Author Archives: Anurupa

Shivaji and Savarkar

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Hi, Everyone! Anyone who has read Savarkar’s biography, even in a cursory manner, is conscious of the immense admiration and respect Savarkar had for Shivaji—from the earliest childhood. Savarkar’s chapter on Shivaji in his book Hindu Padpadshahi (find an e-book @ www.savarkarsmarak.com) gives a very good idea of this too. Time and again Savarkar has hailed Shivaji as the heroic king who wrested back large portions of India from the Mughals and actively chased a “Hindavi Swaraj.”
It seems utterly preposterous and ridiculous to me that anyone should point accusing fingers at Savarkar saying he disrespected Shivaji. It is inconceivable!
Yet we live in an imperfect world—when mud is slung at anyone it tends to stick, particularly when it is accompanied by a sensationalized, wanton act of vandalism like burning copies of (Savarkar’s) books. And so, much though it goes against the grain to give even an appearance of credibility to such fallacy by mentioning it or offering vindication for Savarkar, I have decided to do it.
Here are some examples which illuminate just what place Shivaji held in Savarkar’s heart and soul.
  •  In 1902, Savarkar composed an aarti, a song of worship, in honor of Shivaji. Every Friday as a part of the Ferguson club activity, this aarti was sung before a picture of Shivaji.
  •  In 1903, Savarkar composed the poem Shivaveer (Shivaji: the Hero) in honor of Shivaji.
  • He has also composed another poem, Hindunrusimha, praising Shivaji.
(I have given all the three poems at the end of this post.)
  • The very first function organized by Savarkar’s Mitra Mela was a celebration of Shivaji Jayanti (birth anniversary.) This is a practice he continued to follow down the road.
  • In 1905, his group popularized his ballads on Sinhagad and Baji Prabhu. Both ballads extolled the heroics of Shivaji with Tanaji and Baji Prabhu. Using these incidents of guerilla warfare, Savarkar subtlely promoted the idea of freedom. The people in Maharashtra just loved the ballads.
  • Sometime after this a Shivaji festival was celebrated at Raigad. These ballads were sung there. The audience was enthralled by them, but Daji Khare, who was presiding over the event, became nervous by their inflammatory words. So fiery were the words that when the audience joined in the singing, Khare, a friend of Tilak, told him to close the show down as he did not want to be party to any unconstitutional activity! 
  • Babarao published this ballads in 1906 and three years later the Government proscribed them.
Unfortunately, I have not translated these ballads yet.
  • In the women’s organization, parallel to Savarkar’s Mitra Mela, each member was required to take this pledge: “In the name of the Motherland, Shivaji Raja who won freedom through war, and Bhavani Mata who gives strength, I hereby give witness before Shivaji and Bhavani Durga Devi that I shall use swadeshi goods only, love my country more than my life, strive for my country’s freedom and help those who are doing so.”
  • In 1906, in the patriotic song, Priyakar Hindustan (O Beloved Hindustan,) which Savarkar specially composed for the occasion commemorating the death anniversary of Guru Govind Singh, organized in a grand manner at Caxton Hall, London on December 29, 1908, he most certainly included Shivaji as one of the virtues of Hindustan.
जिजा जन्म दे शिवा जिच्यास्तव गुरु पुत्रांचे प्राण
जिच्यास्तवचि त्या कुमारिकांसी विस्तवांत ये न्हाण
Here too was born of Jijabai, Chatrapati Shivaji,
And maidens who embraced the pyre for their honor.
Bricked to death here were the Sons of the Guru,
So staunch were they in their loyal fervor!
  • Again in 1908, when he composed another patriotic song, Hind Sundara Ti (Hind, the Beautiful One,) he makes a mention of Shivaji.
प्रतापशिवबंदा I श्रीगुरूगोविंदा
संभवदेउद्भवदेI देजीउत्स्फुर्ती II ७II
To Rana Pratap, Shivaji, Banda Bairagi, lo
And Guru Gobind Singhji too
She gave birth, beginning, n’ inspiration so!
  • Savarkar followed Shivaji’s precept of manipulating a powerful enemy any which way, especially from a position of great weakness. He also advocated others to do so too. To give an example, he quoted instances from life of Shivaji to convince the political prisoners in Andman who had received amnesty to sign the pledges. I am giving here the incident as I have written it in my novel Burning for Freedom:
“Soon enough, general amnesty was granted to several of them here but not unconditionally. They had to sign a pledge refraining from any political activity for a specified time. This offended most of them. It was an infringement upon their rights! A slur upon their patriotism! Sign a pledge? Never! Savarkar was very heartened to see that despite all their sufferings, they were still such staunch patriots. Such Sons of India should definitely be free to fight for their country!
‘Brothers, there is nothing wrong in signing this pledge. Sign it and be free—free to work for the freedom of our motherland.’
‘Tatyarao, with the signing of this pledge our hands are tied! It forbids us to do just that very thing.’
‘Ah, but do you have to follow its dictate?’ asked Savarkar passionately. ‘No! A pledge imposed upon us by a foreign enemy power is worth only the paper it is written on. There is no reason to stay committed to it! It is merely a means to an end—only an avenue to break the locks of this jail.’
‘But that would be deceitful, Tatyarao!’
‘Deceitful to whom?’ exclaimed Savarkar. ‘When we have no constitutional rights and are crushed into subjugation by arbitrary laws of an enemy power, honesty as you mean it is not a luxury we can indulge in!’—he raised the palms of his hands—’the only honesty and truth for us is reinstating the honor of our beloved Hindustan. We follow any path that circumstances force us to take. If the British rule us by unlawful means, we go against this law of theirs to gain freedom. When under duress we make petitions and even sign pledges!’
‘Yes, Tatyarao, there is much in what you say. But it still seems cowardly to sign such papers. The blood of heroes like Shivaji flows in our veins! What, shall we supplicate before the enemy? History will label us as cowards and hypocrites!’
‘We cannot swerve from our path by fear of adverse public opinion! Shivaji was very brave indeed. Yet when needed, he took a conciliatory position with Aurangzeb. At one time, Shivaji suffered many losses from the mighty Mughal forces led by Mirza Raja Jaisingh and Dilerkhan. He made a small capitulation and signed the Treaty of Purandar. He was forced to hand over to Aurangzeb many forts and go to Agra. Here he was treacherously imprisoned by Aurangzeb. Shivaji sent petition after petition professing loyalty to him, all the while planning his escape! It was his strategic move to lull the enemy. Can Shivaji be accused of cowardice? Change of heart? Never! We must also admire the forethought with which he killed the mighty Afzal Khan by ripping open his stomach with the tiger claws. If he had not broken his promise of being unarmed in that meeting, Afzal Khan’s plot to crush him to death would have been successful!’
‘Tatyarao, indeed, we did not see it in this light.’”
  • Time and again Savarkar had said India needs a Shivaji. Keer writes in his biography of Savarkar that in 1952, in one of his lectures he said that “if God were to ask him to beg for a boon, he would pray him to bless India with a Chandragupta or a Shivaji to wipe out the despondency prevailing in the minds of the younger generation and make the nation valorous and great. He said he preferred a rule of a benevolent great leader like Shivaji to an ignorant, weak-kneed democracy.”
  • In 1953, when addressing a big meeting at the Jackson Garden in Nasik, he declared that the name of the garden should be changed to Shivaji Garden. He also stated that Indian Statesmen should follow the tactics and policy of Shivaji, who was a real statesman.
After reading this (and the poems below) there should be no doubt in anyone’s mind in just how high an esteem Savarkar held Shivaji.
-  Anurupa
Hindunrusimha
Click here for PDF
Shivaveer
Click here for PDF
Aarti on Shivaji composed by Savarkar
जयदेव, जयदेव, जयजयशिवराया
या, याअनन्यशरणां, आर्याताराया
आर्यांच्यादेशावरीम्लेच्छांचाघाला
आलाआलासावधहोशिवभूपाला
सद्गदीताभूमातादेतुजहाकेला
करूणारवभेदूनीतवहृदयनकागेला
जयदेव, जयदेव, जयजयशिवराया
श्रीजगदंबाजीस्तवशुंभादीकभक्षी
दशमुखमर्दुनीजीश्रीरघुवरसंरक्षी
तीपूताभूमाता, म्लेंच्छाहीछळता
तुजविणशिवरायातिजकोणदुजात्राता
जयदेव, जयदेव, जयजयशिवराया
त्रस्तआम्हीदीनआम्ही, शरणतुलाआलो
परवशतेच्यापाशीमरणोन्मुखझालो
साधुपरित्राणाया, दुष्कृतीनाशाया
भगवन्भगवद्गीतासार्थकरायाया

