Tribute to Veer Savarkar on his Birth Anniversary.

Veer Savarkar was born in Bhagur at Nashik to Damodar and Radhabai Savarkar in 1883 on 28 May. He had elder brother Ganesh Damodar Savarkar and a Sister Maina Bai also an younger brother Narayan Savarkar.

His father died of Plague epidemic thus his brother Ganesh Damodar Savarkar took care of his family. From Childhood on Veer Savarkar was not in favour of British Rule. He established Mitra Mandal which later became Abhinav Bharat.

Veer Savarkar married smt Yamuna Bai in 1901 based on then customs. During his studies in Ferguson College at Pune he continued Political activism against British. He was inspired by Chapekar brothers. Giuseppe Mazanni was his inspiration and he revered Lokmanya Tilak as his mentor. It’s said that Lokmanya Tilak on seeing his strong sense of Nationalism Recommended him for Shivaji Scholarship to study Law in British Isles. Lokamanya Tilak ji also wrote against expulsion of Veer Savarkar from Ferguson College hostel by College Management and sided with him.

Later Veer Savarkar went to England to study Law where became member of India House which was ran by Shymaji Kishanji Verma and Madam Cama. Here he met fellow Nationalists like VN Chattopadhyaya, VVS Iyer,Mandayam Tirumalacharya, Senapati Bapat,Madan Lal Dhingra and many Revolutionaries. Here Veer Savarkar wrote The Indian war of Independence of 1857 and the book was banned by British.

In 1909 when Madan Lal Dhingra assassinated Curzon Wylie he was sent to gallows thus Veer Savarkar was moved to Paris along with fellow Revolutionaries.

In the meantime the arrest of Lokmanya Tilak in 1908 followed by the British Crackdown on Revolutionaries in Maharashtra his brother Ganesh Damodar Savarkar was arrested and deported to Kalapani. Thus Anant Laxman Kanhare assassinated collector of Nashik A M T Jackson. Thus when Veer Savarkar reached London he was arrested and it’s decided he will be tried in India.

While he was escorted back to India in Ship SS Morea he escaped at Marseille in France only to be handed back to British by then port officials of France. This became international incident that France government filed case while it explained the situation and said the irregularities in his arrest.

He was initially Jailed in Yerwada prison and later transported to Kalapani in Andaman and Nicobar Island. Here he had undergone more ordeal both physical and mental torture thus he asked for clemency. While his fellow inmates including his brother Ganesh Damodar Savarkar, Barin Ghosh,Bhai Parmanand and Sachindranath Sanyal along with many freedom fighters.

In 1919 with the pressure from Home rule league before the demise of Lokamanya Tilak British Government then gave amnesty to all political prisoners thus slowly every political prisoners were released from their Detention and Incarceration. Thus Veer Savarkar was released from Kalapani and was moved to Ratnagiri prison where he was Incarcerated till 1924 and was finally released from jail only to be given with restricted freedom.

During his prison time he wrote about essentials of Hindutva. After release he worked on social reforms and also supported building Patit Pavan mand

ir. He was released from Restricted freedom in 1937. Thus he became a member of Hindu Mahasabha. He was all for assertive Hinduism. During WW2 he supported Hindus to join Army in huge numbers to get trained in basic weaponaries and technology so that it will be of great use during and after Indian Independence.

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose met Veer Savarkar before his house arrest and his subsequent escape. Where Veer Savarkar suggested him to rally support from Abroad. In the meantime time his elder brother who was released earlier unconditionally went to help K B Hedgewar in founding RSS and Passed away in 1945.

After Independence he was arrested as co conspirator in the charges of Assassination of Gandhi where he was later acquitted.

During the 1948 riots his younger brother Dr Narayan Savarkar was injured and succumbed to injury in 1949 He was arrested in 1950 during Nehru Liaquat Pact on Preventive Detention only to be released later.

His speech on Hindutva drawn criticism from certain quarter still he inspired many. It was in 1966 he took Atmahatya Nahi Atmaarpan and passed away on 26 February. Many visited his funeral.

His strategic vision was appreciated by Field Marshal K M Cariappa. Thus let’s remember one of the foremost freedom fighter who sacrificed a lot for Nation.

Pic Credit: Internet.

-Tribute by Srikaanth Sridhar.