Rash Behari Bose, great revolutionary and founder of Azad Hind Sena,
wrote biographical article on Veer Savarkar in March and April 1939 issues of
Japanese Magazine Dai Ajia Shugi (Greater Asianism).
(Translated fro Swatantryaveer Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak, Mumbai by Mrs. Sharmila Naik (March issue) and M/s Akruti Mumbai (April issue) ffom Japanese)
*******
Part I
DAI AJIA SHUGI
MARCH 1939 ISSUE
ASIATIC SOCIETY TOKYO PUBLICATION
Savarkar, a Rising Leader of New India : His currier and
personality – by Rash Behari Bose
On June 25, 1937 VD
Savarkar became a free man after many years of life imprisonment. When the news
of his release came out, hundreds of telegrams and letters poured in from the
people pleased with his unconditional release. A good deal amongst them were influential
leaders from India.
Those congratulatory
messages described the position of Mr. Savarkar as a leader and his
characteristics and intent that Mr. Savarkar is predecessor of every camp that
exists today.
For example, the
Judge of Federal Court of India in the postwar constitution Mr. Jayakar said, “To
praise Mr. Savarkar is to praise the spirit of sacrifice and patriotic
sentiments, and even more that he is an embodiment of endurance and courage”.
The Chief Minister of
Madras Presidency Mr. Rajagopalachari is an elderly politician in Indian
National Congress. He said, “The vigor and organizing abilities of Mr. Savarkar
is something I can never forget. It also brings waves of memories of his
phenomenal plan of escaping by jumping into the sea near Marseille under the
nose of the guards when he was being escorted from England to India, and France
then handing him over to British by violating the International Law is
fascinating even today. According to me he is someone who has always been a
fighter who will keep the torch of independence burning. He must be called an
embodiment of heroism, courage, adventure, and nationalism.”
Further, let us see
what Mr. Subhash Bose, President, National Congress says. “I am extremely
pleased with the release of Mr. Savarkar. He has a brilliant future. I wish he
participates in National Congress and strengthens the freedom movement”.
Further, Mr. M N Roy,
a revolutionary advocate of communism in India said, “Mr. Savarkar is one of
the few patriots who risked life for India’s freedom movement in the early 20th
century. I differ with him on political standpoint, but cannot but respect his
spirit of sacrifice mind and courage.”
Finally, let us hear what member of central legislative assembly M.S. Aney
has to say. He said, “Due to the release of Savarkar, the influential people in
India have reached a state that demands aligning of Savarkar’s
idea of cultural independence and the three political ideas existing
in India. The three right political ideas are Gandhi’s idea based on
absolute love and ahimsa, nationalist principles of Nehru with a color of
socialistic nationalism and the revolutionary socialism of the Roy school. Thus
the thought that integrates the four above-mentioned ideologies can be the
ideology that will play a definite role in achieving national independence of
India.”
If I put together
views of influential persons on Savarkar as mentioned above, Savarkar "is
heroism, valor, adventure, and epitome of patriotism". "To praise him
is to praise the spirit of sacrifice". He is the one "who always kept
the fire of India’s freedom burning; he is a patriot who risked his life for
the freedom of India in the early 20th century and is a founder exponent of the
doctrine of cultural independence in the current times".
However, the
description above shows merely one of the aspects of the personality of
Savarkar. Therefore, I will broadly describe his personality as follows.
Savarkar was born in
1883 at Nashik in Maharashtra. He took entrance examination in 1901 and went to
Ferguson College at Poona. He got B. A. degree in the 1905. However, this year
was a year marked with many events in the modern history of India. Dissatisfaction
against the Britain had already become deep rooted. Right at that time, the
proposal of partition of Bengal by Lord Curzon caused the sentiments to flare
all the more. This brought even the mild element in the country to anti-British
movement. The anti-British movement spread from Bengal to Maharashtra and
Punjab. The then National Congress was to support this movement very much, but
the youth of the country had their opinion on mere constitutional anti-British
movement. The patriotic fire was burning in the bosom of the youngsters and
infused the revolutionary ideas into their writings. Eventually, the government
resorted to oppression. For that the idea of armed revolution got impetus. At
first it is necessary for us to take cognizance of the influence at
such times in the background of Savarkar’s college days.