The Savarkar Case

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October 25, 1910—that was the day that the Savarkar Case, as it came to be known, was submitted for arbitration in the Hague court. This date is extremely important for it marks the supreme success of Savarkar. That one man—and one belonging to a subject nation, having no rights whatsoever, at that—should have, by his daring, dynamic brilliance brought two super-powers to their metaphoric knees is incredible!
Britain and France, two powerful imperialistic powers, who routinely crushed the rights of their subject nations, had terrible punishments and transportations meted out to the people of their colonies, were now in the ignoble position of opposing each other over the violation of the rights of one “native” man in the international court in Hague, no less.
It was a novel situation for the arbitrators of the Hague, too. In the days of undoubted “white supremacy,” they were arbitrating over the rights of a “native” man who by virtue of belonging to a subject nation had no rights!
No wonder this case is still cited and a case study in books on international law even today.
In Britain’s case, they had additional egg on their face, for Britain was a staunch supporter of political refugees—of other countries, of course! Savarkar ripped that mask off Britain’s face, certainly! Britain, a country who gave asylum to political refugees, who refused to extradite them, and was considered a champion of political refugees, now lay exposed by their treatment of Savarkar and his case.
In Savarkar’s case they had to go to extremes—concocting a warrant, bending the British law to execute it, breaking international law of jurisdiction to keep him in their possession, trying him unjustly in a murder case, thus disqualifying him for the status of political prisoner—to keep him their prisoner and away from inciting the Indians to fight for their freedom.
But of course, the arbitration in the Hague was just a sop to quiet the international uproar the Savarkar Case had aroused. Many people (then and now) were confused as to the issue of the arbitration. This arbitration was not for deciding Savarkar’s right to asylum in France, or even for deciding if he is a political prisoner. The sole purpose of this arbitration was to decide if Savarkar was to be returned to France. And there were many loopholes to it:

  • In 1910 “International law” was no more than words. No actual law existed then.
  • No country could be compelled to follow the dictates of the Award given by the court of Hague. 
  • India, as a subject nation, was not even touched by any “international law” that existed then. Not to forget, Government of India had already exercised this freedom by refusing to give up Savarkar and going ahead with his trials without waiting for the Hague Award. 
  • There was no international law to protect the rights of the prisoner kidnapped on foreign soil, as Savarkar was—either then or now!

But there was a law recognized everywhere: law of jurisdiction. And this is the law that Britain broke. By taking Savarkar off French soil, Britain trampled on French jurisdiction. This should have been the Ace in the case that France submitted to the Hague, but their case fails to make the point.
Having studied the Savarkar Case, it seemed to me the arbitration was a masterpiece of evasion and turning a blind eye. I have put this in a nutshell in this video:
To know the particulars of Savarkar’s Marseilles escape watch this video:
Or click here for an interactive PDF or PPT slideshow.
Read here my translation of the L’Humanite articles that spoke out vocifererously in favor of Savarkar.
Read here what Guy Aldred has to say about the Savarkar Case in his Savarkar Special issue of the Herald of the Revolt.
Read the Savarkar Case documents here. (Translation of the French Case to be released in February 2014.)
Salute to Savarkar!
Anurupa

Picking Oakum

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This short story is fictionalized from the anecdote of Narayan Damle from the book Mi Pahilele Savarkar (The Savarkar I Saw,) Veer Gaurav Samiti, Pune; page 91. This incident takes place in 1924-25 or so.


Savarkar’s Room in the Damle Home
The sounds of chattering voices and a banging of coconut on the husker filled the peace of the evening. The men-folk of the Damle household and their four male servants were making a new coir rope for the pulley of the well. The servants were extracting the husk; Vishnupant, head of the household, was rolling it; and the boys were plaiting it into a rope.

“Shhh!” admonished Vishupant, “make less noise! Bhiku, don’t bang the coconut so noisily.”

“But, Vishnupant, it is a noisy job, so how . . . ?” said Bhiku, the servant, a little helplessly.

“I don’t know, Bhiku, we must try at any rate,” replied Vishnupant. “Tatya’s room is just around the corner. We don’t want to disturb him, surely?”

“Yes, yes, that’s true.”

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, an intrepid, charismatic freedom fighter of India, had just been released from fourteen horrendous years of hard labor in jail and as a condition of that release, confined to the Ratnagiri District. He was the house-guest of the Damle family in Shirgaon at this time. In the evenings it was his practice to write in the quiet of his room.

