Biography of Savarkar, Post 13: Social Revolution in Ratnagiri, Part II

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Savarkar with some co-workers
in the Social Reforms Movement at Ratnagiri

Savarkar’s zeal for social reform stemmed from his abiding faith in humanism. He considered his deeds in the social sphere to be even more important than his spectacular escape from the ship into the ocean. Here are some of his thoughts and words on the subject:

(1) “Just as I feel that I should rebel against foreign rule over Hindustan, I feel I should rebel against caste discrimination and untouchability.”

(2) “He who wants to truly serve the nation should champion that which is in the interests of the people irrespective of whether it is popular or not.”

(3) “working in the social field is like walking on a bed of thorns. It is not for the faint-hearted!”

(4) “To regard our 70 million co-religionists as ‘untouchables’ and worse than animals is an insult not only to humanity but also to the sanctity of our soul. . . . eradication of untouchability is the foremost and absolute dharma.”

· As always, Savarkar advocated swadeshi in Ratnagiri too. He pushed a cart of swadeshi goods and ran an operation to see that swadeshi goods were being sold (and bought) in stores. A staunch advocate of dignity of all labor, he even fluffed mattresses.

· He had extensive discussions with RSS founder Dr. Hedgewar regarding his proposed organization.

· While in Ratnagiri Savarkar carried out his work for the freedom struggle secretly. He also opposed the separation of Sind from the Bombay Presidency and exhorted Hindus to enroll themselves as Hindus in the successive Census.

· The police had had a sharp eye on him; his house was frequently searched. On January 10, 1925, a new weekly Shraddhanand was started in which he voiced his views on the politics of India and social reforms with a pseudonym. Most people were unaware it was Savarkar.

· May 10, 1937: by the efforts of Barrister Jamnalal Mehta, Savarkar was released unconditionally from his internment at Ratnagiri.

- Anurupa

Biography of Savarkar, Post 12: Social Revolution in Ratnagiri, Part I

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Sacred thread ceremony of ex-untouchables

at Malvan, 1929, under the leadership of Veer Savarkar

Since childhood, Savarkar believed that all strata of Hindu society should treat each other with equality and respect. He had advocated widow (and not only child-widows) remarriage to members of his society. Now for the first time in his life he could focus on these social issues. In Ratnagiri he went on a warpath for a social revolution:

· toured towns in the District and made speeches decrying the practice of caste-based segregation; particularly ensured that schools in these places stopped this practice; roped in the Government to help his cause.

Savarkar in Ratnagiri
(with the inevitable umbrella!)

In 1932 in his presentation to Officer Lamington, Savarkar said, “Once the children are educated together, they will not observe caste hierarchy in later life. They will not feel the need to observe caste division. Therefore the Government regulation of 1923 must be strictly followed. In addition, the Government should abandon the title ‘special schools for low caste children’. This very title creates a feeling of inferiority among children attending the school.”

· insisted that children of the so-called low castes compulsorily attended school and distributed chalk and slates and giving monetary incentives to their parents; brought up an ex-untouchable girl in his own house despite having a very meager income.

· organized inter-community dining, mass haldi-kumkums, and distributed sweets to all strata of society on festival days.

· started the Akhil Hindu Restaurant open to all and employed ex-untouchables to run it.

· had the Patit Pawan temple built—the trustees of which had to belong to all four ‘varnas’ and ex-untouchables, and it was accessible to all Hindus. Any Hindu who took a bath and wore clean clothes would have the right to perform puja here, provided he had knowledge of the priestly duties. Everyone visiting Savarkar was first required to eat at this restaurant and visit the temple.

· had an ex-untouchable perform padya-pooja of the Shankaracharya; something unthinkable even today.

· personally taught ex-untouchables to read and write and recite the Gayatri mantra, hitherto the preserve of ‘upper’ castes.He had an ex-untouchable perform ‘keertan’ and being accorded respect by Brahmins.

· brought back into the Hindu fold several individuals and families who had been converted and personally arranged for their marriage and other rituals.

· organized public lectures of women, something unprecedented.

· composed poems and other literature advocating social reform and rationalism and wrote the Hindu Padpadshahi, one of the first books on history of Marathas to be written in English.

