Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
Born	28 May 1883 Bhagur, Nashik, Maharashtra
Died	26 February 1966(1966-02-26) (aged 82) Bombay, India
Cause of death	Sallekhana Prayopavesa
Nationality	Indian
Other names	Veer Savarkar
Education	Bachelor of Arts from Fergusson College, Pune, Maharashtra (India); Barrister from The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, London (England).
Known for	Indian independence movement, Hindutva
Political party	Hindu Mahasabha
Religion	None[1][2]
Spouse(s)	Yamunabai
Children	sons Prabhakar (died in infancy), Vishwas Savarkar and daughter Prabhat Chiplunkar
Parent(s)	Damodar Savarkar Yashoda Savarkar
Relatives	Ganesh Damodar Savarkar (brother), Narayan Damodar Savarkar (brother), Maina Damodar Savarkar (sister)

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar ( pronunciation ) (28 May 1883 – 26 February 1966) was an Indian pro-independence activist,^[3][4] politician as well as a poet, writer and playwright. He advocated dismantling the system of caste in Hindu culture, and reconversion of the converted Hindus back to Hindu religion. Savarkar created the term Hindutva, and emphasised its distinctiveness from Hinduism which he associated with social and political communalism. The stated aim of Savarkar's Hindutva was to create a collective "Hindu" identity as an "imagined nation". The five elements of his philosophy were Utilitarianism, Rationalism and Positivism, Humanism and Universalism, Pragmatism and Realism.^[5] Later commentators have said that Savarkar's philosophy, despite its claims to furthering unity, was divisive in nature as it tried to shape Indian nationalism as uniquely Hindu, to the exclusion of other religions.^[6]

Savarkar's revolutionary activities began while studying in India and England, where he was associated with the India House and founded student societies including Abhinav Bharat Society and the Free India Society, as well as publications espousing the cause of complete Indian independence by revolutionary means.^[7] Savarkar published The Indian War of Independence about the Indian rebellion of 1857 that was banned by British authorities. He was arrested in 1910 for his connections with the revolutionary group India House. Following a failed attempt to escape while being transported from Marseilles, Savarkar was sentenced to two life terms of imprisonment totalling fifty years and was moved to the Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, but released in 1921.

While in jail, Savarkar wrote the work describing Hindutva, openly espousing Hindu nationalism. In 1921, under restrictions after signing a plea for clemency, he was released on the condition that he renounce revolutionary activities. Travelling widely, Savarkar became a forceful orator and writer, advocating Hindu political and social unity. Serving as the president of the Hindu Mahasabha, Savarkar endorsed the ideal of India as a Hindu Rashtra and opposed the Quit India struggle in 1942, calling it a "Quit India but keep your army" movement. He became a fierce critic of the Indian National Congress and its acceptance of India's partition. He was one of those accused in the assassination of Indian leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and was acquitted in the trial.^[8][9]

The airport at Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar's capital, has been named Veer Savarkar International Airport.^[10] The commemorative blue plaque 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".^[11]

Early life

Vinayak was born in the Chitpavan Konkanastha Brahmin family^[12] of Damodar and Radhabai Savarkar in the village of Bhagur, near the city of Nashik, Maharashtra. He had three other siblings namely Ganesh, Narayan, and a sister named Maina. When he was 12, he led fellow students in an attack on his village mosque following Hindu-Muslim riots, stating: “we vandalised the mosque to our heart’s content."^[13]

