I
The year 1906 was a landmark in Indian politics. During this year Savarkar, the leader of the Abhinava Bharat, went to London. That year saw the birth of the Muslim League at Dacca. The formation of Barindranath’s revolutionai’y party at Maniktola, a suburb of Calcutta, and the foundation of the revolutionary institution, the Anushilan Samiti, took place during the same year.
With a band of a few hundred youths at his command in Maharashtra, Savarkar left India. Maharashtra was too small a field for the young lion and the lion went in search of lions. During those days revolutionaries from Russia, Ireland, Egypt and China occasionally took shelter in London. Under the garb of a law student, Savarkar also was going to enter the gates of the Empire capital. His main object was to have a look at the den of the British lion, to learn how to organize a revolution and carry on the struggle for the liberation of Hindusthan by inculcating tenets of revolution into the brilliant brains of the cream of the Indian students, who went abroad either for academic careers or for qualifying them- selves for the civil service. The young orator of Maharashtra was now to be in London, the largest debating society under the sun.
On board the ship Persia Savarkar happened to come across a youth named Harnam Singh who became since then a devoted follower of Savarkar. Harnam Singh was homesick. He was about to give up his journey to England. But Savarkar persuaded him easily. He pointed out to him how the adventurous and ambitious British, French and Portuguese youths served in foreign lands for the glory and welfare of their Motherland and how his Motherland suffered for want of daring sons. He further said to Harnam Singh : “ Dear is one’s own mother, but dearer, by far, is and ought to be our
28 SAVARKAR AND HIS TIMES
Motherland, the Mother of mothers of our race.”^ And Hamam Singh went to London.
Savarkar reached London in the first week of July 1906, and took his lodgings at the India House founded by Pandit Shyamji Krishna Varma. In due covu*se Savarkar was admitted to Gray’s Inn, one of the four Iims of Court in London, Pandit Shyamji, who had awarded the Shivaji scholarship to Savarkar, had established a Home Rule Society and the India House during the first quarter of 1905. A sterling patriot and a noted social reformer. Pandit Shyamji was highly respected as an incomparable authority on Sanskrit Works by eminent scholars like Prof. Max Muller and Prof. Monier Williams. Born on October 4, 1857, he came of a poor family by name Bhansali. He studied upto the Matriculation class in the Elphinstone High School, Bombay. During his school days he went on a lecturing tour on behalf of the Arya Samaj as the right-hand man of Swami Dayananda. He married the daughter of Seth Chhabildas Lallubhai and through the influence of Prof. Monier Williams proceeded to London in March 1879, took his B.A. at Cambridge and was called to the bar. There he read his essay on ‘ The Origin of Writing in India ’ in the Royal Asiatic Society of London and was elected its member. In 1881 he was sent by the Secretary of State for India to represent India at the Berlin Congress of Orientalists. On his return to India he successfully served three Indian States, Ratlam, Udaipur and Junagad either in the capacity of a Divan, or a Member of the Council. Dtu-ing his term of office at Junagad he went out of his way to oblige one European officer named Maconochie, who, with the aid of Divan, ultimately sacked the Pandit himself. This one-time disciple of Swami Dayananda was greatly influenced by Tilak also. After the arrest of Tilak he permanently left India for London. There he studied Herbert Spencer and was deeply influenced by his philosophy, so much so that he announced at the latter’s fvmeral on December 4, 1903, a donation of £1,000 for establishing a Lectureship in the name of his English Guru in the University of Oxford.
Through the columns of his Indian Sociologist Pandit Shyamji started agitation for Home Rule for India. Observing
^ Chitra Gupta, Lije of Barrister Savarkar, p. 35.
revolutionary activities in EUROPE 29
Savarkar’s whole-hearted devotion to the cause of freedom, burning mission and phenomenal energy, he developed a paternal affection for Savarkar. He went over to the Abhinava Bharat, and was initiated into its fold. In 1907 he entrusted the management of the India House entirely to Savarkar and left for Paris. Few have spent so much, struggled so hard, and donated so abundantly towards the freedom movement of India as Pandit Shyamji, the great patriot, did in those early days of difficulties, dangers and despair of Indian Freedom Movement. He was a lover of Spencer’s dictum that ‘ re.sistance to aggression is not simply justifiable but imperative What was most striking, he had ruthlessly denounced Gandhiji for helping the British against the Boers who fought for their liberation.
It is worth mentioning what the Muslim students thought of this India House. Mr. Ziauddin Ahmed, then in Germany, warned Mr. Abdulla Sulmawardy in these clear words : “ You know that we have a definite political policy at Aligarh, i.e. the policy of Sir Syed … I understand that Mr. Krishna Varma has founded a society called ‘ Indian Home Rule Society ’ and you are also one of its vice-presidents. Do you really believe that the Mohammedans will be profited if Home Rule be granted to India ? . . . There is no doubt that this Home Rule is decidedly against the Aligarh policy. . . . What I call the Aligarh policy is really the policy of all the Mohammedans generally — of the Mohammedans of Upper India particularly.” ^ Mr. Asaf Ali wrote to Pandit Shyamji in September 1909 : “ I am staying with some Muslim friends who do not like me to associate with nationalists ; and, to save many unpleasant consequences, I do not want to irritate them unnecessarily.” - Thus the Muslim antagonism to the Freedom Movement of India dates back to its beginning itself.
n
As soon as Savarkar established himself, he started the “ Free India Society It was a recruiting institution of the Abhinava Bharat and worked openly. Savarkar organised Indian students and transformed majority of them into patriots
1 S. L Karandikar, Savarkar-Charitra, pp. 132-33.
“ Ibid., p. 133.