He
had formed an association of the youth called Society of Friends from high
school days at Nashik. The purpose of this association was to study revolution
movement in countries like Italy and Ireland, study the warfare of India
against the invasion of the morgue, spreading revolutionary documents. From
childhood Savarkar was good at composing poems. He made full use of this talent
to write many compositions based on historical events. Such poetry came to be
banned immediately and even today is being prohibited. But it let the youth run
about an armed revolution. Thus, it was natural that Savarkar, who was famous
from high school days, became a central figure of the political movement in the
college soon after his admission to the college. He was constantly threatened
to be expelled if he did not stop the political movement by the Principal.
However Savarkar gave no heed to these warnings. So to say, “Mr. Savarkar has
got a tongue that is not ordinary. It is as if fire.”This way, one can have an
idea of Mr. Savarkar being an eloquent speaker. Moreover, when he was in
school, he published a magazine called ‘Talwar’ to move public opinion. He
wrote a biography of Italian revolutionist Joseph Mazzini, which was very
original. Half of this book is filled with the preface alone and also indicates
his conviction for armed revolution. Needless to say this book was immediately
banned, and continues to be banned even today. But the young generation of
Maharashtra obtained its manuscript and made copies, and passed it along from
one to another. Savarkar, the then college student, again started the
incineration of British made cloth in western India.
Like
this, Savarkar’s activities drew attention of Mr. Tilak who always had deep
interest in connecting with promising youngsters. The father of modern Indian national
movement, Tilak loved the ideology of radical patriotism of the younger
generation. Tilak is said to have given financial help to Chaphekar brothers who
were executed on the grounds of assassination of Rand and Ayerst in 1897 and to
the right fraternity. Incidentally, since this Chaphekar case had a deep
influence on the life of Savarkar, I believe it will be worth mentioning this
incidence briefly. The incidence took place when the outbreak of plague was
rife in Poona region. The government resorted to take precautionary measures for
people, but the manner in which it was carried out was extremely overbearing. Tilak,
who always was watchful of the development of political machinery through the newspaper,
intensely attacked the government for ignoring the religious feelings of the
people.
This
provided an impetus to the youth of Poona. They planned to assassinate of the epidemic
prevention official. The Chaphekar brothers, who were the nucleus of the plan, waited
for the official at a lonely place one night and assassinated him and a British
who walked together at that time. That night the Chaphekar brothers had shared the
plan with one friend, but the three of them disappeared after the decisive action,
and were not found for a while. The police declared a prize of rupees 6,000 for
one offender to discover the hiding place. Amongst them, the two fellow members
of the group informed the hiding place of the Chaphekar brothers and one more
person. They were arrested one by one and hanged. That time, the three brave
hearts were carrying a sacred book Geeta in their pockets.
In
this way the Chaphekar case became a topic of conversation in each family of
Maharashtra and is remembered with a sense of reverence as the exemplars of composure
and courage even today. Further, this account brought a deep influence on the
life of Savarkar.
The
Chaphekar brothers had one younger brother who was 16 years old at that time.
When he heard the story of execution of two elder brothers, he exclaimed “I
will give neither money nor life to the betrayer”.
As
expected, one month after the Chaphekar brothers were hanged, the youngest
brother eliminated his brother’s betrayal.
On
one evening, the two betraying brothers who were allies of Chaphekar lay dead
near their house. However, the youngest Chaphekar promptly turned himself to
police with composure and was also executed following the footsteps of his
brothers. On the other hand, Tilak was arrested on the grounds of inciting the
killing through his articles and was imprisoned for three years.
As mentioned above, Tilak regarded great prospects of
Savarkar and asked him to go to U.K. for further education. He also put across intent
of support to go to England.
Savarkar, after consulting his elder brother and the
school fellows accepted the suggestion of Tilak. Tilak carried out
correspondence with Mr. Shyamji Krishna Varma living in London and resolved to
give scholarship to Savarkar.
Thus, in 1906, Savarkar went to U.K. to study law and
decided to entrust the political movement to his elder brother when he was
away.
In London, with his ardor and talent, Savarkar impressed
Krishna Varma.