After the death of his parents, the eldest sibling Ganesh, known as Babarao, took responsibility of the family. Babarao played a supportive and influential role in Vinayak's teenage life. During this period, Vinayak organised a youth group called Mitra Mela (Band of Friends) and encouraged revolutionary and nationalist views of passion using this group.^[14] In 1901, Vinayak Savarkar married Yamunabai, daughter of Ramchandra Triambak Chiplunkar, who supported his university education. Subsequently in 1902, he enrolled in Fergusson College, in Pune .^[14] As a young man, he was inspired by the new generation of radical political leaders namely Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Bipin Chandra Pal and Lala Lajpat Rai^[14] along with the political struggle against the partition of Bengal and the rising Swadeshi campaign. He was involved in various nationalist activities at various levels. In 1905, during Dussehra festivities Vinayak organised setting up of a bonfire of foreign goods and clothes. Along with his fellow students and friends he formed a political outfit called Abhinav Bharat. Vinayak was soon expelled from college due to his activities but was still permitted to take his Bachelor of Arts degree examinations. After completing his degree, nationalist activist Shyamji Krishna Varma helped Vinayak to go to England to study law, on a scholarship.^[14] It was during this period that the Garam Dal, literally "Army of the angry," was formed under the leadership of Tilak as a result of a split between the moderate, "constitutionalist" wing on the one part, and of Tilak's extremist or radical wing in the Indian National Congress. The members of the Garam Dal, did not acknowledge the agenda of the majority moderate Indian National Congress leadership which advocated dialogue with the British rulers and incremental steps towards Independence by gaining confidence of the British. Tilak was soon imprisoned for his support of revolutionary activities.^[14]

Activities at India House

After joining Gray's Inn law college in London Vinayak took accommodation at India House. Organized by expatriate social and political activist Pandit Shyamji, India House was a thriving centre for student political activities. Savarkar soon founded the Free India Society to help organize fellow Indian students with the goal of fighting for complete independence through a revolution, declaring,

“

We must stop complaining about this British officer or that officer, this law or that law. There would be no end to that. Our movement must not be limited to being against any particular law, but it must be for acquiring the authority to make laws itself. In other words, we want absolute independence[7]

”

Savarkar envisioned a guerrilla war for independence along the lines of the famous war for Indian independence of 1857. Studying the history of the revolt, from English as well as Indian sources, Savarkar wrote the book, The History of the War of Indian Independence. He analysed the circumstances of 1857 uprising and assailed British rule in India as unjust and oppressive. It was via this book that Savarkar became one of the first writers to allude the uprising as India's "First War for Independence."^[15]

The book was banned throughout the British Empire. Madame Bhikaji Cama, an expatriate Indian revolutionary obtained its publication in the Netherlands, France and Germany. Widely smuggled and circulated, the book attained great popularity and influenced rising young Indians. Savarkar was studying revolutionary methods and he came into contact with a veteran of the Russian Revolution of 1905 who imparted him the knowledge of bomb-making. Savarkar had printed and circulated a manual amongst his friends on bomb-making and other methods of guerrilla warfare.

In 1909, Madan Lal Dhingra, a keen follower and friend of Savarkar, assassinated British MP Sir Curzon Wylie in a public meeting. Dhingra's action provoked controversy across Britain and India, evoking enthusiastic admiration as well as condemnation. Savarkar published an article in which he all but endorsed the murder and worked to organize support, both political and for Dhingra's legal defence.

At a meeting of Indians called for a condemnation of Dhingra's deed, Savarkar protested the intention to condemn and was drawn into a hot debate and angry scuffle with other participants. A secretive and restricted trial and a sentence awarding the death penalty to Dhingra provoked an outcry and protest across the Indian student and political community. Strongly protesting the verdict, Savarkar struggled with British authorities in laying claim to Dhingra's remains following his execution. Savarkar hailed Dhingra as a hero and martyr, and began encouraging revolution with greater intensity.

Arrest in London and Marseille

In India, Ganesh Savarkar had organised an armed revolt against the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909 . The British police implicated Savarkar in the investigation for allegedly plotting the crime . Hoping to evade arrest, Savarkar moved to Madame Cama's home in Paris . He was nevertheless arrested by police on 13 March 1910. In the final days of freedom, Savarkar wrote letters to a close friend planning his escape. Knowing that he would most likely be shipped to India, Savarkar asked his friend to keep track of which ship and route he would be taken through . When the ship S.S. Morea reached the port of Marseille on 8 July 1910, Savarkar escaped from his cell through a porthole and dived into the water, swimming to the shore in the hope that his friend would be there to receive him in a car . But his friend was late in arriving, and the alarm having been raised, Savarkar was re-arrested.