30 SAVARKAR AND HIS TIMSS
and martyrs. His magnetic personality brought Bhai Parma- nanda, then a well-known leader of light and learning, into the revolutionary movement. He attracted Lala Hardayal. A staimch Hindu, Hardayal had an instinctive disbelief in, and hatred for, the Muslims. He was a man of strong emotions and great vision, and wielded a mighty pen. Savarkar’s another colleague was Vireiidianath Chattopadhyaya, brother of the late Mrs. Sarojini Naidu. He was a student at the Middle Temple Inn and was expelled during Savarkar’s slonny days in London. A great bi’ain and a brilliant journalist, he died mysteriously an exile in tiie custody of Stalin’s Russia during World War II. Sri V. V. S. Aiyer, a lawyer from Rangoon, had been to London for qualifying himself for the bar. He was drawn to the Abhinava Bharat by Savarkar and became the Vice-President of the Abhinava Bharat and the right-hand man of Savarkar. Aiyer was a saintly soul who lived a life of sacrifice and worship. Sri Sardarsinghji Rana hailed from one of the old ruling families of Kathiawar. He had natur- alised in France and was a fearless supporter of the struggle for Indian Independence.
Sri Gyanchand Varma was Secretary of the Abhinava Bharat, and was a man of great capacity and calibre. Madame Cama was another great patriotic personality. She was previously secretary to Dadabhai Naoroji while he was a member of the British Parliament. She accepted the revolutionary philosophy of the Abhinava Bharat and was the first Indian to hoist the national tricolour flag of India at the Socialist Conference in Germany in 1907. She died unnoticed in 1937 in Bombay amidst ungrateful surroundings. Senapati Bapat was meant for Ekigineering, but, destined as he was to engineer bridges and roads for Indian Freedom, he joined the revolutionary camp. A peerless patriot and selfless saintly leader, he has been a great and good name in the revolutionary movement. Madanlal Dhingra was another Engineering student. He was a darting arrow in the handcuffed hands of Mother India. Many others who rose in their later life to eminence like Dr. Rajan, Sri Shukla — ^who later became Prime Minister of C.P. — Sri Sukhasagar Dutt, brother of Ullaskar Dutt of Andamans fame, Sir Sikandar Hyat Khan, Khan of
REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES IN EUROPE 31
Nabha and others were initiated as members of the London branch of the Abhinava Bharat Society.
What was the condition of Indian students in Britain in pre- Savarkarian days ? Formerly eight out of ten Indian students prided themselves on being more English in their make-up and mind than Englishmen themselves. So far, the dream of Lord Macaulay seemed realized to a large extent. He had expected the emergence of “ a class Indian in blood and colour, but English in tastes, in opinions, in morals, and in intellect.” ’ Almost all educated Indians suffered from Anglomania. Indian students drank merrily, danced lustily and donned richly. They visited all quartei’s freely, and were very apologetic in their talk about things Indian. After returning to India, these ambitious position-seekers would drum in the ears of their cotmtrymen many faked tales and garbled facts about the goodness and greatness of the British men and minds !
In these days India had no place in the pictures and columns of the British Press. That is why Dadabhai Naoroji, the Grand Old Man of India, had to purchase the shares of the Daily News to secure a place for his say in its columns.
With the appearance of Savarkar the sun shone on the dark deeds of British Imperialism in India, and revealed the good side and the noble aspirations of India to Europe. Savai’kar was a youth great in courage, great in vision, great in ideas and great in action. The skyhigh towers and the ocean-wide powers of the British could not dazzle, delude, or overawe him. The mist disappeared. The towers and powers looked in their naked perspective. The members of the Free India Society began to think. They held weekly meetings, celebrated anniversaries of Shivaji, Guru Govind Singh and Guru Nanak and also the Dasara Festival. Indian students from all corners of Britain joined the festivals heart and soul. Of course there were some like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru who did not join. They were political sucklings in their swaddling clothes resting at the breast of the West. With Savarkar’s powerful group to defend Indian aspirations, officially sponsored meetings in London did not go well. Strong youthful voices began to blow away the sheep clothing of God-fearing Englishmen like Sir Henry Cotton. Moved by the tragic vision of the downfall
1 K. B. Krishna, the Problem of Minorities, p. 138.
32
SAVARKAR AND HIS TIMES
of the Indian Empire, Sir Henry Cotton appealed to the Indian youths to desist from their pei’ilous aim of carving out a free Independent India.^ English people and Press felt something stinging in their hearts. At this stage (Senapati) Bapat wrote a brochiure demanding Home Rule for India. As a result of this the Bombay University deprived him of the Sir Mangaldas Nathubhai Scholarship. Upon this Savarkar pungently commented whether that scholarship was meant for a student who prayed for the perpetual slavery of Hindusthan ! - In Britain May First was observed as a thanksgiving day in honour of the British victory over the Indian revolutionaries of 1857. In addition, now a drama was staged in London in 1907 in which Rani Laxmi and Nanasahib were depicted as ruffians and murderers. To counteract the vilifying pro- paganda carried through the English play Savarkar decided to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of the heroes of 1857. On the 10th of May 1907, Indians in Britain held meetings, observ- ed fasts, took vows, and paid their grateful homage to those great martyrs of 1857 and displayed on their chests memorial badges with pride. In trains and in streets scuffles ensued between impudent Britishers and the patriotic Indian youths who wore badges to commemorate the great memory of their heroes. Mr. Hamam Singh and Mr. R. M. Khan, who wore such badges, quitted their college protesting against the Principal’s words of insult about the heroes of 1857. Patriotic feelings clashed. These fearless heroic actions stirred the hornets’ nest of the British Press. The much-admired and adored Pandit Shyamji became notorious as a patriot Pandit ; for the patriotism of a Hindu was a narrower phase than Hmnanism in the eyes of the Imperialist Britishers ! Pandit Shyamji attained a marvellous notoriety in the eyes of the British journals and gentlemen who scathingly condemned him for his fearless propaganda for Home Rule ! Suspicion and alarm tightened their grip on the British mind. A little while ago Elnglishmen had described the blessings of Brahmins on Surendranath Banerjee as the coronation of the Emperor Surendranath ! This shock also quickened the palpitation of the Empire capital for a good many hours.