“Baba,” said Moreshwar, Vishnupant’s oldest son, “he is such a great personality, so-o-o-o learned.”

“Baba,” piped in Narayan, the youngest, his eyes opened wide in wonder, “and he is a barrister, too!” He said the word with great awe. “Remember, Barrister Jinnah? He charged us `500 just for ten-minutes of representation in court. But boy was he effective! These barristers are so special!”

“Yes, Tatya is certainly that!” said Vishnupant, admiringly. “And he has suffered a lot—unimaginable horrors—in the jails.” He shook his head. “We must ensure he has peace he—” Vishnupant stopped mid-sentence.

“Tatya!” he exclaimed.

Savarkar was in their midst.

“Tatya!” cried Vishnupant again, making as if to get up. “I hope we didn’t disturb you.”

“Oh, don’t get up, Vishnupant,” said Savarkar with a smile. “Do carry on with your work. I just felt like some company.”

“We-e-e-ll, if you say so, Tatya,” Vishnupant replied and started rolling the coir again, though a little consciously.

Everyone, having stopped short at Savarkar’s entry, now resumed their work. But no one chattered! They were in awe of Savarkar.

Savarkar watched interestedly as they worked. “Arre, Vishnupant!” he exclaimed “How slowly you are rolling the coir!”

“Tatya, it is not an easy job, you know,” Vishnupant was quick to reply. “It takes considerable skill!”

“Oh, is that so? Well then, watch me!” With that Savarkar quickly squatted next to Vishnupant and swiftly and expertly rolled out a long string of coir.

Everyone gaped.

“This is what we did in the jails, y’know—picking oakum,” Savarkar explained matter of factly.
Good heavens, a scholar and a barrister willingly doing this humble hard labor—and that with such skill. Amazing! Their admiration and respect for Savarkar increased tenfold. Here was a great man, indeed!

 

 

Re-vamping my Website

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Hi, Everyone! At the moment I am enjoying myself revamping my website—it seems as if the sky is the limit!! And it is all thanks to the enterprising Harshavardhan Shinde.

Just a month or so ago, I got a fb message from one of my newly-become Friends, Harshavardhan. It went something like this: “Your website is old and behind times. You need a new one and I can give it to you.” I was extremely preoccupied and busy at the time. Nothing but the sheer audacity of this statement was going to puncture that, for sure!

I was aware of the limitations of my current website, though. I cannot do anything on it without going through the webmaster and that is quite a tortuous process. I had so many ideas, I had progressed so much (articles, videos, interviews etc.) in the last year, but my website didn’t reflect it. After a half hour or so messaging with Harshavardhan, I had a cautious flame of hope burgeoning within me. It was 3 a.m. in India at this time. Harshavardhan promised to send me a sample of what my website will be like to put some of my concerns to rest.

Unbelievably, a mere five hours later he had a sample site incorporating quite a few details ready! When did he work on it . . . ? When did he sleep . . . ?—and I discovered he is a college student. So young!

I must say I found his enterprise and verve very, verve impressive.

As an added bonus, I found out that not only can I manage the website myself I can design it myself too. So here I am, on the threshold of a reader-friendly, technologically with-it website I hadn’t even dreamed of (for I didn’t think I could have it)! Now I am giving myself a free rein and including a Video gallery, Photo gallery, an “Ask me” page, and a making a “one-stop-shop” for research sources on a wide range of subjects . . . oooh! I love it . . . especially the last one, for it has been my dearest wish for a long time; ever since 2009, in fact.

And it is all thanks to Harshavardhan Shinde and his www.paramwebeek.com
So coming soooooon .  . .

- Anurupa

Savarkar’s relationship with the Damle Household

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Hi, Everyone! It is my intention to translate several anecdotes of Savarkar preserved by those who knew him well. I consider it essential to do so to illustrate Savarkar fully to all.


Savarkar Smruti (Memories of Savarkar)  by Moreshwar Damle, Lakshmi Process Studio, Kolhapur, 1982; pages 1-2
Tatya’s Relationship with the Damle Household
Fortunately, our family had the opportunity to form a close connection with such a great patriot like Savarkar. It was like this, the plague was rampant in 1924-25. Savarkar got permission to stay in Nasik from June 24, but only for three months. Later on he was granted two more months extension. But after that he was ordered to return to Ratnagiri, plague notwithstanding. In November 1924 Savarkar was back in Ratnagiri and decided to live in the nearby Shirgaon to be away from plague-ridden areas. This incident took place somewhere around November 1924. Fearing Governmental wrath, no one was willing to take him in. In these circumstances, our father, Mr. Vishnupant Damle, invited him to be our guest. We lived in an old house with not many conveniences. We wondered how it would suit a patriot of Savarkar’s stature. But Savarkar saw our home and accepted our hospitality.
At the time Savarkar was by himself. His wife being pregnant, he preferred that she stay in Satara.
Once in our home, the room Savarkar picked for himself was about twelve feet long and seven feet wide. Actually, it was our rice storage shed—not very well-lit, with one door and a tiny window. And so, our father asked him, “Tatyasaheb, will this tiny room really serve your needs? It has just the door and barely a window! Not much sunlight comes in, either.” To this Savarkar replied, “Vishnupant, firstly, I am not ‘Tatyasaheb.’ If it makes you uncomfortable to call me just ‘Tatya,’ then do call me ‘Tatyarao.’ As for this room—my cell in Andaman was much smaller than this and dirty and dark to boot. That’s what I am used to; better not to forget the jail life already, anyway.
Later on, sitting on the floor of this very room, using his trunk as a desk, Savarkar wrote his book Hindupadpadshahi. With this we got a very good idea how he did his valuable writing work in that dark and dingy cell in Andaman. This room being blessed by Savarkar’s stay, we have preserved it as is till today.

Savarkar: Ja Jhunja! Fight for our very own Motherland!

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 Hi, Everyone! On dawn of August 15, 1947, India became free. Savarkar’s dream of a free—though not united—Hindustan was fulfilled.
Almost fifty years before that in 1898, at fifteen years of age he had taken an oath before the Ashtabhuja Goddess to organize a revolution for the freedom of his beloved motherland. He had left no stone unturned in his goal to get freedom for India and bring honor back to his motherland. One of his ways to achieve this was to set about awakening the Indians to the plight of Hindustan and stirring patriotism in their hearts. And one of his weapons for this was his soul-stirring poetry.

It is impossible to remain unmoved by the passion, patriotism, pain, and urgency in his poems. I am posting one of my favorite poems of his with my translation:

Ja Jhunje! (Fight!)

निजजाति-छळानें हृदय कां न तळमळतें ?

