I
The Akhand Hindusllian movement was gradually gaining ground. Savarkar’s voi. was capturing the imagination of the people. Congress iri’u- nce with the ma.sses was at a low ebb. Even in Englan-i and in America the people and the Press evinced interest and eagerness to learn more about the Hindu Mahasabha and its movement, its organiza- tion and its leaders. The Hindu Mahasabha was defeating Congress candidates in Municipal, Local and District Local Board elections and bye-elections to the Legislatures. In 1941 the Congress suffered a significant defeat in Maharashtra when Sri Jamnadas Mehta, supported by the Hindu Mahasabha, defeated the Congress candidate in the election to the Central Assembly. In Bengal where the opposition to the Mahasabha came from the Forward Block, the Congress being then a dwindling force there, Sri Ashutosh Lahiri, the General Secretary of the Hindu Mahasabha, defeated the Forward Block candidate in the election to the Provincial Assembly. Sri K. C. Neogy, supported by the Hindu Mahasabha, defeated the Forward Block candidate, Sri Mujumdar, in Bengal in the bye-election to the Central Assembly when a seat fell vacant due to the disappearance of Subhas Bose in January 1942.
At Khamgaon, Patna, Monghyr, Katihar (Bihar) , Suri (Bengal) , Poona, Mahad, Bhagalpur and Sholapur, there were glowing and growing successes for the Hindu Mahasabha in the elections ; so much so that at some of these places there was complete debacle for the Congress candidates and Congressmen withdrew their candidature or fought elections in a personal capacity in order to save the prestige of the Congress in case of their defeats. In Assam the Congress could not even put up a candidate for a bye-election to the Central Assembly and the Hindu Mahasabha candidate,
284 SAVABKAR AND HIS TIMES
Sri Anang Mohan Dam, was returned unopposed to the Central Assembly.
The Hindu Mahasabha observed the 10th of May 1942. as an anti-Pakistan and independence day with intense enthusiasm at the behest of President Savarkar. Hundreds of meetings were held all over Hindusthan, in almost all capital cities, Taluka and District towns, protesting against the principle of provincial self-determination and Pakistan. But strangely enough, while the Muslim Leaguers were allowed along with Rajaji to propagate the cause of Paki.stan all over India even through public meetings, the Hindu- sabhaites denouncing the vivisection of India were arrested and gaoled at many places including Nellore, Patna and Arrah (Bihar) for holding anti-Pakistan meetings on that day.
History would record that Savarkar was the only great leader who raised his mighty voice against the internal disintegrating, disrupting forces as well as the external ones threatening India. Not to speak of the Congress leaders, but even Gandhiji assumed a dubious role blowing hot and cold in the same breath. The virtual dictator of the Congress flattered himself v/ith the belief that many pious Muslims had remarked that he was a better Muslim than most Muslims.^ The symbol of truth and the apostle of Indian democracy advised his countrymen : “ Let them (the Hindus) say to the Mussalmans ‘ have as big a share of the spoils as you want : we will be content to serve you - The man of justice, equality and universal love further said : “ For as a Hindu, I should know that I have nothing to lose even if the referee gave the Muslims a majority of seats in every province.”® On the one hand the messenger of God stated : “ Personally I do not want anything which the Muslims oppose,” and on the other hand the god-fearing man in him declared : “ I consider the vivisection of India to be a sin.” * In one voice he said :
“ Muslim rule is equivalent to Indian Rule. I would any day prefer Muslim Rule to British Rule ;” and in another he said :
“ For it (proposed Pakistan) means the undoing of centuries of work done by numberless Hindus and Muslims to live
1 Mahatma Gandhi, To the Hindus and Muslims, p. 371.
2 Ibid., p. 303.
8 Ibid., p. 133.
- Ibid., p. 454.
. MAHASABHA MARCHES ON 285
together as one nation.” ^ He once believed : “ Partition means a patent imtruth,” ^ and even did not falter to say : “ Vivisect me before you vivisect India.” ®
Lastly, Gandhiji openly declared : “ Needless to say, the Congress can never seek the assistance of the British forces to resist the vivisection. It is the Muslims who will impose their will by force, singly or with British assistance, on an unresisting India. If I can carry the Congress with me, I would not put the Muslira- to the trouble of using force. I would be ruled by them, f< it would still be Indian Rule.”
Thus when Gandhiji was so uncertain about the unity and integrity of India, his generals like the guileless, sincere and enhghtened Dr. Rajendra Prasad naturally searched for the economic safety and stability and political definition of Pakistan instead of opposing the very idea of Pakistan ! Dr. Rajendra Prasad honestly and bookishly believed that the riddle would be solved in a Round Table Conference by the policy of give and take. For all his life, his party had given up just claims and ground and taken nothing in return. So why should his party not have such a compromise even on this issue, he seemed to think !
