Veer Savarkar: The Polemic Revolutionary
Veer Savarkar was an Indian politician, activist and writer who developed the Hindu Nationalist Ideology of Hindutva. He became the leading figure in the Hindu Mahasabha. Know more about his Ideology, political party, Wife, Quotes, Ideology, Children and other important details.
Veer Savarkar Biography: Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, also known as Veer Savarkar has been in the news because of the latest controversy that has erupted in Karnataka. As per the reports, the BJP-led government in the state has been charged for rewriting history as the textbook revision committee has reportedly inserted a section on Veer Savarkar in the revised high school curriculum in the state.
Veer Savarkar, as per the class 8 Kannada textbook used to sit on the wings of a bird and fly out to visit the homeland while was imprisoned in the Andaman Jail.
Veer Savarkar was an Indian politician, activist, and writer who developed the Hindu Nationalist Ideology of Hindutva while being imprisoned at Ratnagiri in 1922. Savarkar became the leading figure in the Hindu Mahasabha.
Know more about Veer Savarkar Ideology, political party, Wife, Quotes, Ideology, Children, and other important details.
Veer Savarkar Biography
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Name
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Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
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Born
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May 28, 1883
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Place of Birth
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Bhaghur, Nasik District, Bombay Presidency, British India (Present Day Maharashtra, India)
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Parents
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Damodar and Radhabai Savarkar
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Death
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February 26, 1966 in Bombay, Maharashtra
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Known For
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Hindutva
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Political Party
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Hindu Mahasabha
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Organisations founded
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Hindu Mahasabha, Free Indian Society
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Spouse
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Yamunabai
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Siblings
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Ganesh, Narain, Maina
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Children
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Vishwas Savarkar, Prabhat Chiplunkar, Prabhakar Savarkar |
Early Life of Veer Savarkar
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was born in Bhagur, near Nashik, present-day Maharashtra. He was born to Damodar and Radhabai Savarkar in a Marathi Chitpavan Brahmin family. He had three other siblings Ganesh, Narayan, and Mainabai Savarkar.
Education:
He completed his Bachelor of Arts from Fergusson College, Pune.
After obtaining his degree, Savarkar went to England to study law where he lived at India House, which was a place frequented by nationalists and political activists.
He was helped by Shyamji Krishna Varma to go to England to pursue his studies. He enrolled there at ‘Gray’s Inn Law College’.
The professional and political life of Veer Savarkar
He was greatly inspired by leaders like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, and Bipin Chandra Pal and by the protests against the partition of Bengal and the Swadeshi movement.
He was a staunch patriot who was involved in political activities at high school and college and was attracted to radical views and movements. He and his brother Ganesh Damodar Savarkar founded a secret society called ‘Mitra Mela’ in 1899 which later became ‘Abhinav Bharat Society’ in 1904.
In London, he established the Free India Society along with Madam Bhikaji Cama to organize students to fight for India’s independence through a revolution.
Savarkar was a friend and guide to Madan Lal Dhingra who assassinated Curzon Wyllie, a British army officer. Even though Dhingra was executed by the British, Savarkar continued the further revolution.
Veer Savarkar against Hindu Orthodoxy
Veer Savarkar 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. Savarkar believed that religion is an unimportant aspect of Hindu identity.
Veer Savarkar was also strictly against the caste system and in his essay which was written in 1931 titled Seven Shackles of the Hindu Society, he wrote that one of the most important components of such injunctions of the past that we have blindly carried on and which deserved to be thrown in the dustbins of history is the rigid caste system.
Veer Savarkar Leader of the Hindu Mahasabha
As the President of the Hindu Mahasabha during the Second World War, Veer Savarkar advanced the slogan ‘Hinduize all Politics and Militarize Hindudom’, and decided to support the British war effort in India seeking military training for the Hindus.
When the Quit India Movement was launched by Congress in 1942, Savarkar criticized it and asked Hindus to stay active in the war effort and not disobey the government. Additionally, Savarkar also encouraged the Hindus to enlist in the armed forces to learn the ‘arts of war’. Hindi Mahasabha Activists also protested Mahatma Gandhi’s initiative to hold talks with Jinnah in 1944, which Savarkar denounced as appeasement.
The History of the War of Indian Independence
1909: During this time, he authored a book “The History of the War of Indian Independence”.
It was Veer Savarkar who first named the 1857 rebellion the first war of independence. He referred to British rule as unjust and oppressive.
The book was banned by the British, but Madam Bhikaji Cama published the book in the Netherlands, Germany, and France, which eventually gained popularity among many Indian revolutionaries.
He also led an armed revolt against the Morley-Minto reforms during this time.
Arrest and mercy petitions
In 1910, Savarkar was arrested and ordered to be extradited to India for his connections with the revolutionary group India House.
On return to India, Savarkar was sentenced to two life terms of imprisonment totalling 50 years and was moved to the Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 1911.