तुम्हि तरुण शिरांतुनि रक्त  नवें सळसळतें ?

 हे नवें रक्त तों विजेहुनी पेटावें

 मृत्यूसि तुम्हीं गाठून बळें भेटावें

मग मुकुट आपला कोणीं I फोडिला

हिंदूंचा झेंडा कोणीं I तोडिला

   आशेचा अंकुर कोणीं I मोडिला

   हें चिंतुनि चिंतुनि क्रुद्ध आंसावें जळतीं

दिनरात्रीं  डोळ्यांतुनि कां न रे गळती ?

ह्या भारतभूस्तव  समररंगणीं गेले

   ह्या चिंतेनें बहु वीर लढुनिया मेले

   कुणि घोर यातनांचिया चितेवरि जळले

कुणीं फांस गळ्यासी लागतांहि ना ढळले

त्या त्यांच्या अपुर्या इच्छा I या क्षणीं

तुम्हांसि बाहती हांका I फोडुनी

   का ऐकूं  येती कोणा  I यांतुनी

जरि येति तरी रे ऊठ कोण जो तो तूं

घे करीं शिरा जा झुंज पुरव तो हेतू

Anguished are ye not by our people’s pitiful plight? Fie!

Pound not in you hot, young, blood, O Youth,

Blood more fiery than lightning? Fie!

Approach Death, meet it head on! Forsooth!

Who dared our crown shatter?

Who dared the Hindu flag tatter?

Who dared our burgeoning hopes batter?

Dwell!  Where are the hot, raging tears

Spilling from your eyes night and day! Fie!

Ah! Sons of Bharat into the battlefield plowed

Their anguished hearts were there razed

Some marched boldly to the gallows uncowed!

Or in pyres of untold tortures were set ablaze

Hark, their  thundering unfulfilled ardor,

Every second it calls out to you harder!

Is there anyone who can hear its clamor?

All ye who do! Awake! Awake!

Fight! Fulfill our cause! Your life stake!

- Anurupa

Madan Lal Dhingra: A Martyr of India

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 Hi, Everyone! On August 17, 1909, Madan Lal Dhingra was strung up on the gallows in London for his political assassination of Sir Curzon Wylie. This incident shook the very foundation of the British Raj! While revolutionary bombings and assassinations were taking place in India at this time, this was the first time anyone had dared to so boldly commit such an act in Britain itself. And that it should be Madan Lal who should do so was adding further salt to the wound. Madan Lal came from a very eminent Indian family and was socially accepted in London circles; in fact he had won the confidence of Sir Curzon Wylie himself.
Transcript of the Madan Lal Dhingra’s case are found here:
Madan Lal Dhingra is most certainly a martyr of India and his role in the freedom movement cannot be forgotten.
Madan Lal had crossed paths with Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and his life was no more the same. He was stirred into patriotism and a passion to serve his country and was a regular visitor at the India House. Here I am giving excerpts from Dr. Shreerang Godbole’s article, Martyrdom Centenary of Madan Lal Dhingra, Part I & II which gives details of Madan Lal’s sacrifice of his life:
“In the illustrious list of fiery patriots, Madan Lal Dhingra stands out for his sheer courage and supreme sacrifice. Madan Lal Dhingra went to the gallows on August 17, 1909. The centenary of his martyrdom is an occasion for us to remember his immortal saga.

Madan Lal Dhingra was born on September 18, 1883 in Amritsar. His father was an eye specialist and Civil Surgeon of Amritsar. Some say he was the first Indian doctor to reach that eminent position. Madan Lal was the sixth of his seven sons. Two of Madan Lal’s brothers were doctors, one was an MRCP (1895); two other brothers were barristers. Madan Lal was married and had a son. If he had desired, he could have lived a life of luxury. But he chose to be a martyr for India’s freedom struggle. . .  .

In one of the Sunday meetings at India House, Savarkar was delivering an impassioned speech on India’s freedom. Madan Lal and his friends were creating a ruckus in the adjacent room. The din forced Savarkar to interrupt his speech and peep into the adjacent room. There he saw Madan Lal and his friends enjoying themselves. “What’s the matter, Madan? You talk of action and bravery and avoid coming to our weekly meetings. Is this the bravery you keep talking about?” reprimanded Savarkar. The words shamed Dhingra. He quietly left India House and did not show his face to Savarkar for several days thereafter. When he mustered courage to enter India House again, it was to find out if Savarkar was still annoyed with him. When the two met, Savarkar behaved as if nothing had happened between them. He spoke with the same affection. Emboldened, Dhingra asked, “Has the time for martyrdom come?” Savarkar replied, “If a martyr has made up his mind and is ready, it is generally understood that the time for martyrdom has come.”
 Sir Curzon Wylie (October 5, 1848—July 1, 1909):
Dhingra had now made up his mind. In July 1908, he deliberately joined the National Indian Association. This Association was doing its best to discourage Indian students from the militant path. Important British dignitaries attended their functions. Dhingra denounced Savarkar and other revolutionaries in the company of appropriate persons. He soon secured the trust of Miss Emma Josephine Beck, the secretary of the National Indian Association, and came to know the timings of visits of important English guests attending various functions. Eventually the opportunity came and Dhingra took full advantage of it. Having decided on his mission, Dhingra left India House to show that he disagreed with Savarkar. He took lodgings with Mrs Harris at 108 Ledbury Road, London W11 after Easter of 1909. . . .
 
Preparing for the assassination:
Dhingra was personally acquainted with Curzon Wyllie. Wyllie had received a letter from Kundan Lal Dhingra (Madan Lal’s eldest brother). On April 13, 1909, Wyllie wrote to Madan Lal suggesting that he should meet Wyllie. Dhingra pretended that he wanted to dicuss contents of that letter. On July 1, 1909, several prominent Britishers (including Curzon Wylie) and Indians were to attend a meeting of the National Indian Association at Jehangir Hall in the first floor of the Imperial Institute. The reception was given in the name of Lady Lyall, wife of Sir Alfred Lyall. Madanlal was an Associate Member of the Association. That is how he could approach Wyllie. . . .
On July 29, 1909, Dhingra finalised his plans. He met Savarkar on that evening in Bipin Chandra Pal’s house. Niranjan Pal was present at that meeting. Dhingra seemed to be in good spirit. Savarkar and Dhingra spoke to each other with great affection. Savarkar apprised Dhingra of the statement he was to make after assassinating Curzon Wylie. Niranjan Pal typed the statement and Savarkar asked Dhingra to memorise it. Savarkar then gifted Dhingra with a Belgian-make Browning pistol and took his leave with great affection. Dhingra was overcome with emotion. Savarkar said, “Do not show me your face again if you fail this time.” Dhingra reassured him that this would not happen. The two friends departed. . . .
On July 1, 1909, Dhingra went as planned to the meeting at Imperial Institute. As luck would have it he had forgotten to take the invitation pass. However, as he was an Associate Member, he gained entry after signing in the visitors’ book. Koregankar also arrived armed with a pistol. After the meeting was over, Curzone Wyllie seemed ready to leave. Aji jaao na. kya karte ho! prompted Koregaonkar to Dhingra. Dhingra now approached Curzon Wylie under the pretext of talking to him. The two opened the glass door and left the hall.