However, when staying in London, while studying, he organized
an association Abhinav Bharat and proclaimed
revolutionary thoughts among Indian students in the UK and
also formed ties with Russian and Irish revolutionist. Further, with the help
of the revolutionist he succeeded in secretly sending large number of handguns
to India. Thus, from 1906 to 1908, a large number of handguns
arrived in India in the outer appearance of a big dictionary. He had a plan to
assassinate 15 British collectors in Maharashtra with
these weapons all at once. Nevertheless, his
foot soldiers filled with enthusiasm shot the collector of Nashik before the designated day and the plan had
to be dropped. It also led to immediate arrest of the young man who had taken the shot and many others including the elder brother of
Savarkar. The young man was hanged to death, and the elder brother of Savarkar
was sentenced an exile in Andaman. Further, Tilak too
was arrested and imprisoned for 6 years in Burma.
These incidences happened in 1908, but before this
Governor-General Minto was attacked in Ahmedabad in 1906 and so the government arrested the younger brother of Savarkar presuming the connection to
this incidence. He was sentenced to nine months imprisonment.
Savarkar, who received the news, delivered a statement
that a review without a question is required in a speech at India House in
London. After a few days, Dhingra of Abhinav Bharat shot dead Colonel Willy who was looked down as a spy of the government
in the downtown of London. Dhingra was hanged to death speedily by the police.
Part II
DAI AJIA SHUGI
APRIL 1939 ISSUE
ASIATIC SOCIETY TOKYO PUBLICATION
Indians organized a meeting in order to pass a
resolution to condemn Dhingra. This meeting was also attended by several
British. Savarkar objected this resolution. Someone hit him on the head and Savarkar’s
colleague hit the attacker in retaliation.
After Dhingra was executed, Savarkar went to
France due to his illness. When Savarkar tried to go back to London, Hardayal
tried to stop him. In spite of that Savarkar went there. He was arrested by the
police, and was imprisoned. He was kept in London for a short period of time,
and his plan to escape from prison failed.
Before
the imprisonment, he went to the British Museum to research the material for
his books, “Indian independence war 1857” and “History of Sikhism”. The first book
was banned, and the second one was not allowed to be published. Many people
were impressed by these books, and Savarkar was acknowledged as a leader.
In
1910, the British government sent Savarkar to India and he was to be tried in India.
There were many people in France who supported the Indian revolution. The British government decided to send him by
ship to India. When the ship was near Marseille, he jumped into the sea and swam
to the shore of France. British tried to shoot him, but fortunately he
survived. When he reached the shore, he went to the police station, he asked
them to provide him political asylum. The British officials convinced the
police and he was sent to India by the British government.
He
was sent to Mumbai to be tried. Again, he made a futile attempt to escape from
the train and captured by the British government. In the meantime, he heard
that his friends in Paris had sued the British government in the
International Court of Justice, The Hague.
Until the judges in The Hague decided, he had to be subjected to the Indian
court, and he expected the French Government to oppose the British government in
the Hague court. However, the UK government gave money to the French
government, and his expectation went up in smoke, and he was transported to
the Andaman Islands for life.
Thirteen years later, he came out of the
islands and came to India, but he was seriously ill. It is thought his freedom
should have been restricted, and he was banned from participating in any
political movements. In addition, Savarkar was detained in Ratnagiri, southern
part of the Mumbai State. He was detained for 13 years.
However, he is by nature a political
activist. He did not waste this period. He studied literature, politics and
history and found something that was linked to nationalism. Some people ignored
him saying “he always politicizes any issue.”
He especially worked
in the three areas.
In literature, he
tried to purify the language, and tried to replace English, Arabic, and Persian
words. He became the leader of the movement of
Devanagari. When he was released in 1937, he made a speech in Mumbai. “I hope you will visit Taxila because it
is ruined. If you go there, you will find that the university was burned by the
enemies, it was burning for months. Today the place is neglected. It is not
because of lack of writers, poets, philosophers, and thinkers but because of
lack of adequate army. If you go there, you will learn something about life. At
the same time you will realize that the brave military personnel is better than
a writer. If you want to protect literature of our country, drop the pen and
pick up the gun.” This is the strange speech for the literates and writers.
This shows the personality of Savarkar.
Later he tried to abolish the Caste system.
During his detention of 13 years, the discrimination was abolished in that
region. He wanted freedom all over India.
His research in history was for cultural war.