Case before the Permanent Court of Arbitration

Savarkar
Court	Permanent Court of Arbitration
Full case name	Arrest and Return of Savarkar (France v. Great Britain)
Decided	24 February 1911
Court membership
Judges sitting	M. Beernaert, president, elected by panel Louis Renault Earl of Desart G. Gram Alexander de Savornin Lohman
Case opinions
Decision by	Unanimous panel

Savarkar's arrest at Marseilles caused the French government to protest to the British, arguing that the British could only recover Savarkar if they took appropriate legal proceedings for his rendition. This dispute came before the Permanent Court of International Arbitration in 1910, and it gave its decision in 1911. The case excited much controversy as was reported by the New York Times, and it considered it involved an interesting international question of the right of asylum. The Court held, firstly, that since there was a pattern of collaboration between the two countries regarding the possibility of Savarkar's escape in Marseilles and since there was neither force nor fraud in inducing the French authorities to return Savarkar to them, the British authorities did not have to hand him back to the French in order for the latter to hold rendition proceedings. On the other hand, the tribunal also observed that there had been an "irregularity" in Savarkar's arrest and delivery over to the Indian Army Military Police guard.^[16][17]

Trial and Sentence

Arriving in Bombay, Savarkar was taken to the Yervada Central Jail in Pune. Following a trial, Savarkar was sentenced to 50 years imprisonment and transported on 4 July 1911 to the infamous Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Prisoner in Cellular Jail in Andaman

His fellow captives included many political prisoners, who were forced to perform hard labour for many years. Reunited with his brother Ganesh, the Savarkars nevertheless struggled in the harsh environment: Forced to arise at 5 am, tasks including cutting trees and chopping wood, and working at the oil mill under regimental strictness, with talking amidst prisoners strictly prohibited during mealtime. Prisoners were subject to frequent mistreatment and torture. Contact with the outside world and home was restricted to the writing and mailing of one letter a year. In these years, Savarkar withdrew within himself and performed his routine tasks mechanically. Obtaining permission to start a rudimentary jail library, Savarkar would also teach some fellow convicts to read and write.

In 1920, the Indian National Congress and leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Vithalbhai Patel and Bal Gangadhar Tilak demanded his unconditional release. Savarkar signed a statement endorsing his trial, verdict and British law, and renouncing violence, a bargain for freedom.

Jaywant Joglekar, who authored a book euologising Savarkar as 'Father of Hindu Nationalism',^[18] considers Savarkar's appeal for clemency a tactical ploy, like Shivaji's letter to Aurangzeb, during his arrest at Agra etc.^[19]

Restricted Freedom in Ratnagiri

On 2 May 1921, the Savarkar brothers were moved to a jail in Ratnagiri, and later to the Yerwada Central Jail. He was finally released on 6 January 1924 under stringent restrictions – he was not to leave Ratnagiri District and was to refrain from political activities for the next five years. However, police restrictions on his activities would not be dropped until provincial autonomy was granted in 1937.

Hindutva

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.^[14] 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 radical new vision of Hindu social and political consciousness. Savarkar began describing a "Hindu" as a patriotic inhabitant of Bharatavarsha,^[20] venturing beyond a religious identity.^[14][21] While emphasising the need for patriotic and social unity of all Hindu communities, he described Hinduism, Jainism, Sikhism and Buddhism as one and 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 the Hindu race as neither Aryan, or Dravidian but as^[22]

“

that People who live as children of a common motherland, adoring a common holyland

”

Scholars, historians and Indian politicians have been divided in their interpretation of Savarkar's ideas. A self-described atheist,^[23] Savarkar regards being Hindu as a cultural and political identity. While often stressing social and community unity between Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains, Savarkar's notions of loyalty to the fatherland are seen as an implicit criticism of minorities e.g. Muslims, Christians, etc. who regard Mecca, Medina, Jerusalem, etc. as their holiest places. Savarkar openly assailed what he saw as Muslim political separatism, arguing that the loyalty of many Muslims was conflicted.

After his release from jail on 6 January 1924.^[24] Savarkar helped found the Ratnagiri Hindu Sabha, aiming to work for the social and cultural preservation of Hindu heritage and civilisation.^[25] Becoming a frequent and forceful orator, Sarvakar agitated for the use of Hindi as a common national language and against caste discrimination and untouchability.