The assassination:

As they reached the landing, Dhingra lowered his voice as if he wanted to discuss something confidential. Curzon Wylie brought his ear close to Dhingra. Sensing the opportunity, Dhingra removed the Colt revolver from his right coat pocket and pumped two bullets at point-blank range. The time was 11.20 pm. As Curzon Wyllie reeled, Dhingra fired two more bullets. A Parsee doctor Cawas Lalkaka tried to come in between but Dhingra fired at him as well. However, Dhingra’s attempt to shoot himself failed and he was overpowered. Even in this situation, Dhingra wrestled with his captors and even brought down one of them breaking his ribs. Dhingra was pinned to the ground. Only after his revolver was taken away did his captors heave a sigh of relief. In the scuffle, Dhingra’s spectacles were thrown away. Dhingra calmly told his captors to handover his spectacles. When the examining doctor felt Dhingra’s pulse, he was astounded to find that it was ‘even’. After his arrest, the Police Officer asked Dhingra, “Do you want us to inform any of your friends of your arrest?” Dhingra cleverly replied, “There is no need. They will know about my arrest in tomorrow’s newspapers.” The Police were trying to find out if they could implicate any of Dhingra’s friends. He proved a match for them. Dhingra was taken to Walton Street Police station.
The trial:
The British Press made some vicious allegations against Dhingra, taking advantage of remarks made by an ex-Army officer at the inquest on Wyllie’s death. This was held at Kensington Town Hall before Coroner Mr C. Luxmoore Drew. Dhingra refused to take part in the proceedings. At the inquest, Captain Charles Rollerton, an ex-Army officer of Broadhurst Gardens, Hampstead was present. This witness suggested the possibility of Dhingra having taken the Indian drug called Bhang because of his half dazed and dreamy manner. He added that natives of India very often took Bhang if they were going to perpetrate a deed of this kind. The Coroner asked Miss Beck, the Secretary of the National Indian Association, if she noticed whether Dhingra was under the influence of some drug; but her reply was in the negative. Dhingra, she said, seemed in a normal condition and was quite calm. During the trial, Mrs Harris, Dhingra’s landlady, said she did not think he took drugs. Dr John Buchnan of Vauxhall Bridge was the first doctor to arrive at the scene of assassination. Dhingra, said the doctor, was perfectly calm. He seemed the calmest man in the crowd. During his trial Dhingra was examined by psychiatrists to decide if he was mentally subnormal. Their tests were negative.

At the inquest held at Westminster before Coroner Mr John Troutbeck, Dhingra expressed his deep regret for the accidental death of Lalkaka. He stated that had Lalkaka not come in the way he would not have been killed. He had no reason to kill him.

When produced before Mr Hoarce Smith the Magistrate of Westminster Police Court, Dhingra said, ” I do not plead for mercy: nor do I recognise your authority over me…” Dhingra was committed to the Sessions Court. Dhingra bluntly asked the Court, “…If the Germans have no right to rule over England what right have the English got to rule over India ?” During the trial Indians were not allowed inside the Court.
In his last days, Dhingra had wished that his clothes, books and other belongings should be sold and the money thus raised be given to the National Fund. However, these were confiscated by the Metropolitan Police (of London). Two trunks were taken away by Chief Inspector McCarthy. Dhingra had given a letter authorising Nitinsen Dwarakadas to be the owner of his personal belongings. But when the case came to Bow Street Magistrtate’s court on December 31, 1909 it was ruled that as Dhingra had made no will the police were not bound to return Dhingra’s belongings to Nitinsen! (London Times, January 1, 1910).
When Dhingra shot dead Curzon Wyllie, his brother Bhajan Lal was in London studying Law at Grays Inn. Four days after the event Bhajan Lal attended the public meeting to condemn Madan Lal. On account of that, Madan Lal refused to see Bhajan Lal when the latter visited him in the Brixton prison. Soon after their brother was hanged, his brothers dropped the surname Dhingra, with the exception of Dr Bihari Lal. As their first names ended in Lal they adopted that as the surname. e.g Chaman Lal Dhingra became Chaman Lal. (In a similar manner, many Indian freedom fighters changed their names so that their relations would not be identified and harassed by the British authorities.). When Veer Savarkar went to visit Dhingra, he said, “I have come to seek your darshan”. Both were overwhelmed on seeing each other.
 
Martyrdom!
The day of Dhingra’s hanging finally dawned. It was August 17, 1909. Several of Dhingra’s friends made efforts to meet him for one last time in the Pentonville prison. At Savarkar’s suggestion, J. S. Master gave a written application to that effect. He contended that he was Dhingra’s close friend and hence be allowed inside the prison to meet him. He forwarded his application to the Under-Sheriff of London and the Home Office and awaited their response. His request was turned away at both places. Dhingra had assumed that he would die without meeting his friends. However, to the end, he remained calm and composed in the face of imminent death. He enjoyed a good slumber on the previous night and had to be woken-up on the day of his hanging. He performed his morning chores as usual and even had a hearty breakfast. Meanwhile, several Indian youth had mournfully gathered outside the gates of the prison. They were however denied entry inside. Entry was also denied to the waiting journalists. At the stroke of nine, Madan Lal Dhingra began his last journey to the gallows.

A Christian preacher named Hudson walked-up to him to say the final Christian prayer for him. But Dhingra turned him away saying that he was a Hindu. The Deputy Under-Sheriff of London Metcalf read out the death warrant to Dhingra in the presence of Deputy Governor Hales of Pentonville prison and asked him the usual questions. But Dhingra ignored their questions and walked calmly to the noose. His bravery left the accompanying officers dumb-founded. Officer Pierpoint stood at the hangman’s noose waiting for Dhingra. Dhingra smiled at him and ascended the steps to the platform. He himself placed the noose round his neck. Soon thereafter, the wooden platform underneath was withdrawn. Dhingra’s body dropped eight feet and lay hanging. As per convention, his limp body was left hanging for half an hour. When his body was brought down, it showed no trace of fear. Master was allowed to be present at the post-mortem examination which was performed by Dr. Wyliss Shroeder and Asst. Medical Officer Dr. Francis Forewood of Pentonville prison. He wrote the death certificate in the presence of five witnesses. Master again requested that he be allowed to claim Dhingra’s dead body so that his final rites could be performed. However, this request was turned down. The Times, London of August 18, 1909 reported on page 7 column 2, “Shortly after 9, death was announced. Pierpoint was the executioner. An application for leave to have the body cremated was refused and it will be buried in accordance with the usual custom, within the walls of prison.”