1 Savarkar, Londonchi Batmi Patre, p. 17.
2 Jbtd., p. 24.
REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES IN EUROPE 33
The debates and discussions held in the Free India Society on the political philosophy were hi^y inspiring and of a very high order. They echoed abo throughout India in Savarkar’s letters from London which were read with great interest. The members of the Abhinava Bharat were all intellectual giants. Savarkar gave them life and light. He told them that whoso- ever wanted to live a deathless life should die for the freedom of his country. He impressed upon their minds that peaceful evolution had a meaning and a sense, but peaceful revolution had neither. He emphasized : “ In the end passive resis- tance falls because it has no backing of the army and because it presupposes all men to be selfless and believes that all men will not co-operate with the aggressor." " Besides, it blindly presumes,” he went on, “ that the aggressor has a high sense of morality and will not resort to arms or enact new orders and ordinances.” He illustrated how passive resistance staged by the farm-workers of Narbonne in Southern France was suppressed by military forces in 1907 !
In young Savtirkar’s view the sea of htunanity was progres- sing. “The sooner the deliverance of humanity,” he pro- claimed, “ the surer the downfall of the British Imperialism ! ” According to him France was the God-given political labora- tory for making experiments with all kinds of Governments, all sorts of revolutions, and all categories of societies. “ The French people,” he said, “ are by nature gifted with imagina- tion and initiative and wonderful creative ability,” *
Such was the power of his thoughts and personality ! Savarkar was both magnetic and mesmeric. The India House was completely under his spell. Sri M, P. T. Acharya, Savarkar’s one-time colleague, describes the young leader of the Abhinava Bharat vividly. He says : “ His personal charm was such that a mei’e shakehand could convert men as V. V. S. Aiyer and Hardayal — ^not only convert but even bring out the best out of them. Sincere men always became attached to him whether they agreed with or differed h:om him. Not only men in ordinary walks of life but even those, aspiring to high offices, recognised the purity of purpose in him, although they were poles apart from him, and deadly opponents as regards his political objectives. They even opened
1 Savarkar, Londonchi Batmi Patre, p. €2.
S
34 SAVARKAR AND HIS TIMES
their ptirse for his propaganda. That means Savarkar had a rare tact in dealing with men of every variety. Savarkar’s aiisterity was itself a discipline to others, which easy-going people hated and shimned. England was a coimtry for amuse- ment and most people wanted to make the most out of it.” ^ Relating the story of his conversion Senapati Bapat observes : “ Before I met Savarkar, I had planned a revolutionary pamphleteer’s and lecturer’s life for myself. A few months after I met him, I cancelled my plan and took up the idea of going to Paris for learning bomb-making.” Bapat further observes : “ One of the chief reasons was the impression that
Savarkar made on me by his brilliant writing and speaking.
‘ Here is a born revolutionary writer and speaker ; ’ I said to myself, ‘ I may well leave writing and speaking to him and tixrn to some other work in the revolutionary field ’.” “ Mr. Asaf Ali described nicely the serious atmosphere of the India House of Savarkar’s days and wrote in his memoirs of Savarkar : “ I wonder how so young a person — for he could
not have been much beyond two or three and twenty in 1909 — commanded the will of almost everyone who came into contact with him.” Asaf Ali added that Savarkar was the spirit of Shivaji.*
m
Another great task to which Savarkar devoted his energy was foreign propaganda. He was the first and foremost Indian leader who perceived and foresaw the impact of vital forces in international politics. Years after, Subhas Bose took up the thread where it had been left by this precmrsor and moved international forces for the cause of Indian freedom. To that end Savarkar wrote vigorous political articles on Indian affairs in the Gaelic America of New York, got them translated into German, French, Italian, Russian and Portuguese languages and had them published in the respec- tive countries. In this his aim was two-fold. First, he wanted to acquaint the civilised world with Indian affairs and enlist their moral sympathy for the cause of Indian freedom ;
1 M. P. T. Acharya, The Mdhratta, dated 27-5-1938.
2 Senapati Bapat, The Mahratta, dated 27-5-1938.
“ Chitra Gupta, Life of Barrister Savarkar, p. 124.
REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES IN EUROPE 35
and secondly, he strove to make India a living issue in inter- national politics. It was with this aim in view that Savarkar had deputed Madame Cama ahd Sardar Singh Rana to represent India at the International Socialist Congress which was held in August 1907 at Stuttgart in Germany, In spite of the opposition from the British Socialist representative, Mr, Ramsay MacDonald, Madame Cama, with the support of Mr. Hyndman of England and M. Jean Jaures of France, stood before the Conference to move the resolution on India and unfurled tlie flag of Independence of India which was a creation of Savarkar and his colleagues. Inspired by the call of Independence Madame Cama addressed the Conference fervently and said : “ This flag is of Indian Independence.