Another activity he started was to reconvert to Hinduism those who had converted to other faiths. This included the eight members of a Brahmin family named Dhakras who had converted to Christianity. Savarkar re-converted the family at a public function and also bore the marriage expenses of the two daughters in the family.^[26]

Focusing his energies on writing, Savarkar authored the Hindu Pad-pada-shahi^[15] – a book documenting the Maratha empire – and My Transportation for Life – an account of his early revolutionary days, arrest, trial and incarceration.^[27] 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.^[28]

Leader of the Hindu Mahasabha

In the wake of the rising popularity of the Muslim League led by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Savarkar and his party began gaining attraction in the national political environment. Savarkar moved to Mumbai and was elected president of the Hindu Mahasabha in 1937, and would serve until 1943. The Congress swept the polls in 1937 but conflicts between the Congress and Jinnah would exacerbate Hindu-Muslim political divisions. Jinnah derided Congress rule as a "Hindu Raj", and hailed 22 December 1939 as a "Day of Deliverance" for Muslims when the Congress resigned en masse in protest when the British India Governor-General declared India's inclusion into World War II for the United Kingdom and its allies against Germany and its allies. Savarkar's message of Hindu unity and empowerment gained increasing popularity amidst the worsening communal climate.

Savarkar as president of the Hindu Mahasabha, during the Second World War, advanced the slogan "Hinduize all Politics and Militarize Hindudom", he decided to support the British war effort in India seeking military training for the Hindus.^[29] When the Congress launched the Quit India movement in 1942, Savarkar criticised it and asked Hindus to stay active in the war effort and not disobey the government,^[15] he urged the Hindus to enlist in the armed forces to learn the "arts of war".^[30] Hindu Mahasabha activists protested Gandhi's initiative to hold talks with Jinnah in 1944, which Savarkar denounced as "appeasement." He assailed the British proposals for transfer of power, attacking both the Congress and the British for making concessions to Muslim separatists. Soon after Independence, Dr Shyama Prasad Mookerjee resigned as Vice-President of the Hindu Mahasabha dissociating himself from its Akhand Hindustan plank, which implied undoing partition.^[31]

Civil resistance movement

Hindus were politically prosecuted in Hyderabad under Nizam's rule. Forcible conversion of Hindus to Islam, imposition of Urdu on Hindu students and neglect of Hindu shrines were some of the main elements of Nizam's anti-Hindu policies. Hindu Mahasabha under the leadership of Savarkar started a civil resistance movement in March 1939. The objective of the Satyagraha was to secure religious and cultural liberty for the Hindus who at that time constituted 86% of total population of Hyderabad State. Many notable people like Senapati Bapat, V. G. Deshpande, Prabhakar Balwant Dani, Madhavrao Mule, took part in it. The Arya Samaj also sent around 10000 civil resisters. At last, on July 19, 1939, the Nizam government announced some political reforms. In the new dispensation, 50% seats were left for non-Muslims.^[32] Although Hindus were the majority in the state and Muslims were in minority, Hindu Mahasabha accepted this proposal. They withdrew the movement despite the fact that these reforms for partial reforms. Indian National Congress did not support this movement and called it 'communal' and 'anti-national'.^[33]

Views on Mahatma Gandhi

Savarkar was an outspoken critic of Mahatma Gandhi. He considered him "a sissy", who was willing to cooperate with Britishers. He criticized Gandhi for being a hypocrite as he supported use of violence by Britishers against Germany. He also criticized his utopian views of Hindu-Muslim Unity and his appeasement of Muslims at the time of Khilafat Movement.

In articles from the 1920s to the 1940s Savarkar considered Gandhi as a naive leader who “happens to babble...[about] compassion, forgiveness", yet “notwithstanding his sublime and broad heart, the Mahatma has a very narrow and immature head."