Then Master followed Under-Sheriff outside the prison. The correspondent for the Daily Mirror interviewed Master. He asked, “Will Dhingra be considered a martyr by the Indians?” Master replied, “Certainly. He has laid down his life for his country’s good. Whether his idea of this ‘good’ was right or wrong is a matter of opinion.”

Madan Lal Dhingra went to the gallows in Pentonville prison in London on August 17, 1909. This prison was built between 1840 and 1842. Two Indian revolutionaries went to the gallows here. Madan Lal Dhingra on August 17, 1909, and Udham Singh on July 31, 1940.

Dhingra wished that his last rites according to Hindu dharma should be performed on his dead body and it should be cremated. Many Hindus petitioned to the Home Secretary Mr Herbert Gladstone that Dhingra’s body should be handed over to them, as Brahmins were ready to perform the last rites. This request was denied! The last wish of a man sent to the gallows was denied! His body was put in a coffin, which was buried within the prison premises.

(Note :- The Cremation Society of England was founded in 1874. So, cremation was definitely available in London in 1909.)

After Dhingra went to the gallows, the Times, London wrote an editorial (July 24, 1909) titled ‘Conviction of Dhingra’. The editorial said, “The nonchalance displayed by the assassin was of a character, which is happily unusual in such trials in this country. He asked no questions. He maintained a defiance of studied indifference. He walked smiling from the dock.”

Last statement

As desired by Gyan Chand Varma, Sardar Singh Rana , who was then in Paris, published Dhingra’s last testament on a postcard along with his photograph. Below the words Vande Mataram, was written August 17, 1909 (the day of Dhingra’s martyrdom) and below this were written the following words, “To the sacred and inspiring memory of patriot Madan Lal Dhingra, who died for his country.” Rana sent copies of these to Veer Savarkar who was in London through Govind Amin. Savarkar in turn sent a large number of these copies to India. The Government soon banned it. Nonetheless, it became public. Madan Lal Dhingra’s final statement was as inspiring as his actions. Titled Challenge it read as follows:

Challenge
“I admit the other day; I attempted to shed English blood as an humble revenge for the inhuman hangings and deportations of patriotic Indian youths. In this attempt, I have consulted none but my own conscience; I have conspired with none, but my own duty. I believe that a nation held down in bondage with the help of foreign bayonets is in a perpetual state of war. Since open battle is rendered impossible to a disarmed race, I attacked by surprise; since guns were denied to me, I drew forth my pistol and fired. As a Hindu I felt that a wrong done to my country is an insult to God. Her cause is the cause of Sri Ram! Her services are the services of Sri Krishna! Poor in health and intellect, a son like myself has nothing else to offer to the Mother but his own blood and so I have sacrificed the same on her altar.

“The only lesson required in India at present is to learn how to die and the only way to teach it, is by dying ourselves. Therefore I die and glory in my martyrdom! This war of Independence will continue between India and England, so long as the Hindu and the English races last (if the present unnatural relation does not cease!). My only prayer to God is: May I be reborn of the same Mother and may I re-die in the same sacred cause, till the cause is successful and she stands free for the good of humanity and the glory of God!”

-Vande Mataram

Dr. Shreerang Godbole is a Pune-based endocrinologist, social activist and author. He has contributed in making www.savarkar.org.

Give the Revolutionaries their due!

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On this August 15, 2013, Independence Day of India I am posting an article written by Dr. Shreerang Godbole in 2008. I consider it a must-read.
“Another Independence Day, a seasonal outpouring of patriotism. The Prime Minister will deliver a lacklustre speech from the ramparts of Red Fort; loudspeakers will blare out patriotic Bollywood numbers; the Father of the Nation and the First Dynasty will be invoked.  We shall be told that the mighty British Empire was brought to its knees by a frail saint from Sabarmati without shedding a drop of blood, a feat unparalleled anywhere in the world.  There will be no mention of the blood that was shed, barring stray references to Bhagat Singh and Jallianwala Bagh. Any mention of the vivisection that preceded Independence is a strict no-no – we need to ‘maintain unity-integrity-peace-communal harmony.’
 
Bhagat Singh                 Rajguru                    Sukhdev

Post-Independence generations have been fed on a staple diet of false and motivated history – that we won freedom through non-violent means. A natural corollary of this theory is that British Rule was largely benign, despite some stray excesses. In return, the English gave us the railways, English education, a system of administration, a sense of oneness. A nation fed on the fiction of ‘freedom without bloody sacrifices’ can hardly cherish it, much less defend it with bloody sacrifices.
If truth be told, freedom was not won by pleas, prayers and petitions.  It was won IN SPITE OF Congressmen like Gandhi and Nehru who would have been happy with less. Gandhi was content as ‘the most obedient servant’ of the Empire (his own words), but that is a story still waiting to be told.
Freedom was won substantially by violent and armed struggle by revolutionaries, a process that culminated in the Naval Uprising of 1946. It was won thanks to the blood and tears of hundreds of nameless revolutionaries and their families who braved British barbarity and faced death, deportation, imprisonment and forfeiture of property.
Shyamji Krishnavarma


Lala Hardayal
Virendranath Chatopadhyay



The struggle was carried out not only in India, but also abroad, by people such as Shyamji Krishnavarma, Madam Bhikaji Cama, Barrister Sardarsingh Rana, Virendranath Chattopadhyaya, Sardar Ajit Singh, Lala Hardayal, Rasbehari Bose, Raja Mahendra Pratap and Champakraman Pillay. While Gandhi and Nehru enjoyed special status during their brief trips to jail, the worst atrocities were reserved for the revolutionaries.

Rash Behari Bose
Raja Mahendra Pratap Singh
Champakraman Pillay
Madame Cama

Sardar Ajit Singh
Barrister S. S. Rana


























Consider Transportation – it effectively removed the revolutionaries from the theatre of war against the British without imparting them the halo of martyrdom. Through Transportation the British hoped to erase the memory of these freedom fighters from public consciousness.  In 1872, Ramsingh Kooka of Punjab was transported to Burma (Myanmar). Fifty of his followers were blown off guns without trial. 

