‘Savarkar means Regret, Savarkar means Fear, Savarkar means Communalism’

India is one of the few countries in the world which took the form of nation-state while fighting against colonialism and this is the reason why Indian nationalism cannot be defined without understanding our freedom movement. The communal forces of India understand this clearly and that is why they constantly try to hide their barrenness in this context, quite shrewdly. In this effort, they mostly present a select few freedom fighters as victims of great injustice inflicted on them in this country before they came to power mainly because of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru. In the last few years, the communal forces have invented a new method, in collaboration with the present rulers. And that is to establish communal symbols and personalities as the ideals of the nation. A clear example of this is the June, 2022 issue of the ‘Antim Jan’, the magazine published by ‘Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti’, which focuses on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. The picture of Savarkar on the cover page of this issue is a direct indication that the present government is trying to inculcate new ideals and values through the institutions of the country. How adroitly and brazenly this work has been executed can be gauged from the fact that a foolish attempt is being made to bring Savarkar (most part of whose social life was mainly spent in spreading communal hatred and apathy towards the Indian independence movement) at par with Mahatma Gandhi who had been a strong opponent of colonialism and communalism all over the world and is an eternal symbol of harmony. For example, on the second page of the same issue, the Vice-Chairman of the committee writes, “... Savarkar’s place in history and his respect in the freedom movement is no less than that of Mahatma Gandhi.” This is an outright unhistorical, a misleading and an extremely shameful comment. It is a sheer poverty of thought to equate and respect a person like Savarkar, who had always been trying to make the ‘Quit India Movement’ launched by Gandhiji against the British a failure, with a ‘Mahatma’ like Gandhiji. This is factually not a first step in this direction by the present government and communal forces, but it is just an offshoot of a gigantic campaign. For the past few years, efforts are being made by some self-proclaimed historians and communal forces to establish Savarkar as the hero of this country so that great nationalist heroes like Gandhiji, Nehruji and Patelji can be erased from the memory of the people. This could prove highly detrimental for the foundation of our nation and the future of its people and that is why, it is extremely important to recognize the ulterior motive behind making Savarkar a role model and to make countrymen aware of it.

Savarkar as an idea embodies regret, fear and communalism which is being pitted against Gandhiji’s firmness, fearlessness and peace. In the last few years to manipulate the public, a debate has been raised around the apology written by Savarkar to the British government and it is said that it was only an attempt on Savarkar’s part to get out of jail so that he could come out and fight with the British. But unfortunately, it is not discussed clearly and that too intentionally, that Savarkar did not fight even for a minute to drive Britishers out of the country after leaving the British jail and the reason being - Savarkar’s regret. He regretted that it was his mistake to try for India’s independence in the past, due to which he had to suffer in jail. Savarkar had nothing to do with the tradition of martyrdom of Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh and Mahatma Gandhi. Even other revolutionaries were intimidated but they had perseverance. Savarkar was sorry.

In a hurried attempt to eulogize Savarkar with the title of ‘Mahanayak’ (A great hero) and ‘Veer Purush’ (The brave heart), the communal forces forgot that Savarkar’s thoughts were replete with fear. Fighting with his inner fear and regret, especially after 1930, Savarkar, as the leader of the Hindu Mahasabha, tried his best to intimidate Hindus and spread the ill-intended rumour among them that the Muslim people of India wanted to suppress Hindus by enslaving them. (See speech anthology ‘Hindu Rashtra Darshan’) It was the result of this fear politics of people like Savarkar and Jinnah that communal hatred spread in India which led to so much violence that it became a very frightening memory for our country. While on the one hand Gandhiji spoke of fearlessness and harmony, Savarkar on the other hand became a symbol of fear and malice. This change in Savarkar, who was against the British in his early life, was very shocking and disappointing. It was just like Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s transition from a symbol of ‘Communal harmony’ to a symbol of ‘Communal hatred’.

Savarkar has certainly been established today as the ideal of communal forces and especially violent forces of India and the main reason for this is Savarkar’s divisive communal thinking and deep hatred of non-Hindus. The Kapoor Commission, set up in 1966 to investigate Gandhi’s assassination, had clearly stated that Savarkar also had a role in Gandhi’s assassination. It means that Savarkar, a symbol of communalism, also had a role in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, who established communal harmony and peace in every nook-and-cranny of India. Although, Savarkar was acquitted later in the court due to lack of evidences and witnesses, but in view of the facts of Savarkar’s closeness with Gandhi’s assassin and the whole investigation process, it would not be wrong to deduce that till date, Savarkar remains a symbol of communal hatred.

Gandhiji did not teach us to hate anyone, but it does not mean that we allow the ideals of hatred to become the ideal of the country. Was there such a great dearth of nationalist ideals that Savarkar, a symbol of ‘regret, fear, and communalism’, had to be glorified in a magazine dedicated to Gandhi? In fact, the reality is that the communal forces, under the garb of ‘Post truth’, have placed ‘Truth’ under suspicion. Gandhiji and his greatness is a great ‘Truth’. Now new researches will keep cropping up in the name of writing new history to malign Gandhi Ji’s greatness and eventually to falsify it. New books will be released on Savarkar, new articles will be printed and we will be tricked continuously, but we should not be misled. We do not have to reconsider our nationalist heroes, nor do we have to accept any communal figure as our ideal. Whatever is to be done now will be done on the part of the top leadership and management of ‘Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti’. For example, it has to apologize not only to this country but to the world for glorifying Savarkar.

(The author is a researcher of History and Convener of National Movement Front's Intellectual wing)