Behold it is born ! It is already sanctified by the blood of martyred Indian youths ! I call upon you, gentlemen, to rise and salute this flag of Indian Independence. In the name of this flag I appeal to lovers of freedom all over the world to co-operate with this flag in freeing one-fifth of the human race ! ” ^ The delegates rose up and saluted the flag of Indian Independence. They were tremendously impressed by her speech and described Madame Cama as an Indian Princess ! How far these Herculian efforts of Savarkar and the great endeavours of his comrades were successful can be seen when no less a personality than the Kaiser himself clearly stated in his famous reply to President Wilson that absolute political Independence of India was one of the indispensable conditions for world peace !
The Indian revolutionaries of Abhinava Bharat were also in touch with the revolutionary forces of Russia, Ireland, Eg 5 T>t and China. Savarkar’s aim was to oi’ganize a united anti-British BYont with a view to rising in revolt simultane- ously against the British Empire. One of the schemes to be carried out by the United Front was ‘ the blocking of the Suez Canal in the event of an armed rising in India ! Prominent Egyptian leaders then residing in Paris had promised active support for carrying out the scheme ’ ! - Thus every minute, every word, every thought and every act of Savarkar breathed some sort of plan or idea for the liberation of his Motherland
^Maharashtra Prakashan Sanstha, Savarkar-Charitra, p. 67.
*Niranjan Pal, Thirty Years Ago, The Mahratta, dated 27-5-1938.
96 . SAVAKKAB ANP HIS TIMES
and the downfall the British Empire. Such intense patriotism coupled with his yoimg age, his brilliant brains, his long*range plans and the British statesmen’s correct reading of men and times were destined to invite on Savarkar unusually long incarceration as is the fate of every pioneer liberator of a slave coimtry !
The liberation of the Motherland was to be achieved by a preparation for war which included (1) the teaching of Swadeshi, Boycott and national training ; (2) purchase and storing of weapons in neighbouring states ; (3) opening of small factories ; (4) purchasing weapons in foreign coimtries and smuggling them into India ; (5) adopting guerilla tactics whenever possible, and (6) waiting for a favourable oppor- tunity to rise in revolt. That opportimity was drawing near. There were abundant indications that a war was imminent in Europe; and the revolutionaries of the Abhinava Bharat expected to take advantage of the world situation and fight out the Britishers to win back the independence of their Motherland. In the first issue of the Talwar, the chief organ of Abhinava Bharat, Savarkar had fully discus.sed and weighed the possibilities of the outbreak of a war in Europe within four or five years while explaining the complicated affaii’s arising out of the Kiel Canal in 1908. And that golden opportunity was not to be missed.
With that end in view Savarkar and his Abhinava Bharat Society were busy writing, printing, packing and posting explosives and inflaming literature. Savarkar often appeared at the weekly meetings of Abhinava Bharat with the colour of picric acid on his hands. Pistols were smuggled into India through books and books through false bottoms. The atmosphere was filled with heroic pride. The Abhinava Bharat deputed Senapati Bapat and Hemchandra Das to study the art of manufacturing bombs. They learnt it from a Russian revolutionary in Paris and brought a Bomb Manual from him. And Bapat, Hotilal Varma and Hemchandra Das left London for India with cyclostyled copies of the Bomb Manual.
In India persecution and prosecution, repression and sup- pression reared their ugly heads. Brave and brilliant editors wrote with fiery pens. Vivekananda’s brother.
REVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES IN EUROPE 37
Bhupendranath Dutt, editor of the Yugantar, Babu Arvind Ghosh, editor of the Bande Mataram, Sri Prithvigir Harigir, editor of the Harikishor, Yeotmal, and Sri Bhaskar Vishnu Phadke of the Vihari, Bombay, were arrested and sentenced to one or two years’ rigorous imprisonment. In the Punjab discontent and political excitement fanned by a set of regu- lations proposed for the new canal colonies reached a demge- rous point. To avert the trouble, Punjab’s great leader, Lula Lajpat Rai and the violent agitator Sardar Ajit Singh, were deported.
The year 1907 was in a turmoil and tempo. The left wing was forging ahead with the rise of Tilak. His titanic intellect, formidable personality and his great gifts of leadership wield- ed an unparalleled influence. Tilak was the first great mass leader of modern India who enjoyed a universal popularity. He denounced the mendicancy of the Congress method. His doctrine spread from province to province. All forces of action rose under his banner and ultimately the Surat Congress broke over the Ironsides of Tilakites and the young revolu- tionaries of Abhinava Bharat who had gathered at Surat and held a secret meeting of some two hundred strong at the instance of Babarao alias Ganeshpant Savarkar.
IV
The year 1908 saw many other stirring events in India. A new spirit was rising in India. The country was at the dawn of a new epoch. It was a time of violent repression, profound discontent and fierce antagonism. New hopes, .new desires, new measures and new thoughts were in the air. Love of freedom, hatred of slavery and hope for a great future captivated the young and the old alike. Poets and patriots blossomed forth. Youths vied with one another in making the purest and greatest sacrifices on the altar of freedom. Even revellers shed their revelry and revolted. India drifted from the policy of petition to the politics of pressure under Tilak and from the politics of pressure to the potency of powder under Savarkar. So tense were the feelings and so grim was the fight that even the good-hearted and god-fearing grand old man of India, Dadabhai Naoroji, was driven to despair and to the thought of revolt. The fiery doctrines of boycott of foreign
38
SAVARKAR AND HIS TIMES
goods, the propagation of Swadeshi and the hatred of foreign rule were spreading all over India. As a result of their fiery speeches Sri Subramanya Bharati, and Chidambaram Pillay, an initiated member of the Abhinava Bharat, were jailed. From London Savarkar was eagerly watching these events in Madras province.