Anurupa

Biography of Savarkar, Post 11: Last Few Years of Incarceration

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Plaque of Ganesh (Babarao) Savarkar’s Quote

· Savarkar made several petitions to the Government seeking to be released. He held that it was the duty of a true patriot to escape from prison any way he could, even by making petitions and signing pledges. No patriot was bound by them.

· 1920: on April 6, he submitted a petition to the Indian Government depicting his ideal of Human Government and World Commonwealth.

He also discussed the situation in Cellular Jail at length with the Jail Committee and that went a long way in shutting down the jail.

· 1921: he recommended the convicts to settle as free men in Andaman rather than being imprisoned in mainland jails. He had seen the ideal opportunity these islands presented as a navy base the first instant he had laid eyes on the land.

· In his last year in jail he was made an overseer.

· May 2, 1921: he was repatriated to the mainland. The suffering and hardship started once more. Even so he still put together the same kind of programs as his Andaman ones.

· Savarkar watched worriedly from the jail as the reins of the freedom of his beloved Hindustan went into the hands of Gandhi, especially after the death of Tilak. He tried to educate the political prisoners about the pitfalls of nonviolence and the abyss that was the Khilafat Movement.

· 1923: he wrote Hindutva—a book that is the bedrock of the Hindutva Movement to this day—under the pseudonym Maratha from the Ratnagiri jail, where the conditions were so inhuman that he had even contemplated suicide.

· January 6, 1924:he was released from jail on the condition that he refrained from politics in public or private and was confined to the backwater Ratnagiri District.

– Anurupa

Biography of Savarkar, Post 10: Achievements in Andaman

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Cellular Jail Hard Labor

With the relaxed rules, Savarkar took up several causes successfully:

(1) putting an end to forcible religious conversions in the Jail, protecting young convicts from molestation, and making sure Hindu convicts had same rights and opportunities as the Muslim convicts

(2) establishing a library with books, magazines, and newspapers in various languages; insisting upon political prisoners learning the national language, Hindi, and any other language besides their own; giving them lessons in geopolitics, history and economics

(3) extending learning opportunities to the general convicts as well, even personally teaching them to read and write; in later years, their flourishing learning center was fondly called Nalanda University

(4) making Hindi the language of communication in Andaman

(5) establishing a flourishing Hindu Sanghatan program; spreading national pride and patriotism to the free lifers on the islands and the merchants and businessmen who visited it

(6) organizing the collection and management of funds, though without any formal accounts, to run all the programs

(7) establishing the practice of Sunday meetings with talks, lectures, and bhajans.

· He composed thousands of lines of sublime poetry, memorized them, and eventually got them published, a feat that is unequalled to this date.

· During WWI the German cruiser Emdem was sent to free Savarkar. But it sank in battle.

· With Turkey taking the side of Germany in WWI, Savarkar saw a new danger to India upon the horizon—the possibility of a combined attack from Afghanistan. He thought deep and settled on a change of plan. He wrote to the Government that “if it equips India with a form of government vital for her freedom and progress. The revolutionaries of the past would then stop all violence and wholeheartedly help Britain in her present war. . . . We pledge our word of honor that we will bring recruits to the Indian army in large numbers to stave off the invasion of India from the joined forces of Afghanistan and Turkey.”

· From 1916 onwards Savarkar’s health deteriorated to the extent he even contemplated suicide. He did get medical treatment and a special diet. Slowly he pulled through.

– Anurupa

(The ship in the photo is the SMS Emdem.)

Biography of Savarkar, Post 9: In the Cellular Jail

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The Cellular Jail

Savarkar was awarded two consecutive life sentences (December 4, 1910, and January 31, 1911) of twenty five years transportation to Andaman.

July 4, 1911: Savarkar was incarcerated in the Cellular Jail.

Plan of the Cellular Jail

· Cellular Jail was run by a tyrant, David Barrie. There were inhuman rules, especially for the political prisoners:

no recognition of being political prisoners; solitary confinement; restriction on use of toilet facility; no medical aid unless proof was provided (and proof was seldom considered sufficient); unpalatable food—with mice droppings, insects, and dirt and sweat from the cooks’ bodies mixed in; hard labor, including being yoked to the oil mill; no library, restriction on reading, no writing materials; a steady diet of insults and injustice; only one letter per year, and that confiscated if authorities so desired; shackles, handcuffs, cross-bar fetters, chain gang and such punishments given freely.