During the Partition of India, he and his party were enraged at the support given by Gandhi to Pakistan such as Gandhi's protests and fast against the economic sanctions imposed on Pakistan by Jawaharlal Nehru (refusing to pass on its share of central-bank funds from before independence).^[34]

Opposition to the partition of India

The Muslim League adopted the Lahore Resolution in 1940, calling for a separate Muslim state based on the Two-Nation Theory, Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar summaries Savarkar's position, in his Pakistan or The Partition of India as follows,

“

Mr. Savarkar... insists that, although there are two nations in India, India shall not be divided into two parts, one for Muslims and the other for the Hindus; that the two nations shall dwell in one country and shall live under the mantle of one single constitution;.... In the struggle for political power between the two nations the rule of the game which Mr. Savarkar prescribes is to be one man one vote, be the man Hindu or Muslim. In his scheme a Muslim is to have no advantage which a Hindu does not have. Minority is to be no justification for privilege and majority is to be no ground for penalty. The State will guarantee the Muslims any defined measure of political power in the form of Muslim religion and Muslim culture. But the State will not guarantee secured seats in the Legislature or in the Administration and, if such guarantee is insisted upon by the Muslims, such guaranteed quota is not to exceed their proportion to the general population.[35]

”

Support for Jewish state in Palestine

Savarkar in a statement issued on 19 December 1947, expressed joy at the recognition of the claim of Jewish people to establish an independent Jewish state, and likened the event to the glorious day on which Moses led them out of Egyptian bondage. He considered that justice demanded restoration of entire Palestine to the Jews, their historical holy land and Fatherland. He regretted India's vote at the United Nations Organisation against the creation of the Jewish state terming the vote a policy of appeasement of Muslims.^[36]

Works

Veer Savarkar wrote more than 10,000 pages in the Marathi language. His literary works in Marathi include "Kamala", "Mazi Janmathep" (My Life Sentence), and most famously "1857 - The First War of Independence", about what the British referred to as the Sepoy Mutiny. Savarkar popularised the term "First War of Independence". Another book was Kale Pani (Black Water which means life sentence on the island prison on the Andaman islands), which reflected the treatment of Indian independence activists by the British. To counter the then accepted view that India's history was a saga of continuous defeat, he wrote an inspirational historical work, "Saha Soneri Pane" (Six Golden Pages), recounting some of the "Golden periods" of Indian history. At the same time, religious divisions in India were beginning to acerbate. He described what he saw as the atrocities of British and Muslims on Hindu residents in Kerala, in the book, "Mopalyanche Band" (Muslims' Strike) and also "Gandhi Gondhal" (Gandhi's Confusion), a political critique of Gandhi's politics. Savarkar, by now, had become a committed and persuasive critic of the Gandhian vision of India's future.

He is also the author of the poems "Sagara pran talmalala" (O Great Sea, my heart aches for the motherland), and "Jayostute" (written in praise of freedom). When in the Cellular jail, Savarkar was denied pen and paper. He composed and wrote his poems on the prison walls with thorns and pebbles, memorised thousands lines of his poetry for years till other prisoners returning home brought them to India. Savarkar is credited with several neologisms in Marathi and Hindi, including "Hutatma" (Martyr), "Mahapaur" ( Mayor), Digdarshak (leader or director, one who points in the right direction), Shatkar (a score of six runs in cricket), Saptahik (weekly), Sansad (Parliament), "doordhwani" (telephone), "tanklekhan" (typewriting) among others.

He chaired Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in 1938.

Books

• Saha Soneri Paane (translation: Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History ^[37])
• 1857 che Svatantrya Samar
• Hindupadpaatshahi
• Hindutva
• Jatyochhedak Nibandha
• Moplyanche Banda
• Maazi Janmathep (translation: My life imprisonment)
• Kale Pani
• Shatruchya Shibirat
• Londonchi batamipatre (translation: London Newsletters)
• Andamanchya Andheritun
• Vidnyan nishtha Nibandha
• Joseph Mazzini (on Giuseppe Mazzini)
• Hindurashtra Darshan
• Hindutvache Panchapran
• Kamala
• Savarkaranchya Kavita (translation: Poems by Savarkar)
• Sanyasta Khadg