Another important event of note was that Senapati Bapat, Hotilal Varma and Hemchandra Das had bj^ now reached India and circulated the cyclostyled copies of the Bomb Manual through important centres of the revolutionaries. The new technique made bombs really effective. And then follow- ed the most outstanding and memorable event of the year that ■fanned the sacrificial flames of revolution, when Khudiram Bose threw a bomb in Muzaffarpur on April 30. Two unfortunate English ladies were killed in the act instead of the District Magistrate, Mr. Kingsford, for whom the bomb was intended. It shook violently the whole of Hindusthan and resulted in the incarceration and transportation of brilliant editors, great leaders and daring youths of Bengal and Maha- rashtra. Khudiram’s comrade, Prafulla Chakravarti, killed him- self w’ith his revolver ; his other comrades, Kanailal Dutt and Satyendra Bose shot down the approver Narendra Goswami in the hospital of the Alipore jail and died on the gallows, and the famous Maniktola trial ended in the transportation of a batch of valiant fighters like Babu Arvind’s brother Barindra- nath Gbose, \311askar Dutt, Hemchandra Das, Indu Bhushan ■Roy, Dpendranath Bancrjee and many others to the Andamans. To cope with the growing furious tide of this revolution Lord Minto, the Viceroy of India, asked Lord Morley, the Secretary of State for India for more repressive measures. Morley was opposed to a policy of repression. But vain, vacillating, touchy, subtle and a bookish liberal that he was, he ultimately yielded. And Lord Minto promulgated new regulations, Criminal Law Amendment Acts and blacked out all the “ Four Freedoms ”. In Mahara.shtra, Shivrampant Paranjpe was sentenced to 19 months’ rigorous imprisonment for his inflam- matory article on the Muzaffarpur Bomb affair. For a similar reason Tilak, the father of Indian unrest, was deported to Mandalay on July 23. From his talk with Gokhale, Morley had scented that Tilak was in close touch with Savarkar and
BEVOIiUTlONARY ACTIVITIES IN EUROPE 39
Bapat and the British Government had asked the Indian Gov- ernment to arrange for his incarceration. For just before the decision of the Tilak case some of the members of the Abhinava Bharat had intercepted in Bombay one night a message from the British Government regarding the Tilak affair which contained the information. Sri R. N. Mandlik, editor of the Vihari, Sri Dhondopant Phadke of the Arunoday, Thana, Sri Balwantrao Limaye of the Swaraj, Sholapur, Sri Achyut Balvant Kolhatkar of the Sandesh, Nagpur, Sri N. V. Bhave of the Harikishor, Yeotmal, and the editor of the Pratod, Satara, were also put in prison. The approver in the Alipore case had disclosed Senapati Bapat’s connection with the Bengali revolutionaries. Upon this Senapati Bapat eluded the police, escaped and went into voluntary exile for years. Bengal and Maharashtra were closely linked ! Sir Valentine Chirol who was then travelling in India wrote to the London Times :
“ The Deccan is honeycombed with secret societies. . . . Even in Bengal, the Bengalees did the shouting ; it was Poona that provided the brains that directed the Bengali extremists.” ^
And the fountainhead of the revolutionary movement in India was Savarkar, the acknowledged leader of the India House.
The news of Tilak’s arrest came as a thunderbolt to Indians in London. The great statesman Sri Gokhale was then in London on his fourth political visit, this time on account of the Morley-Minto Reforms proposals then in the offing. Fearfully or prayerfully Gokhale declined to preside over a meeting held in London to protest against the deportation of Tilak and the repressive measures of the Indian Government, nor did he attend the meeting. What a contrast ! Morley rightly wrote to Minto that Gokhale, as a party manager, was a baby and while any politician aspiring to be a leader should never whine, Gokhale whined like a second-rate leader ! - In the same letter Morley appreciated Tilak’s spirit. Whereupon Minto expressed his view that Tilak was an arch-leader of sedition ! ® Hiuniliated at the timid and spineless attitude of Gokhale and hurt by his blank refusal, some of the hotheads
Savarkar, Londonchi Batmi Potre, p. 112.
-K. B. Krishna, The Problem of Minorities, p. 141.
« Ibid., p. 142.
40 SAVARKAR AND HIS TIMES
in the revolutionary camp thought of putting an end to his life. But Savarkar bridled them and Wtterly condemned the very sinful thought. He voiced a timely warning that such a mad act and attack on one of their compatriots for his own way of thinking would imperil the power and prestige of the revolutionary movement.^ The proposed meeting was then held in the Caxton Hall under the chairmanship of Mr. Parekh, and by a special resolution condemned Gokhale’s attitude vehemently.
Immediately after Gokhale’s arrival Savarkar with his lieutenants, Dr. Rajan and Sri V. V. S. Aiyer, had seen Gokhale and Sri Ramesh Chandra Dutt. There was a discus- sion on the War of 1857 between them. Gokhale had taught history and Dutt was a historian. In the course of his talk with them Savarkar stressed the point of writing and interpreting the history of 1857 from the national point of view. The historian agreed to this, but the statesman disagreed and the discussion ended.
V
The last quarter of 1908 was the busiest period for the Free India Society. Leaders of note and figures of fame from India had reached London. Lala Lajpat Rai, Gokulchand Narang, Babu Bcpin Chandra Pal, Gokhale, .Dutt, G. B. Khaparde and R. V. Karandikar — ^the last pair for the Tilak case appeal — ^were then in London. October 16 was observed as Anti-Partition day, and under the chairmanship of Lala Lajpat Rai, Khaparde, Karandikar and B. C. Pal spoke on the occasion. On the same day in the same hall a meeting was held to extend sympathies to the Indians in South Africa. Sir Mancherjee Bhownagari was in the chair and Lajpat Rai, Savarkar, Pal, Khaparde and others were the speakers. Babu Bepin Pal captivated his audience with his powerful oratory. His lectimes delivered later on in the Caxton Hall on the 20th and 21st December were attended by many Englishmen.