230 years before UK conquered India, Indians talked about cultural independence
and political independence. After the British rule, they gave priority to the political
independence and thought that the base of the cultural independent should be
democratic. He wrote two papers which were fortunately ignored by the
officials. First one was published in 1926, and the other in 1927. In the first
one, he analyzes the nationalistic, cultural democracy.
He says, “It does not make sense to take all
Indian as one. In Turkey, Turkish are nationals. In India, Hindus are
nationals, and who believe in other religions are minorities”. He defined Hindus
as those who have faith in the area around the Indus River.
Savarkar was concerned about politics during
imprisonment. His elder brother was also sent to the Andaman Islands and came
back to India, but no restrictions were imposed on him. He always contacted
political activists and kept in touch with revolutionaries in Bengal and
Punjab. He also commanded through a weekly magazine through his brother who
wrote in a style similar to Savarkar and who could contact Savarkar. The work
he had done in detention proved to be helpful later. People hoped that he would
be a leader, but they also thought that the government would not let him free.
When the
Congress formed a government in 1937, they removed the restrictions on him. The
Congress wanted him to participate in the government. People knew that some
officials were against him, however, they also agreed. Savarkar did not join
the government and joined the Hindu Mahasabha. It suffered bitter criticism.
The government said, “Savarkar destroyed himself. Anti-nationalists will use
him as their leader.”
“Savarkar did not join the government, which
means he is a hero. He could be a leader of a state and nation in the future,
but he did not do that because of the opposition.”
Mahasabha was very happy about it as now they
could have new power. His opinion was different from that of the government.
The speech here at Mumbai says it all.
“Like it or not, army is necessary. The
nations gain respect with guns. Peace without guns does not exist. We need to
use international help for us. Independence is much more important than
ideology. First we need to be strong to be independent. It is not important
whether Japan which conquers China is right or wrong. The world takes care of its
own countries. You must not count on help from any other country.”
He also talked about non-violence. “Colonies
cannot resist. They do not have power. It is up to us to be strong or weak.”
He talked about the Indian diplomacy.
“Hitler
knows how to be independent. Nazism and fascism are appropriate for Germany and
Italy. India must first create its government. We must admit, we do not have
power like Japan, Germany, and Italy. People want Independence. What the
British Government says about independence being a threat to democracy is a
lie. British solders must leave India, and Indians must create their own nation.
When Independence becomes a necessity, it becomes possible. It is very natural
to demand more power. Mahasabha supports Indian independence movement and regard
those who oppose it as enemies. For those who are neutral to India, India will also
be neutral to them. Our policy to British must be decided this way.”
These
views were opposite to Indian National Congress. When he joined Mahasabha, he
was asked to be a chairman in 1937-1938. Mahasabha decided its national policy.
“If
you do not have confidence, we do not have future. We have capability. Our
history goes back to BC 2000, and we survived because we were strong. Inca
Empire, Pharaoh, and Nebuchadnezzar are forgotten races today, but we have
power to survive. Each nation has ups and downs. Today, Great Britain conquered
the world, but they have been conquered by Romans, Dutch, and Normans.
Alexander the Great tried to conquer India but could not. Today, Hun and
Parthian are forgotten. Now we must stand up and show our might to the
world. Our country has been invaded over and over, and our power has been
ignored. However, we fought with Turks over centuries, and then England came.
But today we have army. British would be like Hun and Parthians. Hindus will
stand on the Himalayas, and our nation would be independent.”
He travelled through India, and he received
overwhelming welcome all over the places. Lectures, news interviews, exchange
of opinions with other leaders kept him quite busy. But most of all, it was
important for him to meet the leaders of the government, and he had a lot of
meetings.
He published papers, issued statements, and
responded to critics. With this leader, Mahasabha became really active. Next,
he was elected as the chairman from 1938-1939. 25,000 people came to listen to his speech.
This is the speech.
“We have to fight and win.” One young man was impressed
by his speech, and therefore he donated money. This is a part of speech from
him.
“To join the Mahasabha means you gain
power. Our ancestors have tried to combine us in terms of religion, culture,
race, and politics for 5000 years. Sindhus are today’s nationals. We are born
in this land, and we live on this land. It is not to torture ourselves. We are
Indian nationals. We have same religion, race, and history. This is the symbol
of India.”
If
you agree with Savarkar, you will have political power, and he has a strong
position in the Indian independence movement.