Pandit Nehru declared earnestly that none would come in the way of self-determination of the Muslims after Independence. In his article specially written for the New York Times Magazine dated the 19th of July 1942, Pandit Nehru said ; “ There is now a demand on the part of some Muslims for partition of India, and it must be remembered that this demand is hardly four years old. Few take it seriously.” ® If this is not an example of lack of realism, of a deceptive self-complacency and of an inherent incapacity to probe the depth of political problems, what else is it ? Gandhiji influenced many men, but all his influence thus sided with the Pakistanis in effect. It was such a formidable opposition from the adversaries of the unity of India against which Savarkar with his conviction and courage had to stand up for the cause of Akhand Hindusthan. A man of supreme
^ Mahatma Gandhi, To the Hindus and Muslims, p. 415.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid., p. 438.
*lbid., p. 410.
3 Quoted by Beverley Nichols in Verdict on India, p. 187.
286 SAVABKAR AND HIS TIMES
courage, superb insight and spotless sincerity alone always irrevocably stands by a great ideal and Savarkar did it.
In the middle of May 1942, John Paton Davis, Second Secretary of the Embassy of the U.S.A., also attached to the General Commanding Army Forces, interviewed Savarkar. He expressed his opinion to the President of the Hindu Mahasabha that the American Press and the people were realizing the rising influence of the Hindu Mahasabha ! In the first week of June 1942, an American Negro leader saw Savarkar, gave him an idea of the Ethiopean movement in America, and narrated to Savarkar the disabilities the Negroes were undergoing in the U.S.A. In the second week of the month came the well-known journalist-author Louis Fischer, to interview Savarkar. He talked to Savarkar as if he had accepted a brief on behalf of the Muslim League whose Fuehrer he had met the previous day. Without any thought he asked Savarkar : “ Mr. Savai’kar, why don’t you concede Pakistan ? ” Although the tone of the interviewer was impulsive and the manner quite irritating, Savarkar quietly asked Mr. Louis Fischer : “ Why don’t you grant Negrostan in the U.S.A. ? ” The American journalist rashly gave him an answer which Savarkar expected him to give, for Mr. Fischer said, “ That will be anti-national ! ” “ Exactly,
Mr. Fischer, granting Pakistan will be anti-national and un- democratic in India as would be the granting of Negrostan in the U.S.A. ! ” answered back Savarkar.
Mr. Louis Fischer did not like the defeat in points of arguments and persisted more vigorously than before : “ But you must not forget Panipat, if you refuse Pakistan to the Muslims ! ” Instantly Savarkar reminded Mr. Fischer of the debacle in Dunkirk and Crete. The interview lost its charm and Mr. Fischer had to listen to perturbed and fiery Savarkar armed with irrefutable arguments for his stand. Mr. Fischer was like a fish out of water and never in any future articles did he mention the name of Savarkar. Savarkar’s truth was unpalatable to his mind freshly acquainted with the soft pro- Muslim attitude of the Congress leaders. The American journalist did not know that he was crossing swords with the greatest intellectual giant of Maharashtra. Where intellectual giants like Sir Stafford Cripps and Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru
MAHASABHA MARCHES ON 287
were swept away, how could a journalist like Mr. Louis Fischer hold his ground ?
In the same month, Mr. L. Brander, a representative of the British Broadcasting Corporation, London, had an interview with Savarkar, and gained a first-hand knowledge cind informa- tion about the policy and principles of the Hindu Mahasabha.
In the month of May 1942, a Chinese Muslim Mission toured India, visiting the chief Muslim majority cities. States and Muslim strongholds, and interviewed the highlights of the Pakistani Movement including the Nizam. The Chinese Muslim Mission sent a message to the Nellore Muslims and openly promised help to the Indian Muslims after the end of the war. Savarkar reluctantly exposed the hidden motives of the Chinese Muslim leaders who were wooing the Indian Muslims and imbibing the virus of Pakistani Movement. He also reminded the people of the recent visits of the Chinese Muslims to Turkastan and Egypt to initiate themselves into the Pan-Islamic mysteries and how they, on reaching India had seen Jinnah and the Leaguers, and how they had aban- doned their Chinese national dress and paraded the Fez. Savarkar was of the opinion that if the motives of the Chinese Muslims were not checked in time, they would develop in China in the near future separatist tendencies, and would act as a pair of scissors on China.
At this juncture in Sind the Hur menace developed into a national calamity on the Hindu life, honour and property. Savarkar therefore strongly urged the Governor of Sind to stamp out the atrocious activities of the Hurs by any and every means.