On December 20, a National Conference was held. Dada- sahib Khapsurde presided. Madame Cama spoke on the * Boy- cott ’ resolution which was seconded by Sri Gyanchand
’ Savarkar, Mori Janmathep, p. 163.
REVOLUTION ARY ACTIVITIES IN EUROPE 41
Vanna. At the same meeting Sri V. V. S. Aiyer spoke on the resolution on Turkastan congratulating her on becoming a Republic and was seconded by Sir Aga Khan, afterwards H.H. the Aga Khan. The main resolution demanding ‘ Swaraj ’ was moved by Dr. Kumarsxvami and Savarkar seconded it. Addressing the Conference Savarkar said that the true meaning of Swaraj was absolute political independence. He also told his audience : “ Knowing this full well, you are voting for this resolution. Before pas.sing this resolution just bring before your mind’s eye the dreadful pi’ison walls, and the dreary dingy cells.” The resolution was passed unanimously. “The Morley-Minto Reh rms,” declared the conference by another resolution, “ are deceptive, disappoint- ing and insulting inasmuch as they will foment communal tension in India.” And so indeed they proved to be a great slur on the growdh of constitutionalism in India. Minto’s craze to outshine the efficient Curzon, his policy of counter- poise, his fear of a Muslim revolt as threatened by Sir Syed Ahmed, the spineless nature and want of grit in Gokhale and Morley’s proverbial unfamiliarity with Indian affairs cul- minated in a communal division of India holding a nascent threat to Indian unity ! But the reforms were beyond doubt a surrender to the revolutionary agitation in India and outside. “ I detect,” wrote Sir Valentine Chirol from Bombay on January 8, 1909, to the London Times, “ a very general tendency to ascribe these lavish gifts to the vigorous actions of the extremists. If it had not been for the bombs, we should not have had these boons, was a remark which roughly summed up the popular opinion in this aspect of the subject.” ^ Immediately after the conference in the decorated Caxton Hall, the birth-day anniversary of Guru Govindsingh was celebrated on the 29th of December 1908, when Babu Bepin Chandra Pal presided. The function began with the song ‘ Amar Desh ’, and Savarkar’s famous song ‘ Priyakar Hindusthan ’. Sri Gokulchand Narang read at the meeting his essay on the Guru. Lala Lajpat Rai with his unbending personality, sturdy patriotism, hallowed by his constructive work and with his profound erudition poured forth his burn- ing words. He was a very effective speaker and held a high ^ London Times^ dated 25-1-1909.
42 SAVARKAR AMD HIS TIMES
place among the orators of India. Babu Bepin Chandra Pal, a sterling patriot, an orator of high rank, a well-read scholar, a thinker and a great editor also spoke on the occasion. It was a meeting of scholars, speakers and orators ! After these great speeches, Savarkar was pressed by the audience to speak, and he rose amid a deafening applause. Gifted with a moving tongue, spotless sincerity and burning heart, he thrilled his audience. A man of faith and conviction is always irresistible and all-conquering. So was Savarkar with the personality of a hero ! In the lighted, moving and inspired atmosphere created by Savarkar even the magic speech of India’s greatest orator, Sui-endranath Banerjee, the heartforce and fire of Bepin Babu, the freshness and fervour of Lajpat Rai and the polished diction of Syed Reza paled into insignificance ! The only giant Savarkar had not crossed his swords with, was Pherozeshah Mehta, but even with his great power of rhetoric Mehta was no Surendranath. Describing Savarkar as the best orator he ever heard in India or England, Mr. Asaf Ali wrote afterwards : “ Nor is it an exaggeration to say Savarkar is one of the few really effective speakers I have known and heard, and there is hardly an orator of the first rank either here or in England whom I have not had the privilege of hearing — excepting Mr. Eardly Norton, of whom I have heard so much that I should be almost reluctant to avail myself of the opportunity of hearing him speak lest I should be disappointed.” '
The fervid patriotism, love of unity and a will to sacrifice in the Indian youths became an eyesore to the Britishers. One man’s meat is another man’s poison ! The newspapers cried hoarse against them. “ Crush the extremists and rally roxmd the Moderates ” was their theme. British Press, pensioners and patriots also grew alarmed at the daring and disloyal attitude of the Indian youths. In the words of the Standard, “ it is beyond question that not a few of the highly intelligent Indians in our Universities and reading for the Bar, are striving their utmost by such means, particularly to accustom the minds of young rising generation to the idea of an armed revolt ! ” ^
- Chitra Gupta, Life of Barrister Savarkar, p. 126.
