Vinayak Damodar Savarkar विनायक दामोदर सावरकर

Life

1. 1883Born on 28 May at Bhagur, near Nashik.
2. 1899–1904Founds the revolutionary society Mitra Mela, later Abhinav Bharat.
3. 1905Organises a bonfire of foreign cloth in Pune during the Swadeshi movement.
4. 1906–10Studies law in London, living at India House; writes "The Indian War of Independence of 1857" (published 1909 and banned by the British).
5. 1910Arrested in London in connection with revolutionary conspiracy cases; attempts a famous escape through a porthole of his ship at Marseilles; recaptured.
6. 1911–21Sentenced to two life terms; imprisoned in the Cellular Jail, Port Blair.
7. 1921–24Moved to jails on the mainland; released in 1924 on condition that he stay within Ratnagiri district and keep out of politics.
8. 1924–37In Ratnagiri: social-reform work against untouchability, including the Patit Pavan temple (1931) open to all castes and inter-caste dining.
9. 1937–43Released from restrictions; president of the Hindu Mahasabha.
10. 1948–49Tried with others for conspiracy in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi; acquitted in February 1949 for lack of corroborating evidence.
11. 1966Dies in Bombay on 26 February, after voluntarily giving up food and medicine (ātmārpaṇa).

"Essentials of Hindutva"

Written in the Ratnagiri jail and published in 1923, "Essentials of Hindutva" distinguished Hindutva — the cultural and national identity of the Hindu people — from Hinduism as a set of religious beliefs. Savarkar defined a Hindu as one who regards Bharat as both fatherland (pitribhumi) and holy land (punyabhumi), a definition that included Sikhs, Jains and Buddhists. Critics point out that the same definition places Muslims and Christians, whose holy lands lie outside India, outside the nation in a cultural sense.

Savarkar was personally a rationalist who criticised superstition and blind ritual. His Hindutva was a political and cultural idea rather than a theological one.

Writer and reformer

Savarkar wrote poetry, plays, history and essays in Marathi, and coined many Marathi words for modern ideas. His poems written in prison and his song "Sagara pran talmalala" remain well known in Maharashtra. In Ratnagiri he campaigned against untouchability and caste restrictions, worked for the entry of all castes into temples and for inter-caste dining, and opposed what he saw as superstitious practices.

Criticism and debate

Petitions from prison: Savarkar wrote several petitions for clemency to the British government between 1911 and 1920, promising loyalty in return for release. Admirers argue that these were tactical, of a kind many political prisoners wrote, aimed at getting out to continue his work; critics see them as a submission to colonial rule.

Two nations: in his 1937 presidential address to the Hindu Mahasabha he described Hindus and Muslims as two nations within India; critics link this to the politics that led to Partition, while supporters note that he opposed Partition and argued for equal citizenship in a single state.

The Second World War: he urged Hindus to join the British armed forces to gain military training and opposed the Quit India Movement of 1942, which critics regard as siding with the colonial power.

The Gandhi assassination: he was acquitted by the trial court in 1949. The Kapur Commission, which reported in 1969 after his death, made observations about his circle that remain disputed; no court ever convicted him.

Legacy

Savarkar's portrait was unveiled in the Central Hall of Parliament in 2003, and the airport at Port Blair is named after him. "Veer" Savarkar is honoured by many as a fearless revolutionary and reformer; to others he is the ideologue of a divisive nationalism. Few figures of the freedom era arouse such strong and opposed feelings.

Read more

• Glossary: Hindutva, Pitribhumi, PunyabhumiRashtriya Vichar Shabdakosh
• Bal Gangadhar TilakWho influenced the young Savarkar

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