Baba Ram Singh Kuka

In 1879, Vasudev Balwant Phadke of Pune was sentenced to Transportation for Life to Aden, 3200 km from Mumbai, by sea. Some 60-70 of his followers were sentenced to Transportation for Life and deported to the Andaman Islands. Even in exile, Phadke was denied the company of his followers. He died in Aden in 1883 clutching the soil of his motherland which he had kept with himself.


Vasudeo Balwant Phadke


In May 1907, Lala Lajpat Rai and Sardar Ajit Singh (uncle of Bhagat Singh) were transported from Lahore to Mandalay (Myanmar), 3400 km away. So strict was the security that the two leaders did not know that they were imprisoned in the same place. In 1908, at the age of 52 years, Lokmanya Tilak was sentenced to Transportation for 6 years to Mandalay and kept in isolation in an area of 150 ft x 50 ft with only the company of a cook. There was no parole for him even when his wife was on deathbed in 1912. The distance from Mumbai to Mandalay by sea and land is 4800 kms. The average life expectancy of an Indian male in 1908 was 48 years, so it is safe to presume the British wanted Tilak’s dead body to come out of prison.
Lokmanya Tilak

Lala Lajpat Rai












In 1909, Savarkar’s elder brother Ganesh Damodar (Babarao) was sentenced to Transportation for life to the Andaman Islands, for publishing four poems. All his earthly possessions, including even saucepans and broom, were confiscated. His wife Yesu was left homeless, penniless and destitute. She sought refuge in the local crematorium for some time. She never saw her husband again and died in 1918. Permission to visit her husband came a day after she died!

Savarkar and Babarao
In the Andamans, Babarao was denied even basic medical treatment; it was a miracle that he survived. Even after his release, he was lodged in Belgaum (solitary confinement) and Sabarmati jails. He was finally released in September 1922 only when the British were convinced he was going to die. 
In 1911, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was sentenced to Transportation for Life, twice, to Andaman Islands; the sentences were to be served in succession. Savarkar’s personal property and possessions, including his spectacles, were confiscated. His father-in-law Mr Chiplunkar was Dewan of Jawhar principality in Thane district. British authorities forced the Raja of Jawhar to sack Chiplunkar and expel him from Jawhar state overnight. 
Transportation to Andaman Islands did not mean prison sentence for life. According to rules, regulations, customs and practice of the British Administration, prisoners were allowed to work outside the prison after a year or two, settle on the island, and call their families from India. Savarkar and his elder brother Babarao were detained in the prison for more than 10 years in flagrant violation of these rules! They were also forced to do physical hard labour all the time. 


In 1924, Savarkar was released from jail on condition that he would not leave Ratnagiri district and would abstain from political activities for five years. But the Raj extended this duration periodically so that Savarkar was unconditionally released only in 1937. Many contemporaries of Savarkar including Bhai Parmanand, Hotilal Varma and Hemchandra Das, were sentenced to Transportation for Life to the Andaman Islands.

Bhai Parmanand
Apart from the deaths at the gallows, many prisoners committed suicide to escape the harsh prison conditions. One of them was Indu Bhushan, an accused in the Alipore Bomb Case.  He was yoked to the oil-mill and tortured sadistically, which turned him into a physical and mental wreck. On 29 April 1912, he ended his agony by committing suicide.
Another accused in the Alipore Bomb Case, Ullaskar Dutta, was made to carry wet bricks and haul water up a hill. When he refused, he was yoked to the oil-mill and then made to stand handcuffed for a week. When he developed fever of 107 degrees F, he was made to stand in the blazing sun. When he became semi-conscious, his limp body was seized by jail officials and brutally thrashed. Only when a kindly doctor certified him insane was he let off. 
Ullaskar Dutt

Savarkar confessed he was also on the point of committing suicide on three occasions, but each time persuaded himself to fight the British to the last drop of his blood. He also prevented others from committing suicide.
The British did not spare the revolutionaries even after death. Madanlal Dhingra’s father was an eye specialist and Civil Surgeon at Amritsar. Some say he was the first Indian doctor to reach that eminent position. Madanlal was married and had a son. He had completed his studies and had he desired, he could have lived a life of luxury. But, he chose to be a martyr for India’s freedom struggle and went to the gallows in August 1909.  Dhingra wished his last rites be performed according to Hindu Dharma and that he should be cremated. Many Hindus petitioned to Home Secretary Herbert Gladstone that Dhingra’s body be handed over to them, as Brahmins were ready to perform the last rites. The request was denied! The body was put in a coffin and buried within the prison premises.
Madanlal Dhingra

Udham Singh
The vengeful attitude of the British did not diminish with time. Thirty-one years later they behaved just as barbarously. In March 1940, Udham Singh assassinated Michael O’ Dwyer, Governor of Punjab at the time of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre. The British refused cremation according to Hindu rites to Udham Singh also, and put his body in a coffin and buried it within the prison premises.
The sacrifices of these freedom fighters fuelled the fire of patriotism in the hearts of ordinary Indians during the freedom struggle. If our school children are taught about their sacrifices, they will become the Kshatriyas of tomorrow, ready to defend their dharma, sanskriti and rashtra from alien onslaughts.
Dr. Shreerang Godbole is a Pune-based endocrinologist, social activist and author. He has contributed in making www.savarkar.org 

The Very Special Vikram Edke

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Hi, Everyone! Since researching and writing on Savarkar, I have had the good fortune to come across several people with whom I can connect. But there are two whom I consider very special. One is Dr. Shreerang Godbole, to whom I have dedicated my book Burning for Freedom, (I have posted on him in my category “Divine Interventions” and the other is Vikram Edke—to whom I shall dedicated the audio book of Burning for Freedom. Vikram is extremely dedicated to Savarkar and sees it as his honor and duty to do anything for Savarkar. That in itself is enough to make him special but there is also much, much more!

I first heard of Vikram almost a year ago. A friend of his bought B for Ffrom me to send to him. I figured I might as well sign it and asked his name—but for this I may never have heard of him and that would have been a great loss! Along with his name I also learned that he gives lectures on Savarkar. I was so intrigued, I hotfooted it to Facebook to be“Friend” him.

At first I read his posts out of curiosity but shortly I was hooked. He really is an exceptional writer—a wonderful style, satire, humor, and very important for me: no swear words or bad-mouthing. But he writes only in Marathi and Hindi, and for me that was quite a stumbling block! My command over those languages is so-so at best and is completely dependent on my moods. If I feel off-color or disturbed, first thing to go out of the window is my understanding of Marathi and Hindi. So reading his posts was like running an obstacle race: race for bit; hit a snag; dash to the dictionary; then hop over the hurdle. But it was worth all the effort!