2 Savarkar, Londonchi Batmi Patre, p. 108.
BEVOLUTIONARY ACTIVITIES IN EUROPE 43
The London Times endorsed this view and asked the Gov- enunent to take great care to control education and to be very careful as to the kind of people whom it appointed to teach the youth of India.’ A meeting was also held under the presidency of Lord Lamington, an ex-Govemor of Bombay, to consider and adopt means to socialize these warlike elements. But the meeting was hotly disturbed, only B. C. Pal getting a smooth hearing. An incident added fuel to the fire. Sri Vasu- deo Bhattacharya, ex-editor of Sandhya and one-time editor of Yugantar at about the same time struck Sir William Lee- Warner a blow on the face for having called Sri Kunjavihari Bhattacharya “ a dirty nigger ”. Sir Lce-Warner was, while in India, a terror to the Indian Princes ; and the attack on such a person was not an ordinary matter. Sri Vasudeo Bhatta- charya was prosecuted and fined Rs. 20. But the attack made India House the talk of the whole city. If anyone gave his address as India House, the listener would at once look up at the man and say, “ Then you belong to the revolutionary party ! ” Artists and careerists in London took a dread and said, “ Who will go to India these days ? There bombs may explode anywhere and at any moment ! ”
The British Press and the people thus turned their attention to the wonderful India House at Highgate and its leader. But when representatives of newspapers visited it, they were surprised to see that Savarkar whom they criticised and opposed was merely a beardless and uptodatc youth of twenty-five. The Standard described Savarkar as an Indian, with youth and intelligence stamped upon him. Mr. Cambel Green wrote in the Sunday Chronicle that Savarkar was not only the spokesman of the students but also of Shyamji Krishna Varma and said, “ He has a clear olive complexion, clear deep penetrating eyes, and a width of jaw such as I have seen in few men. His English is excellent.” He added, “ The fact is Mr. V. D. Savarkar believes in India for the Indians and in the complete emancipation of India from the British Rule. He says India has nothing for what to thank the English, unless it be the denationalization, as he calls it, of the Hindus.” ^
Annie Besaht, Wake Up India, p. 238.
- Savarkar, Londonchi Batmi Patre, p. 119.
44 SAVARRAR AND BIS TIMES
The Indian students talked in the Indian languages and Scotland Yard became non-plussed. So to their succoxu* was deputed one Mr. Kirtikar, who had worked in the Bombay High Coxurt in the capacity of a translator, to watch the activities of the Abhinava Bharat. This plain-clothed detec- tive resided at the India House under the guise of a student of Dental Surgery and every day he sent a secret report to the C.I.D. Office. Suspicion soon fell on him. Dr. Rajan and Sri Aiyer kept a watch over his activities. One night when he was out, they broke into his room and found an incomplete report awaiting dispatch to the C,I.D. On Kartikar’s return Savarkar and Aiyer interrogated him and unmasked his veil. Finding that his treachery was unearthed, he trembled from head to foot at the sight of Aiyer ’s rev’olver and confe.ssed the facts. The dental surgeon felt the loss of his teeth. However, instead of ejecting him Savarkar shrewdly allowed him to continue in India House to make him less troublesome. He, however, decided that Kirtikar’s reports should go to the C.I.D. only after his perasal !
Savarkar’s resourceful brain knew all the types and twists of the revolutionary business. He won the sympathies of the Irishmen serving in Scotland Yard who actually helped the Indian revolutionaries in smuggling political literature. Besides, the Abhinava Bharat had its secret agents in Scotland Yard. Niranjan Pal, a comrade of Savarkar and son of the Bengal leader, Bepin Chandra Pal, writes : “ In those days we, too, had our secret agents in Scotland Yard. Some of them were sent to London ostensibly as students but really to act as spies. Two of such men ingratiated themselves with Savarkar and secured lodgings in the India House. But such was Savarkar’s magnetic personality that soon they came under his spell and of their own accord, confessed everything to him.”^ Savarkar’s sharp and penetrating eyes and the peculiar way in which he cross-examined any visitor to the India House exposed many an expert C.I.D. and hoodwinked the watchdogs many a time.
But the most remarkable and rare gift of Savarkar was his balanced mind and the power of discrimination. He was a revolutionary realist and never dre2unt of giving and taking
1 Niranjan Pal, The Mahratta, dated 27-S>ld38.
revolutionary activities in EUROPE 45
life emotionally or by wasting human enei^ and life blindly. That outstanding characteristic of Savarkar distinguished him fron. the terrorist or a solitary reckless revolutionary. His aim was to rise in an organised revolt at the opportime time and liberate his country from the foreign yoke. The gift of his marvellous presence of mind and the realist in revolutio- nary Savarkar were seen when he checked Senapati Bapat who offered to bomb the House of Commons. Senapati Bapat states : “ I proposed once to attempt the life of the Secretary of State for India, at another time, I offered to drop a bomb in the Parliament House. On both occasions Savarkar refused his consent and on the second occasion took great pains to persuade me to return to India without delay for such work as was waiting for me here. I treasured his advice and followed it soon enough.” ’ Savarkar checked the Senapati lest their secret mastery of science would be exposed before it reached India. Moreover, Savarkar prevented the revolutionary movement from falling into an abyss from a horrible precipice !
VI
The hot discussions in the India House and the fiery speeches of Savarkar were too hot for some of the Indian leaders who visited England in those days. Gandhi ji of South African fame, who was proud of his being a loyal citizen of the British Empire, was one of them. Accompanied by the South African delegates, Gandhiji discussed political philosophy with Savar- kar. Arguments, reason and history were against Gandhiji, and his lieutenants supported Savarkar’s views. This left a sting of bitterness and Gandhiji vehemently attacked the London revolutionaries and indirectly Savarkar in a violently non-violent booklet entitled Maro Koto Panth ! The ideological fight between Gandhiji and Savarkar thus started during the first decade of the twentieth century, and continued markedly pronounced, though Savarkar was behind the bars xmdergoing trials and stresses of life away from the political scene. Their viewpoints, nay, their very outlook on life, were poles asunder ! It was a fight between the conscious Gautam and the