· Savarkar never forgot his vow to free Hindustan for a second; he made several petitions to work outside that he may escape, but was denied. Despite this he established a spy system and set up communication with his associates, held secret meetings, encouraged all the political prisoners, and gave them lessons to widen their knowledge.

· By 1913: the political prisoners had organized two strikes which led to slightly better conditions. Most of the political prisoners (never Savarkar or Babarao) were allowed to work outside on lighter jobs. In these circumstances, Savarakar organized a campaign of spreading patriotism.

· September, 1913: there was a suspicion that secret bomb-making activity was taking place on the island. Severe restrictions were imposed on them all again. The political prisoners went on another powerful strike (not a hunger strike, Savarkar was against those.)

· The Government repatriated most of the political prisoners in separate jails on mainland India or Burma for the sake of security and loosened the rules for those left behind.

· Savarkar was categorically told that he would remain within the walls of the Cellular Jail and engaged in hard labor for years to come.

- Anurupa

Biography of Savarkar, Post 8: The Savarkar Case

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Sample of an International Newspaper write-up
The Avertiser, Adelaid, Australia

Savarkar’s forced, unceremonious extradition by the British from France received international publicity (newspaper articles are still extant) thanks to Madame Cama, Shyamji Krishnavarma, and the French Socialist leaders. Both Governments were given flak for their failure to take action in returning Savarkar to France. It was also discussed as an issue (and voted unanimously in favor of) in the International Socialist Conference in Copenhagen in 1910.

· By the time any demand was made at all, Savarkar was within Indian jurisdiction, and the Government of India (very conveniently) refused to give Savarkar up. Being a subject nation, international laws had no relevance to it.

French Newspaper cutting preserved in M. P. T. Acharya’s diary for 103 years

· Finally it was decided that the Savarkar Case arbitration would be taken up at the Hague Tribunal Court and both France and Britain would abide by the judgment it gave.

Important point to note: the Hague Arbitration was only to decide the issue of return of Savarkar to France, not the issue of his right to asylum.

· Government of India refused to delay the trial of Savarkar until the Hague judgment was declared. There was good reason for that:

The evidence of Savarkar’s guilt was so flimsy that if returned to France, it was unlikely that his extradition to India would be granted. However, as a convicted murderer there was no chance of the extradition being refused (a treaty between France and Britain disqualified a murderer from being a political refugee.)

· The Arbitration at Hague is a sorry case of evasion and looking the other way. Their Award declared that Savarkar would not be returned to France.

· Till today, the Savarkar Case is a considered a landmark in International law and quoted as a case study.

The Tribunal at Hague

- Anurupa

Biography of Savarkar, Post 7: Marseilles Escape

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The 30′ fall

Singlehandedly, Savarkar was responsible for casting a blight on the might of the British Raj and causing it much embarrassment:

(1) To grant the warrant of extradition of Savarkar to Bombay, the British legal system in Britain—so proud of their fairness and laws—compromised itself.

(2) Britain, the Refuge of Political Refugees, who battled with other countries and put spokes in their wheels by giving asylum to political refugees, was now in the position of inventing, disregarding, and breaking laws to squash one colossal danger to their empire: Savarkar.

SS Morea showing location of the porthole

· July 1, 1910: the SS Morea sailed with Savarkar on board. Knowing that failure would mean a horrendous fate, he still undertook to do the impossible for the tremendous international publicity and recognition it would bring to the Indian freedom cause.

· July 8, 1910: in the early morning, Savarkar squeezed out of a 13″ diameter porthole of a toilet—while a British officer was right outside and he was spotted dangling half in-half out—and dropped to the quay water (a drop of 30′) just 2-3 feet away from the edge of the dock. It was the most dangerous, dashing, and daring dive.

· Before his flabbergasted guards could formulate a plan of action, Savarkar swam to the other end of the dock, climbed the 9′ sheer quay wall—using mere toes and fingers to grip—and ran for safety.

· This created an unprecedented (till today) international situation. To counteract it, the British officers guarding him did the only thing they could do:

(1) broke the basic international law of jurisdiction

(2) kidnapped Savarkar off the shores of Marseilles and back to the SS Morea taking aid of a French sergeant for the sake of appearances and

(3) sent a doctored, not-so-truthful-account to their superiors by telegram.

