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Book No. – 8 (Political Science)
Book Name – Indian Political Thought (Himanshu Roy/ M.P. Singh)
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1. Revolutionary Savarkar
2. Hindutva and the Ideology of Hindu Rashtra
3. Hindu, Hindutva and Hinduism
4. Critique of Hinduism
5. Conclusion
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Savarkar: Hindutva and Critique of Caste System
Chapter – 23
Table of Contents
Revolutionary Savarkar
- Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, also known as Veer Savarkar, was born in 1889 in Bhagur, Maharashtra, in a Marathi Chitpawan Brahmin family.
- He was the second among three siblings and lost his mother to cholera at the age of nine and his father to plague when he was sixteen.
- Savarkar grew up under the care of his elder brother Ganesh and married Yamunabai at the age of twelve, who supported his education.
- His ideology and activism can be divided into three broad categories: his early revolutionary years, his ideology of Hindutva and Hindu Rastra, and his critique of Hinduism.
- His revolutionary inclinations were influenced by the anti-partition movement in Bengal and the Swadeshi movement.
- The movement against the partition of Bengal in 1905 motivated Savarkar, and the annulment of the partition in 1911was due to mass protests.
- Maharashtra, after the era of Gokhale, became a fertile ground for revolutionary activity, with Lokmanya Tilakadvocating revolutionary methods.
- Savarkar was deeply influenced by Tilak and his newspaper Kesari, as well as another newspaper, Kal, which published anti-British content.
- In 1902, Savarkar joined Fergusson College in Pune and formed a revolutionary group called Abhinav Bharat, focusing on nationalist causes.
- He was expelled from college for his revolutionary activities but allowed to sit for his exams.
- Shyamji Krishna Verma, a prominent Indian lawyer in London, helped Savarkar go to England on a scholarship, where he stayed at India House.
- At India House, Savarkar became the key figure in the revolutionary activities of Indian students and formed the Free India Society.
- He was exposed to revolutionary literature and met Russian revolutionaries, learning guerrilla warfare and bomb-making techniques.
- Savarkar believed in using armed revolution for India’s freedom, rejecting non-violence and advocating for violent action against the British.
- He acknowledged moderate measures like Swadeshi, protests, and boycotts but viewed them as insufficient for achieving freedom.
- Savarkar was known for his intellectual sharpness, powerful oratory, and the ability to refute British historical narratives.
- He criticized the British portrayal of the 1857 Revolt as a “Sepoy Mutiny” and presented it as the “First War of Independence” in his book, The History of the War of Indian Independence, published in 1909.
- The book was banned by the British but was published in the Netherlands, France, and Germany and smuggled into India.
- Savarkar’s revolutionary activities led to his arrest in 1910 for his involvement in the murder of Curzon Willie and A. M. I. Curzon.
- He attempted to escape while being transported, swimming from the ship to Marseilles, but was caught and deported to India.
- Savarkar was sentenced to 50 years of imprisonment in Andaman Cellular Jail on 4 July 1911, where he endured severe punishment and torture.
- He was subjected to solitary confinement, handcuffing, and fettering, spending 11 years in the prison.
- He was transferred to Alipore Jail, then to Ratnagiri Jail, and finally to Yerawada Jail before being released on 6 January 1924.