He filed multiple mercy petitions and his release was also demanded by national leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Tilak.
In 1921, he was transferred to a jail in Ratnagiri and then to the Yerwada Jail in Pune.
He was released in 1924 but could not move out of Ratnagiri or engage in political activities for five years.
Savarkar’s contributions as a social reformer
Savarkar built Patit Pavan Mandir in the Ratnagiri district to allow entry to all Hindus, including Dalits.
According to Savarkar, the rigid caste system “deserves to be thrown into the dustbins of history”.
Savarkar wanted to break away from caste-based vocational rigidity and encourage persons to pursue any vocation of their choice based on aptitude and ability. In the absence of motivation of competition, or lack of aptitude, Savarkar believed, “merely following what one’s father did, will make one both complacent and unproductive.”
Savarkar wanted to break away from the taboo on inter-caste dining. He had said, “Religion is in the heart, the soul, the spirit; not the stomach!” He also promoted inter-caste marriage.
Veer Savarkar wanted to popularize Vedic literature to everyone, not only to a particular caste. He called Vedic literature civilizational knowledge for the entire human race and India’s unique gift to mankind.
Savarkar believed in global mobility and the need for Indians to venture out into foreign lands so as to “bring back the best of the world and carry the fragrance of India and her culture to every corner of the globe.”
Veer Savarkar underscored was the need to develop a scientific temper. “We are 200 years behind Europe”, he had remarked adding, “It is through science, modern thoughts and industrialization that we can ensure that every man woman in India will have a job to do, food to eat, clothes to wear and a happy life to lead.”
Veer Savarkar in Andaman Jail
One of the charges on Veer Savarkar was the abetment to murder of Nashik Collector Jackson and the second was waging the conspiracy under the Indian Penal Code 121-A against the King-Emperor.
Following the two trials, at the age of 28, he was convicted and sentenced to 50 years imprisonment and was transported on July 4, 2011, to the infamous cellular jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Veer Savarkar was considered by the British Government a political prisoner.
Veer Savarkar Controversy
After the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948, police arrested Nathuram Godse and his alleged accomplices and conspirators. Godse was a member of the Hindu Mahasabha and of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
Veer Savarkar, a former President of the Hindu Mahasabha, was arrested on February 5, 1948, from his house and was kept under detention in the Arthur Road Prison, Bombay. He was charged with murder, conspiracy to murder and abetment to murder.
The mass of papers that were seized from his house revealed nothing that could be remotely connected with Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination. Due to a lack of evidence, he was arrested under the Preventive Detention Act.
Opposing stand during the Quit India Movement
Under Savarkar, the Hindu Mahasabha openly opposed the call for the Quit India Movement and boycotted it officially. He asked all the Hindu sabha members in the government to support the British government instead.
Hindu Mahasabha also opposed Gandhi’s initiative to hold talks with Jinnah in 1944. Savarkar strongly attacked the British and Congress for making concessions for the Muslim separatists.
After the resignation of the Congress ministries in protest of Linlithgow’s decision to drag India into WWII without their consultation, the Hindu Mahasabha, under Savarkar’s presidency, joined hands with the Muslim League and other parties to form governments, in certain provinces like Sindh, NWFP, and Bengal.
The ‘two nations in one country’ theory
When he gave ‘the two nations in one country’ theory, he propounded that the Hindus and Muslims, though different can bury their differences and unite for India.
That’s the reason he had opposed INC’s acceptance of the partition of India. Note: The two nations theory adopted by Jinnah was given by Sir Syed Ahmed khan.
The assassination of Mahatma Gandhi: The charge and acquittal
In 1948, he was charged as the co-conspirator for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
Nathuram Godse was a member of Hindu Mahasabha and a prolific follower of Savarkar’s ideas.
Savarkar was however later acquitted from the charge due to lack of evidence.
Post-Independence India and Savarkar
He was under the constant scrutiny of the public after Gandhiji’s assassination.
Later, he was also arrested by the government for making “Hindu nationalist speeches” but was released after agreeing to give up political activities. He continued addressing the social and cultural elements of Hindutva.
Veer Savarkar Death
Veer Savarkar’s wife Yamunabai passed away on November 8, 1963. On February 1, 1966, Savarkar renounced food, medicines, and water which he termed as atmaarpan (fast until death).
Prior to his death on February 26, 1966, he had asked his relatives to perform only his funeral and do away with the rituals of the 10th and the 13th day of the Hindu faith. Accordingly, his last rites were performed at an electric crematorium in Bombay’s Sonapur locality by his son Vishwas the following day.
Veer Savarkar Books
Veer Savarkar wrote 38 books in English and Marathi, consisting of many essays, two novels called Moplah Rebellion and The Transportation, poetry and plays. The best known of Veer Savarkar’s books are his historical study The Indian War of Independence, 1857 and the pamphlet Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?
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