Anurupa

Biography of Savarkar, Post 6: Arrest

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David Garnett

Paris, Bande Mataram, Aug 17, 1909

· December 1908-Jan 1909: Babarao identified Savarkar as the writer of letters found in his possession, and the British began weaving their web around Savarkar.

· May 1909: copies of Government’s English translation of poems published by Babarao and Savarkar’s letters reached London.

· June 1909: British Government launched a successful concentrated campaign (by letters and telegrams to the concerned authority) to discourage Benchers of Gray’s Inn from calling Savarkar to the Bar. Eventually they were successful. Though the charges made by the Gray’s Inn could not be proved, Savarkar was still not permitted to practice as his activities were declared suspect. (This fact was then later used in the argument to grant the warrant.)

· After the assassination of Curzon Wylie, Savarkar took a public stand in Caxton Hall in not condemning Madan Lal Dhingra and sent a letter to the Times to justify this. He published Madan Lal’s statement, squashed by the British, in the Daily News on August 16, 1909.

· November 1909: health shattered, Savarkar went to Wales to recuperate. There he wrote a Marathi book on the history of the Sikhs.

· January 1910: Savarkar went to Paris since a warrant for his arrest was imminent.

· February 8, 1910: a warrant was issued against Savarkar by a Bombay Magistrate on the grounds that his offences came within the Fugitive Offenders Act of 1881. The basis for the warrant was flimsy: (1) Savarkar’s speech of 1906, of which there was no available transcript, and was considered innocuous at the time. (2) He was also being extradited to Bombay for an alleged crime he had committed in 1909 in England while living in England.

· March 13, 1910: Savarkar returned to London to show his mettle as the leader of the revolutionaries by squarely facing the British might and was arrested at the station.

Briston Prison, London

- Anurupa

Biography of Savarkar, Post 5: London activities

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Madam Cama

Shyamji Krishnavarma

· Savarkar’s foreign propaganda (publishing articles, still extant, in foreign newspapers and meeting revolutionaries of other countries) gave swift results. August 24, 1907, Madam Cama, as a delegate representing India, waved the flag of independent India in the International Socialist Conference and gave a fiery speech. The Kaiser of Germany in his reply to President Woodrow Wilson said “absolute political independence of India was one of the indispensable conditions of world peace.”

· Secret pamphlets and brochures were being published and sent to be circulated amongst the Indian soldiers. Fiery speeches were targeted to stir all Indians, Sikhs, Muslims, and the Princes as well.

· Savarkar sent regular newsletters to India, wrote the book Joseph Mazzini in June 1907 and Indian War of Independence, 1857, in 1908. This book was banned by the Government of India before its publication. Savarkar played tag with the British police to get this book published. He sent it to India packed in the covers of innocuous books.

(Watch this to learn more about it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJqi6H10E3k)

· He organized guns to be smuggled to India, sent people to study bomb-making technology and arranged to send copies of the manuals to India.

· It being difficult to target Savarkar lawfully by British laws, Government of India targeted Babarao. He was sentenced to transportation to Andaman on June 9, 1909.

· On July 1, 1909, Madanlal Dhingra shot Sir Curzon Wylie dead as the first act of the revolution to free India.

· Now both the British and the Indian Government concentrated all effort to entrap Savarkar and put an end to his revolutionary activities.

- Anurupa

Biography of Savarkar, Post 4: London Goals

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India House, London

Plaque on India House

· Under Savarkar’s leadership India House, London, became the revolutionary headquarters. Abhinav Bharat gathered strength here and he established the Free India Societyto carry out all the public programs such as regular meetings, celebration of festivals and glory of Indian heroes etc.

· He gave the “Sepoy Mutiny” the status and deserving honor of the Indian War of Independence. On May 10, 1907, he celebrated its Golden Jubilee. His speech “Oh Martyrs” rocked everyone. From then on the British police kept a watchful eye on him.

· Savarkar’s goal’s in London:

(1) stirring national pride and patriotism in the Indian students

(2) stirring patriotism in the Indian army

(3) making connections with revolutionaries of other countries (Ireland, Egypt, Turkey etc.)

(4) making practical arrangements for a revolution (procuring arms, instructions on bomb-making)

(5) studying British law to circumvent it in the revolution

(6) writing patriotic and inspiring books.

Savarkar was successful in carrying out these goals in the three short years he had at hand, but to do that he had to come under the British radar.