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Vinayak Damodar (“Veer”) Savarkar can, with some justice, be described as the
inspirational force behind the resurgence of militant Hinduism in contemporary India. His
fame has been on the ascendancy since the Hindu right captured power in India less than
a decade ago, and lately he has been lionized in the film “Veer Savarkar” by the
filmmaker Sudhir Phadke, a fellow Maharashtrian. In May 2002, L. K. Advani spoke
glowingly of Savarkar and Hedgewar, the founder of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh
[RSS], as men who had “kindled fierce nationalistic spirit that contributed to India’s
liberation.” Savarkar’s advocates view him as a luminous visionary, a supreme patriot
who sacrificed much for the defense of Mother India, a great revolutionary and even
social reformer; his opponents, who generally do not question his patriotism, nevertheless
point to his political conservatism, his support of reactionary movements, and his
advocacy of a communal-based politics verging on fascism.
The most elaborate legend, vigorously promoted by Savarkar’s friends and admirers, has
developed around his supposed bravery. In 1910, as Savarkar was being taken to India
after a warrant had been issued for his arrest on charges of sedition and treason, he
escaped as his ship docked at Marseilles. Upon being recaptured, Savarkar challenged the
legality of his arrest in France, but the international court at Hague, though it took the
view that an illegality had been committed when Savarkar was handed over to the British
police, nonetheless ruled against Savarkar. Savarkar was, at his trial in Bombay,
sentenced to imprisonment for life, and transported to the Andamans. In 1922, he was
sent back to India, but confined to Ratnagiri District until 1937. Yet, to put it mildly, there
are serious reasons to doubt whether Savarkar was deserving of the epithet of “Veer”
[brave] that was bestowed on him. The indisputable fact remains that throughout his
political life, Savarkar showed himself perfectly capable of not merely negotiating with
the British, but serving as an active collaborator. When confined to jail in the Andamans,
Savarkar negotiated with the British to have himself set free. Moreover, when Congress
refused to form a government in the Central Provinces and Bengal, the Hindu Mahasabha
under Savarkar’s guidance opted to collaborate with the British. He thought it a God-
given opportunity for the Mahasabha to flex its muscles while the Congress was in
hibernation. Similarly, though the Congress declared itself opposed to offering the British
any assistance during World War II, Savarkar was keen that Hindus should acquire
experience in the use of firearms. Savarkar saw in World War II an opportunity for
Hindus, who had been emasculated (in Savarkar’s view) by centuries of oppression under
Muslim and British rule, and rendered incapable of even elementary knowledge in the
discharge of firearms by virtue of legislation that forbid ownership of guns among
Indians. to become versed in fighting strategies. Not only did the Hindu Mahasabha,
whose presidency Savarkar assumed in 1937 upon the rescission of the order which
confined him to Ratnagiri District, not oppose the British position in World War II, but
the Mahasabha played no role in the Quit India movement and indeed even assisted the
British in its suppression.