3--SAVARKAR HAD A HAND IN GANDHI'S MURDER
Savarkar was 14 years younger to Gandhi. But his vision was far clearer. He asked for complete independence in 1900; Gandhi's demand only came in 1929. It was Savarkar who first made a bonfire of foreign clothes in 1905; his movement against "untouchability" was stunning as even his critics admit.
Savarkar was a fierce critic of
Gandhi. He termed Gandhi a hypocrite for the latter had
supported use of violence by British against
In his articles between 1920-1940, Savarkar considered Gandhi a naà ¯ve leader who "happens to babble" (about) "compassion, forgiveness", yet "notwithstanding his sublime and broad heart, the Mahatama has a very narrow and immature head."
As for his hand in Gandhi's murder, he was honourably acquitted by the court.
4--SAVARKAR BEGAN HINDUTVA AND WAS ANTI-MUSLIM
It was
Savarkar who expounded the philosophy of Hindutva in the book by the same name
in 1923. But his Hindutva espoused Hindu-Muslim unity. He was against the
Partition; believing Muslim should stay in
He believed in a Hindu Rashtra which didn't curb the religion of a minority in any way. But he was against "creation of a nation within a nation in the name of religious minoritism." How true the words sound in today's context. He once described his difference with Jinnah thus: "I stand for equality and no concessions while Jinnah is for more concessions and doesn't stand for equality." His view was not Hindus supremacy but that of Hindus' protection.
5--SAVARKAR WAS A NAZI IN WORD AND SPIRIT
The critics must make up their mind whether Savarkar was pro-British or pro-Nazi. He couldn't be both at the same time. After all, he actively campaigned for recruitment in British-Indian army during WW 2. He supported the allied war effort against the Axis. He said: "After all, there is throughout this world "but a single race, the human race, kept alive by one common blood, the human blood." Adolf Hitler, on the other hand, believed in the superiority of his race, the "pure race." The truth is Savarkar believed in military strength, which his shameless critics equate with support for Nazism.
What critics
won't tell you is that Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (May 28, 1883 - February 26,
1966) was an atheist. He had asked his relatives to perform only his funeral
and no rituals of 10th or 13th day as is done in Hindu
faith. He was called Veer for when only 12, he led fellow students against a
rampaging horde of Muslims that attacked his village in
Since his
death, the airport at Port Blair has been named in his name. India House in
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