Arrest and acquittal in Gandhi's assassination

Following the assassination of Gandhi on 30 January 1948, police arrested the assassin Nathuram Godse and his alleged accomplices and conspirators. He was a member of the Hindu Mahasabha and of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. Godse was the editor of Agrani - Hindu Rashtra a Marathi daily from Pune which was run by a company "The Hindu Rashtra Prakashan Ltd" (The Hindu Nation Publications). This company had contributions from such eminent persons as Gulabchand Hirachand, Bhalji Pendharkar and Jugalkishore Birla. Savarkar had invested 15000 in the company. Savarkar, a former president of the Hindu Mahasabha, was arrested on 5 February 1948, from his house in Shivaji Park, and kept under detention in the Arthur Road Prison, Mumbai. He was charged with murder, conspiracy to murder and abetment to murder. A day before his arrest, Savarkar in a public written statement, as reported in The Times of India", Mumbai dated 7 February 1948, termed Gandhi's assassination a fratricidal crime, endangering India's existence as a nascent nation.^[38][39][40]

Approver's testimony

Godse claimed full responsibility for planning and carrying out the assassination. However according to the Approver Badge, on 17 January 1948, Nathuram Godse went to have a last darshan (audience / interview) with Savarkar in Bombay before the assassination. While Badge and Shankar waited outside, Nathuram and Apte went in. On coming out Apte told Badge that Savarkar blessed them "Yashasvi houn ya" ("यशस्वी होऊन या", be successful and return). Apte also said that Savarkar predicted that Gandhi's 100 years were over and there was no doubt that the task would be successfully finished.^[41][42] However Badge's testimony was not accepted as the approver's evidence lacked independent corroboration and hence Savarkar was acquitted.

Kapur commission

On 12 November 1964, at a religious programme organised in Pune to celebrate the release of Gopal Godse, Madanlal Pahwa and Vishnu Karkare from jail after the expiry of their sentences, Dr. G. V. Ketkar, grandson of Bal Gangadhar Tilak,^[43] former editor of Kesari and then editor of "Tarun Bharat", who presided over the function, gave information of a conspiracy to kill Gandhi, about which he professed knowledge six months before the act. Ketkar was arrested. A public furore ensued both outside and inside the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly and both houses of the Indian parliament. Under pressure of 29 members of parliament and public opinion the then Union home minister Gulzarilal Nanda appointed Gopal Swarup Pathak, M. P. and a senior advocate of the Supreme Court of India as a Commission of Inquiry to re-investigate the conspiracy to murder Gandhi. The central government intended on conducting a thorough inquiry with the help of old records in consultation with the government of Maharashtra. Pathak was given three months to conduct his inquiry, subsequently Jevanlal Kapur a retired judge of the Supreme Court of India was appointed chairman of the Commission.^[44]

The Kapur Commission was provided with evidence not produced in the court; especially the testimony of two of Savarkar's close aides - Appa Ramachandra Kasar, his bodyguard, and Gajanan Vishnu Damle, his secretary,^[45]

Kasar told the Kapur Commission that Godse and Apte visited Savarkar on or about 23 or 24 January, which was when they returned from Delhi after the bomb incident. Damle deposed that Godse and Apte saw Savarkar in the middle of January and sat with him (Savarkar) in his garden.

Justice Kapur concluded: "All these facts taken together were destructive of any theory other than the conspiracy to murder by Savarkar and his group."^[46][47][48]

Later life and death

After Gandhi's assassination Savarkar's home in Dadar, Mumbai was stoned by angry mobs.^[15] After he was acquitted of the allegations related to Gandhi's assassination and released from jail, Savarkar was arrested by the Congress government, for making "militant Hindu nationalist speeches", he was released after agreeing to give up political activities. He continued addressing social and cultural elements of Hindutva. He resumed political activism after the ban on it was lifted, it was however limited until his death in 1966 because of ill health. His followers bestowed upon him honours and financial awards when he was alive. Two thousand RSS workers gave his funeral procession a guard of honour. According to McKean, there was public antipathy between Savarkar and the Congress for most of his political career, yet after independence Patel and Deshmukh unsuccessfully sought partnership with the Hindu Mahasabha and Savarkar. It was forbidden for Congress party members to participate in public functions honouring Savarkar. Nehru refused to share the stage during the centenary celebrations of the India's First War of Independence held in Delhi. After the death of Nehru, the Congress government, under Prime Minister Shastri, started to pay him a monthly pension.^[49]

