About time Indians analyzed Savarkar without Demonizing him
- In Politics
- 07:28 PM, Jun 07, 2016
- Sagar Kinhekar
When he wrote the poem “Ne majasi ne parata matrubhumi la, Sagara Pran Talmalala”, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar would not have thought that his loyalty to India will be questioned one day. Much has been written about Savarkar’s mercy petitions which were submitted to British government to reduce his jail term. People who question him for writing mercy petitions forget that Savarkar spent most of his life working against British before he was put inside Andaman jail. He in fact faced trouble in getting law degree after successful completion of exams due to his anti-British activities. He was asked to sign an undertaking prohibiting him from taking up political activities before he could receive his degree. Savarkar refused to sign it. Anyone questioning him on mercy petition should think whether it made any sense to show false bravado and rot in jail? He could serve the nation only when he was out of jail and if it needed a false mercy petition so be it. Looking at his entire life, isn’t it juvenile to see cowardice in a clear case of political realism?
Savarkar has been subjected to a witch hunt by Congress and left intellectuals due to his open opposition of Congress leaders and policies. The kind of witch hunt which every right wing leader had to face, from Deen Dayal Upadhyay to A B Vajpayee and most recently Modi. Though people on right side of intellectual divide don’t like to cry victim, it is a fact that Savarkar, who should have been counted among India’s finest intellectuals, was a victim of lies and misrepresentation of left intellectuals. There have been atrocious allegations made against Savarkar. Let’s examine some of the oft-repeated lies against him.
Lie – Savarkar supported Caste Discrimination
Nothing can be farther from truth than this. Savarkar, in his writing ruthlessly attacked modern caste system among Hindus.
In his article written on 2.12.1930, in Kesari, he writes, “They (supporter of caste system) want to keep untouchability of fifth caste (ati-shudra) Hindus. They want to keep treating these Hindu brothers worse than unknown foreigners. Their hand doesn’t get dirty even if they touch a dog but it does get dirty if it touches a well learned great scholar like Ambedkar. Why?” He further writes, “Everyone is Shudra (fourth caste) at the time of birth. ‘janmana jayate shudrah’. Later due to different samskaar one attains dwijata (one who is twice born). This is clearly written by various smritikar (those who have written social laws).”
Savarkar had firm belief that the issue of caste can only be resolved by completely removing the caste system which follows caste-by-birth. Both Savarkar and Ambedkar were unanimous on this. Only difference was that in Savarkar’s opinion this system should be replaced by classical Varna system of assigning Varna based on one’s profession with no place for untouchability.
Lie – Savarkar opposed Dr. Ambedkar
Quoting from Dhananjay Keer’s book ‘Dr. Ambedkar: Life and Mission’
“In pursuance of the resolution of the Mahad municipality, which in 1924 had declared to have its water tank open to the Depressed Classes, Ambedkar decided to lead a satyagraha with his followers to take water from the tank and establish the rights of the ex-untouchables. The one leader who fearlessly and whole-heartedly supported Ambedkar's struggle was Savarkar. Savarkar said that untouchability must be condemned and abolished not only as the need of the hour but also as the command of the true religion; not only as a matter of policy or as an act of expediency but also as a matter of justice; not only as a matter of obligation but also as a service to humanity. Savarkar said that the notion of purifying oneself with animal urine was more ridiculous and despicable than the notion of defilement at the human touch. Savarkar, therefore upheld the Satyagraha of the ex-Untouchables at Mahad and declared that the pious and bounden duty of the Hindu world at large was to restore full human rights to their co-religionists.”
It is always quoted that Savarkar had opposed Dr Ambedkar’s decision to convert. The fact is Savarkar had requested Dr Ambedkar of two things –
1. Wait for some time before converting to other religion as untouchability was declining.
2. If he had to convert, choose a religion which has foundation in logic and is Indian.
Lie – Savarkar wrote that Hindu Kings should have raped Muslim women
Savarkar wrote a long article in 6 parts called Soneri Paane in Marathi, which means Golden pages. The entire series of articles was about Indian History. The fifth part talks in details about how Hindu women suffered at the hands of Muslim invaders. It talks about how Muslim invaders raped Hindu women and many a times forced Hindu women to convert and marry Muslims. This helped them increase the Muslim population. Savarkar compared it with practices used by Hindu rulers, who always spared Muslim women after winning wars. He mentions that the Hindu kings forgot all the atrocities meted out to Hindu women while dealing with Muslim women. He also shows his displeasure that no Hindu king asked Muslim women to convert to Hinduism. The piece starts with talking about how having more females in a community helps increasing the population of that community. In this context when he talks about ‘similar treatment’ of Muslim women, he is surely talking about marrying them after converting to Hinduism and not raping them. One may agree or disagree with his views but demonizing him by attributing wrong intentions to his writing is not correct.
Lie – Savarkar hailed Hitler
It is a well-known fact that Savarkar wanted Hindus to support British in the world-war II by joining British army in a big way. This directly puts him against Germany, Italy and Japan. Savarkar always maintained that Hitler was more dangerous than British and India should not get freedom with support from Germany. This should be enough to prove Savarkar did not admire Hitler, however some twist his Hindutva ideology to show some connection of racial superiority of Nazis. Savarkar never talked about any biological race in his writing. He was a supporter of Sanatan Dharma and he was in favor of including all within its fold without worrying about person’s race.
As we remember Savarkar on his birth anniversary, let’s try to do a critical analysis of his works and thoughts. It is alright to disagree with him but to demonize a great thinker like him will only be our loss while his greatness won’t be affected a bit.
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