1 Senapati Bapat, The Mahratta, dated 27-5-1938.
46
SAVARKAR AND HIS TIMES
spirited Shivaji. Gandhiji arrogated the religion of God to himself and imputed irreligion of the devil to the revolution^ aries and to those leaders who opposed him. Savarkar repre- sented the revolting force of a subject people. That force was the outcome of historic and human laws. This he had made amply clear in the opening issue of the Talwar, the chief organ of revolutionaries published from Pai-is in 1909. The passage quoted below will conspicuously cast a flood of light on Savarkar’s mental make-up and his human stand and prove his rational outlook. It states : “ We feel no special love for secret organisations or surprise and secret warfare. We hold that whenever the open preaching and practising of truth is banned by enthroned violence, then alone secret societies and secret warfare are justified as the inevitable and indispensable means to combat violence by force.’’ Savarkar further says : “ Whenever the natural process of national and political evo- lution is violently suppressed by the forces of wrong, then revolution must step in as a natural reaction and therefore ought to be welcomed as the only effective instrument to re- enthrone Truth and Right.” He then brilliantly sums up :
“ You rule by bayonets and under these circumstances it is a mockery to talk of constitutional agitation when no constitu- tion exists at all. But it would be worse than a mockery, even a crime, to talk of revolution when there is a constitution that allows the fullest and freest development of a nation. Only because you deny us a gun, we pick up a pistol. Only because you deny us light, we gather in darkness to compass means to knock out the fetters that hold our Mother down.” *
This great, grand and concise doctrine of the revolutionary philosophy of Savarkar would shine out amongst the doctrines of world-famous revolutionary philosophers. Presi- dent Thomas Masaryk, one of the eminent thinkers and men of action of the modern world, supports this stand when he says : “ Revolution is a moral act when it is the only means left for the defence of liberty and justice.”- And Masaryk was a leader who had worked out and experienced what a revolution was like ! Savarkar philosophized his doctrines when he was only six and twenty. If this is not rational
1 Chitra Gupta, Life of Barrister Savarkar, p. 72.
2 Emil Ludwig, Defenders of Democracy, p. 109.
revolutionary activities in EUROPE 47
t hinking , if this is not revolutionary realism and historical truth, what else is it ? A Shivaji is born with a love for justice, loyalty to truth, and obedience to God. He is a foe to tyranny and terror to aggression, for he believes with Franklin in the eternal truth that rebellion against tyrants is obedience to God.
Despite these differences Gandhi ji presided over the Dasara Sammelan in London in 1909 which Savarkar was to address. Gandhiji said he was very proud to have the honour of sitting by the side of Savarkar. He expressed the hope that India would reap the fruits of Savarkar’s sacrifice and patriotism. Mr. Asaf Ali tells us that while formally introducing Savarkar that evening to the audience Gandhiji said, “ But Mr. Savar- kar, the speaker of the evening, is to follow me and I should not like to stand between you and him,” and Asaf Ali has des- cribed Savarkar’s speech on the day as one of the finest speeches he ever listened to ! ’ In this speech Savarkar impressed upon his audience that without Sri Ramachandra life in India would be nothing. He asked them to remember that Rama established Ram Raj after slaying Ravan, the symbol of tyraimy, aggression and injustice, and added that Hindus were the heart of Hindusthan.
The most singular and consistent note that prevails from that time till this day in Savarkar is that he was proud of his race and heritage. An incident of that period also underlines this fact. One day an English lady, residing in a hotel, asked Savarkar if he went to church on Sundays. He said, “ No ! ” The lady paused for a moment and asked him whether he and his friends were Hindus. Savarkar proudly replied that he was a Hindu. One of his colleagues protested that Sav’arkar’s assertion was too direct and would offend the English lady’s ear. Thereupon Savarkar retorted : “ Then change your father’s name if you are cowardly ashamed of it. But you may as well tell the lady that her being English offends my ear too.” - Savarkar, however, never hated any Englishman because he was an Englishman.
In the meanwhile Minto was striving to crush the forces of seditious agitation in India with his new measures.
1 Chitra Gupta, Life of Barrister Savarkar, p. 135.
2 Savarkar, Londonchi Batmi Patre, p. 142.
4ft SAVABKAHANOHISTIMSS
Repression was raging all round. But the revolutionary move- ment was still spreading and its morning shadow appeared to the Government longer than what it was. Soon one
branch of Abhinava Bharat was unearthed at Gwalior, another at Satara and a few small factories of bombs and secret stores were unearthed in Maharashtra after the arrest of Savarkar’s elder brother Babarao. Babarao himself was sentenced to transportation for life on June 8, 1909. on a charge of having waged a war against the King-Eniperor by publisliing a book- let of inspiring poems ! One of these poems asked the people. ‘‘Pray tell, whoever got political freedom without a war?” In the absence of his leader brother, Bahai’au led in Maha- rashtra the then ‘ Quit India ’ movement backed by bombs and pistols. So hearing the shocking news of the confirmation of Babarao’s transportation for life by the Bombay High Court in November 1909, Savarkar wrote from London a letter in poetical lines to his sister-in-law, Babarao’s wife, consoling her in her great sorrow at the severe blow. The letter written in verse has since then been a charm for Maharashtrian womanhood. Savarkar wrote —
“ . . . Even so this our Motherland, our Mother, craving for the assistance of the Lord that she too be rescued from the crocodile clutches of Bondage, enters om: Garden, plucks a fresh flower from the bough and offers it at His feet in worship. . . .”
“ Behold, O Sister, on one side stands watching the Past — souls of sages, saints aind heroes of our race gone before and on the other the Future — generations yet unborn.” ^
“ Deathless is the family that falls to a man,
For the emancipation of its Motherland,
Filling the skies with the fragrance of their sacrifice, Made in the welfare of man’s rise.” *
Mark the great simile, noble interpretation of life ! The feelings are real, experienced and not adopted. He is truly a Great Man whose heart soars high, whose courage remains supreme and who can composedly dissolve himself into the Universal self or feels oneness with Him even when his ‘ self ’ is surroimded by flames !
1 Savarkar, An Echo from Andamans. * Translatioin.