On 8 November 1963 Savarkar's wife Yamuna passed away. On 1 February 1966 Savarkar renounced medicines, food and water which he termed as atmaarpan (fast until death). Before his death he had written an article titled "atmahatya nahi atmaarpan" in which he argued that when one's life mission is over and ability to serve the society is left no more, it is better to end the life at will rather than waiting for death. He died on 26 February 1966 at the age of 83. He was mourned by large crowds that attended his cremation. He left behind a son Vishwas and a daughter Prabha Chiplunkar. His first son, Prabhakar, had died in infancy. His home, possessions and other personal relics have been preserved for public display.

After his death, since Savarkar was championing militarisation, some thought that it would be fitting if his mortal remains were to be carried on a gun-carriage. A request to that effect was made to the then Defence Minister, Y.B. Chavan, who later on became Deputy Prime Minister of India. But Chavan turned down the proposal and not a single minister from the Maharashtra Cabinet showed up in the cremation ground to pay homage to Savarkar. In New Delhi, the Speaker of the Parliament turned down a request that it pay homage to Savarkar. In fact, after the independence of India, Jawaharlal Nehru had put forward a proposal to demolish the Cellular Jail in the Andaman and build a hospital in its place. When Y.B. Chavan, as the Home Minister of India, went to the Andaman islands, he was asked whether he would like to visit Savarkar's jail but he was not interested. Also when Morarji Desai went as Prime Minister to the Andaman islands, he too refused to visit Savarkar's cell.^[50]

Religious views

Savarkar was an atheist.^[51] He was an outspoken opponent of the caste system.^[13]

Film

In the 1996 Malayalam movie Kaala Pani directed by Priyadarshan, the Hindi actor Annu Kapoor played the role of Veer 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.^[52][53]

Notes

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

• Official Website of Savarkar National Memorial
• Savarkar's Hindu Pad-pada-shahi

