduism in front of the world, Savarkar mixed politics and religion and started an extreme form of Hindu nationalism.
During his incarceration, Savarkar's views began turning increasingly towards Hindu cultural and political nationalism, and the next phase of his life remained dedicated to this cause.In the brief period he spent at the Ratnagiri jail, Savarkar wrote his ideological treatise – Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?. Smuggled out of the prison, it was published by Savarkar's supporters under his alias "Maharatta." In this work, Savarkar promotes a farsighted new vision of Hindu social and political consciousness. Savarkar began describing a "Hindu" as a patriotic inhabitant of Bharatavarsha, venturing beyond a religious identity. While emphasising the need for patriotic and social unity of all Hindu communities, he described Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism as one and the same. He outlined his vision of a "Hindu Rashtra" (Hindu Nation) as "Akhand Bharat" (United India), purportedly stretching across the entire Indian subcontinent. He defined Hindus as being neither Aryan nor Dravidian but as "People who live as children of a common motherland, adoring a common holyland."
According to Sharma, Savarkar's celebration and justification of violence against [British] women and children in his description of the Mutiny of 1857, "transformed Hindutva into the very image of Islam that he defined and found so intolerably objectionable".
Scholars, historians and Indian politicians have been divided in their interpretation of Savarkar's ideas. A self-described atheist, Savarkar regards being Hindu as a cultural and political identity. He often stressed social and community unity between Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains, to the exclusion of Muslims and Christians. Savarkar saw Muslims and Christians as "misfits" in the Indian civilization who could not truly be a part of the nation.He argued that the holiest sites of Islam and Christianity are in the Middle East and not India, hence the loyalty of Muslims and Christians to India is divided.
After his release from jail on 6 January 1924,Savarkar helped found the Ratnagiri Hindu Sabha organisation, aiming to work for the social and cultural preservation of Hindu heritage and civilisation.
Focusing his energies on writing, Savarkar authored the Hindu Pad-pada-shahi – a book documenting the Maratha empire – and My Transportation for Life – an account of his early revolutionary days, arrest, trial and incarceration.He also wrote and published a collection of poems, plays and novels. He also wrote a book named Majhi Janmathep ("My Life-term") about his experience in Andaman prison.
Hindu orthodoxy
He was an ardent critique of Hindu religious practices he saw as irrational and viewed them as a hindrance to the material progress of the Hindus. He believed that religion is an unimportant aspect of "Hindu identity". He was strictly against the caste system and in his 1931 essay titled Seven Shackles of the Hindu Society, he wrote "One of the most important components of such injunctions of the past that we have blindly carried on and which deserves to be thrown in the dustbins of history is the rigid caste system".
Arrest and Acquittal in Gandhi's Assassination
Following Gandhi's assassination on January 30, 1948, the assassin Nathuram Godse and his alleged accomplices and conspirators were apprehended by police. He was a part of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Hindu Mahasabha. Godse was the editor of Agrani – Hindu Rashtra, a Pune-based Marathi daily published by "The Hindu Rashtra Prakashan Ltd." (The Hindu Nation Publications). Gulabchand Hirachand, Bhalji Pendharkar, and Jugal Kishore Birla were among the eminent contributors to this venture. Savarkar had put ₹15,000 into the company. On February 5, 1948, Savarkar, a former president of the Hindu Mahasabha, was arrested from his home in Shivaji Park and detained at the Arthur Road Prison in Bombay. He was charged with murder, murder conspiracy, and murder abetment. In a public written statement published in The Times of India, Bombay on February 7, 1948, a day before his arrest, Savarkar called Gandhi's assassination a fratricidal crime that jeopardised India's life as a nascent country. The vast amount of papers confiscated from his home showed nothing even remotely linked to Gandhi's assassination. Savarkar was detained under the Preventive Detention Act due to a lack of facts.
Approver's Testimony
Godse assumed sole responsibility for the assassination's preparation and execution. However, according to the Approver Digambar Badge, Nathuram Godse went to see Savarkar one last time in Bombay on January 17, 1948, before the assassination. Nathuram and Apte entered while Badge and Shankar waited outside. When Apte returned, he told Badge that Savarkar had blessed them, saying, "Yashasvi houya" (be successful and return). According to Apte, Savarkar predicted that Gandhi's 100 years would be over soon and that the mission would be completed successfully. However, since the approver's evidence lacked impartial corroboration, Badge's testimony was not acknowledged, and Savarkar was acquitted. Mr Manohar Malgonkar saw Digamber Badge many times in the last week of August 1974 and asked him about the veracity of his testimony against Savarkar. "Even though he had blurted out the full story of the plot as far as he understood, without much persuasion, he had put up a brave fight against being forced to testify against Savarkar," Badge insisted to Mr Manohar Malgonkar. Badge eventually caved in. He agreed to testify under oath that he saw Nathuram Godse and Apte with Savarkar and that Savarkar had blessed their venture in front of Badge
Legacy
to Savarkar at Parliament of India.
He is known among followers by the honorific prefix Veer meaning "brave". The airport at Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar's capital was renamed Veer Savarkar International Airport in 2002.One of the commemorative blue plaques affixed on India House fixed by the Historic Building and Monuments Commission for England reads "Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, 1883–1966, Indian patriot and philosopher lived here".
A commemorative postage stamp was released by government of India in 1970.
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar 1970 stamp of India.
A portrait of Savarkar was unveiled in the Indian Parliament in 2003.
The Shiv Sena party has demanded that the Indian Government posthumously confer upon him India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.[125] Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena chief, while reiterating this demand for Bharat Ratna in 2017, has also suggested that a replica of the prison cell where Savarkar was imprisoned should be built in Mumbai and the youth should be educated about Savarkar's contribution towards the 'Hindu Rashtra' and the Indian freedom struggle.
In 1926, two years after the release of Savarkar from the prison, a biography titled "Life of Barrister Savarkar" and authored by a certain "Chitragupta" was published. A revised version was published in 1939 with additions by Indra Prakash of the Hindu Mahasabha. A second edition of the book was published in 1987 by Veer Savarkar Prakashan, the official publisher of writings by Savarkar. In its preface, Ravindra Vaman Ramdas deduced that, "Chitragupta is none other than Veer Savarkar".
In popular culture
In the 1996 Malayalam movie Kaalapani directed by Priyadarshan, the Hindi actor Annu Kapoor played the role of Savarkar.
The Marathi and Hindi music director and Savarkar follower, Sudhir Phadke, and Ved Rahi made the biopic film Veer Savarkar, which was released in 2001 after many years in production. Savarkar is portrayed by Shailendra Gaur.
The 2015 Indian Marathi-language film What About Savarkar?, directed by Rupesh Katare and Nitin Gawde, depicted the journey of a man's revenge against those who have disrespect Savarkar's name
Books
He wrote 38 books in English and Marathi, consisting in many essays, two novels called Moplah Rebellion and the Transportation, poetry and plays, the best-known of his books being his historical study The Indian war of independence, 1857 and his pamphlet Hindutva: Who Is a Hindu?.
Death
26 February 1966 (aged 82)
Bombay, Maharashtra, India