I discovered he has quite a repertoire of topics and puts them in today’s context, too; besides Savarkar, he writes very knowledgably on other freedom fighters of India and writes and posts from other sources on ancient India. I really loved this. I am very fascinated in all ancient civilizations but somehow had never studied ancient India in any depth. The horizons of my knowledge widened noticeably, thanks to him.

I have an innate aversion to listening to anyone speak: speeches, talk shows, sermons et al. But Vikram is an excellent speaker and the only one I take time out to listen to. Not only does he have interesting information, he changes his approach to suit the audience. He writes the most wonderful poetry, too! Here is a link to one of his really special poems:

And a link to his other poems:  http://vikramedke.com/blog/category/poetry/

Soon another facet of his personality emerged: he was so very-well versed in Sanskrit, a scholar, in fact! He could quote and write authoritatively on Vedas and other valuable ancient Indian treasures. I particularly loved his “proofs of unimportance of caste in the Rigveda.” I was delighted when he wished me for my birthday in Sanskrit.

Since 2009, I look at the world from “how will this help Savarkar?” spectacles; so naturally right away it struck me that Vikram would be of great help to me in rescuing a couple of my Savarkar poem translations from limbo-land. Savarkar’s poems written in Sanskritized-Marathi are impossible for me to understand and yet of course, I have to translate them! I sent over a particularly difficult poem, Marnonmukh Shaiyyewar, to him and within minutes he replied giving meanings and explanations. That was a tremendous help for me in revising my translation and it has now seen the light of day.

Reader, in case you haven’t kept tally, I’ll put Vikram’s talents (at least those of which I am aware) in so many words: writer; poet; orator; scholar; historian, and lawyer. Not only does he have these talents, he is using them and very effectively, too! It seems to me his parents have named him very aptly: Vikram!

I always maintain that people reveal themselves when they speak and write (even if they don’t mean to) and I was impressed with the maturity of thought and the values that Vikram’s writing revealed. One day I discovered that he too, like me, is a deep believer in the Bhagavad Gita.

So you can see why he holds the “very special” spot in my life.

With all his talents and achievements, you might be forgiven in thinking that Vikram has reached an advanced age! Actually he is (if he’ll forgive me for saying it) very young. He turned 25 today.
I was listening to a radio show on which he was invited to speak, the lady asking him questions kept referring to him as “tu” rather than the respectful “tumhi” or “aapan”—a great solecism on her part! It is normal to accord respect to any learned personality; she shouldn’t have tossed it away just because he is young. I was sooooo mad! I hunted online for her contact information for two days to give her a piece of mind. Fortunately for her, I didn’t find it.

There is a lot more I could write, but I am going to save it for a second installment down the road. But this I shall certainly say, that Vikram’s and my path should cross is for me a case of “Divine Intervention.”

Anurupa

Savarkar’s Mindblowing marseilles Leap

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“O Goddess of Freedom, Life is to die for you,
Death is to live without you!”
-         V. D. Savarkar, Jayostute (translation)
July 8, 1910 . . . that was the day Savarkar threw his heart over the fence and executed a most daring, magnificent escape at Marseilles harbor.

With that he thumbed his nose at the might of the British Raj and put it in a most sorry position! But there were many inherent dangers in his daring act and consequences of failure were dire.
What was going on in Savarkar’s mind before he took the leap?

Fortunately, that has been recorded by his biographer Chitragupta in Life of Barrister Savarkar.  During the British Raj days, Savarkar often wrote under a pseudonym. This biography is also purported to be written by Savarkar himself. Here are his thoughts, in the third person, before he leapt to freedom:

“Mr. Savarkar had weighed all the consequences of an attempt to escape in his mind. He knew that failure was almost certain under these most unfavorable and hostile circumstances. . . . And if failure was almost certain how terrible would be the consequences! He had read harrowing accounts of the cruelty that these very officers were capable of when in their calmer moods. To what demoniacal fury and tortures would they not subject him if thus they got exasperated by his attempt to break off from their custody? Then any such attempt was bound to lay him open to far more serious charges and was bound to prejudice his first case in a most damaging way. For as the case stood there could have been no substantial documentary or other reliable evidence strong enough to sustain all the charges against Mr. Savarkar, so cleverly had he worked throughout that otherwise reckless agitation. Even the best legal opinions, in spite of the confessions of his former comrades that were wrung out by the Police in India, were one on the point that if he chose to defend and if no further complications took place he could not get more than seven years or so in any ordinary conducted trial. But an attempt at such daring escape would doubtless furnish that much dreaded complication.

Yes: true it was that thus the price of failure would be most exacting. But if it succeeds? Succeeds even partially? What grand tradition of heroic fortitude would it not leave behind to raise the prestige of the Indian revolutionist party in the esteem of all mankind? It will take Europe by surprise. It will wash away the stigma that the leader of Abhinava Bharat was trapped by the Government as easily as one would trap a mouse.

No! His arrest must cost them much more than the arrest of any single private individual had ever done. It must tax the utmost ingenuity of the English Government and force them to stand mortified and humiliated before all Europe. If no help, well he would individually do it at any rate. It was worth risking worth doing. Failure or success, he will have the satisfaction of having played his own of Indian Independence. But if, in pursuit and hunt, they shoot? Well, it would be far more in keeping with his position as the president of the Abhinava Bharat, the leader of young Indian, to die in that fashion, to get shot in the struggle than to live to rot in the Andamanese dungeons or end his life on the gallows. He must risk. But the steamer was to sail just after day break. These guards are all closing and tightly pressing on both sides. Still, if at all, this is the time. Now or never!

He actually repeated to his mind “Now or never!”

Such were the thoughts running through the mind of this amazing man!
Watch my videos, Savarkar: the Great Escape, Part I & II on Youtube:
Savarkar: The Great Escape, Part I
Savarkar: The Great Escape, Part II
 Also watch two quick videos:
Savarkar’s Heroic Jump
The Savarkar Case Bungle up

1) Savarkar’s Heroic Jump:

     2) The Savarkar Case Bungle up:

The video, Point to Point Biography of Savarkar is a quick study guide to his biography. Click on the pictures with hands and on the swiveling targets to get more information (source documents, articles, videos, pictures etc.) in the PDF or PPT version. Those links are given in the description of the video.

Point to Point Biography of Savarkar
Anurupa