Indian independence movement History Colonisation Porto Grande de Bengala Dutch Bengal East India Company British Raj French India Portuguese India Battle of Plassey Battle of Buxar Jacobin Club of Mysore Anglo-Mysore Wars First Second Third Fourth Anglo-Maratha Wars First Second Third Polygar War Vellore Mutiny First Anglo-Sikh War Second Anglo-Sikh War Sannyasi Rebellion Rebellion of 1857 more Philosophies and ideologies Gandhism Hindu nationalism Indian nationalism Khilafat Movement Muslim nationalism in South Asia Satyagraha Socialism Swadeshi movement Swaraj Events and movements Partition of Bengal Revolutionaries Delhi-Lahore Conspiracy The Indian Sociologist Hindu–German Conspiracy Champaran and Kheda Rowlatt Committee Rowlatt Bills Jallianwala Bagh massacre Non-Cooperation Movement Chauri Chaura incident, 1922 Kakori conspiracy Qissa Khwani Bazaar massacre Flag Satyagraha Bardoli 1928 Protests Nehru Report Fourteen Points of Jinnah Purna Swaraj Salt March Dharasana Satyagraha Chittagong armoury raid Gandhi–Irwin Pact Round table conferences Act of 1935 Aundh Experiment Indische Legion Cripps' mission Quit India Indian National Army Bombay Mutiny Coup d'état of Yanaon Provisional Government of India Independence Day Organisations Indian National Congress All India Kisan Sabha All-India Muslim League Anushilan Samiti Arya Samaj Azad Hind Berlin Committee Ghadar Party Hindustan Socialist Republican Association India House Indian Home Rule movement Indian Independence League Jugantar Khaksar Tehrik Khudai Khidmatgar Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh Swaraj Party more Social reformers Gopal Ganesh Agarkar B. R. Ambedkar Baba Amte Sri Aurobindo Ayyankali Vinoba Bhave Gazulu Lakshminarasu Chetty Gopal Hari Deshmukh Gopaldas Ambaidas Desai Mahatma Gandhi Narayana Guru A. Vaidyanatha Iyer G. Subramania Iyer Dhondo Keshav Karve Syed Ahmad Khan J. B. Kripalani Vakkom Moulavi Jyotirao Phule Pandita Ramabai Periyar E. V. Ramasamy Mahadev Govind Ranade Muthulakshmi Reddi Ram Mohan Roy Dayananda Saraswati Sahajanand Saraswati Vinayak Damodar Savarkar Shahaji II Vitthal Ramji Shinde Bal Gangadhar Tilak Ayya Vaikundar Kandukuri Veeresalingam Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar Vivekananda Independence activists Abul Kalam Azad Annie Besant Bhikaiji Cama Chandra Shekhar Azad Dukkipati Nageswara Rao Ram Prasad Bismil Rash Behari Bose Subhas Chandra Bose Subramanya Bharathi Virendranath Chattopadhyaya Dheeran Chinnamalai Chittaranjan Das Shuja-ud-Daula Siraj ud-Daulah Har Dayal Nana Fadnavis Mahatma Gandhi Gopal Krishna Gokhale Dhan Singh Gurjar Yashwantrao Holkar Muhammad Ali Jinnah Hemu Kalani Veerapandiya Kattabomman Ashfaqulla Khan Bakht Khan Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan J. B. Kripalani Rani Lakshmibai Begum Hazrat Mahal Annapurna Maharana Inayatullah Khan Mashriqi V. K. Krishna Menon Syama Prasad Mookerjee Kanaiyalal Maneklal Munshi Sarojini Naidu Dadabhai Naoroji Jawaharlal Nehru Oomaithurai Bipin Chandra Pal Mangal Pandey Maruthu Pandiyar Govind Ballabh Pant Vallabhbhai Patel Achyut Patwardhan Mir Qasim Lala Lajpat Rai C. Rajagopalachari Alluri Sita Rama Raju Sangolli Rayanna Bidhan Chandra Roy Nana Sahib Rahul Sankrityayan Dayananda Saraswati Sahajanand Saraswati Vinayak Damodar Savarkar Jatindra Mohan Sengupta Bahadur Shah II Mahadaji Shinde Yogendra Shukla Babu Kunwar Singh Basawon Singh Bhagat Singh Krishna Singh Ram Singh Veeran Sundaralingam Purushottam Das Tandon Puli Thevar Bal Gangadhar Tilak Tatya Tope Shyamji Krishna Varma Pritilata Waddedar more British leaders Clive Outram Dalhousie Irwin Linlithgow Wavell Cripps Mountbatten Independence Simla Conference Cabinet Mission Indian Independence Act Partition of India Political integration Constitution Republic of India Liberation of French colonies in India Liberation of Portuguese India

Hindu reform movements Ayyavazhi Arya Samaj BAPS Divine Life Society Hindutva ISKCON Ramakrishna Mission Sri Aurobindo Ashram Swadhyay Parivar Swaminarayan Sampraday Topics Bhakti Brahmacharya Caste Persecution of Hindus Shuddhi Women in Hinduism Reformers and revivalist writers Arumuka Navalar Arun Shourie Bal Gangadhar Tilak Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay Dayananda Saraswati Dharampal Harsh Narain M. S. Golwalkar Mahatma Gandhi Mirra Alfassa Narasimha Chintaman Kelkar Pandurang Shastri Athavale Ram Mohan Roy Ram Swarup Ramakrishna Sister Nivedita Sita Ram Goel Sivananda Saraswati Sri Aurobindo Swami Lakshmanananda Swami Shraddhanand Swami Vipulananda Swaminarayan Vinayak Damodar Savarkar Vivekananda more

India House Indian independence movement (revolutionary) Shyamji Krishna Varma Lajpat Rai Dadabhai Naoroji Bhikaiji Cama S. R. Rana Henry Hyndman Indian Home Rule Society V. D. Savarkar V. V. S. Iyer V. N. Chatterjee P.M. Bapat M.P.T. Acharya Har Dayal Madanlal Dhingra Mohamed Barkatullah B.C. Pal G. S. Khaparde Abhinav Bharat Society Free India Society The Indian Sociologist The Indian War of Independence Paris Indian Society Bande Mataram Talvar Berlin Committee more

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