Although routed in the A.I.C.C. meeting at Allahabad, Rajaji had now opened a Pakistan Front in the Madras Presidency. Rajaji declared that he had voiced loudly what the Congress High Conunand only whispered. No less a responsible politician than Dr. Khan Sahib had also averred that the Congress High Conunand had decided at Ramgarh not to oppose any province or provinces forming a separate independent State or States in India. Savarkar could not tolerate this. He reaffirmed his belief that Rajaji “ was the only means of the design of the Congress High Command who were feeling the pulse of India and injecting the pro-Pakistani
288 SAVARKAR AND HIS TIMES
virus into the body politic of India. They were playing a double game. If Rajaji failed, it was his own failure. If he succeeded, the success was theirs.” Savarkar then appealed to the Madras Province to lose no time in counteracting the nefarious movement of Rajaji by starting a counter propa- ganda for the unity and integrity of Hindxisthan as a nation and a State.
In 1942 Sir Mirza Ismail was appointed Prime Minister of Jaipur. Savarkar had numerous complaints against his past deeds as a premier in Mysore. He therefore said that even if Sir Mirza Ismail was a highly efficient administrator, he would oppose the appointment of Sir Mirza Ismail as the latter during the Dewanship of Mysore had silently packed the police, military and other important services with Muslims. Savarkar reiterated his belief that to give more to the Muslims than what was due to the Muslims on the basis of merits or population was nothing but robbing the Hindus of their legitimate, economic and political rights.
After the tragic failure of the Cripps Mission, the Viceroy expanded his Executive Council partly with a desire to meet the popular demand for Indianization of the Executive Council by appointing distinguished politicians of administrative experience and statesmen of proved ability and high calibre like Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar, Sir J. P. Srivastava — a member of the Working Committee of the Hindu Mahasabha, — Sir Jogendra Singh and Dr. Ambedkar.
Savarkar appreciated this move of the Viceroy in spite of some glaring defects inherent in it and declared that Govern- ment must offer voluntarily so complete political freedom and power to India as to render it impossible for any enemy of Britain to offer anything more alluring to lead India astray ! Savarkar congratulated Dr. Ambedkar, Sir J. P. Srivastava, Sir C. P. Ramaswami Aiyar and Sir Jogendra Singh. Sir Jogendra Singh said in his reply to Savarkar that he trusted that he would continue to enjoy the confidence of the Hindu community which, he added, was no less dear to him than his own community. Sir C. P. Ramaswami, too, thanked Savarkar for his congratulations which he specially appreciated.
mahasabha marches on
n
289
On a pressing request from the Hindu Sanghatanist workers and organizations like the Hindu Sikh Nava Javan Sabha, Arya Samaj, Mahaveer Dal, Sanatan Dharma Mandal, Savar- kar visited Kashmir in the middle of July 1942. It was his first visit to Kashmir. On his way to Shrinagar Savarkar was accorded grand receptions and addresses of welcome on various railway stations including Amritsar, Lahore, and Vazirabad. In the Presidential party were Lala Ganpat Rai of Delhi, the Sikh leader — Master Tara Singh, and Capt. Keshavchandra.
At Jammu on July 11, 1942, a very enthusiastic welcome was given to Savarkar by several institutions and organiza- tions and nearly forty thousand Hindus and Sikhs participated in the procession taken out in honour of Savarkar. Next day Savarkar presided over the Hindu-Sikh Conference and addressed a mammoth meeting. After going through a crowded programme for three days in Jammu, he left for Srinagar and reached the capital of Kashmir on July 14, During his stay a host of deputationists, delegations and inter- viewers waited upon him. He addressed tliree public meet- ings one of which was arranged exclusively for ladies attended by over twenty thousand ladies. He was presented with an address of welcome by the ladies of the land of splendour, sun and beauty. Next day he was taken out in another procession in spite of his indifferent health to the banks of the river Vitasta of Vedic and ancient fame. Experiencing the great waves of emotion and enthusiasm of the people, the spirit of Savarkar defied his frailty and he galvanized the vast multitude with his message and mission. To thousands of Hindus Savarkar has been an incarnation of God. At that far end of Bhndusthan the Hindus evoked his blessings. Thousands touched his feet with devotion and kissed his hands in spite of his fervent disapproval of these things. Such thrilling scenes of devotion and deification were a common feature of all of Savarkar’s tours. And so was it in Kashmir. Savarkar left the capital of the Indian Switzerland despite public and private pressing requests to prolong his
19
290 SAVABKAE AMD UXS TIMES
stay. Restlessness and not rest is an outslai\d’mg eharactfi" f
of Savarkar.
On his way hack Savarkar made a brief ball alRuv aU-,^v A big ret’epiion arranged there was abandoned but T
Sttm^ed H grand party given by Sjt Sitamn m hL honour. ft (r'3c gl Rawalpindi that he told the press on the nth juiy
^ UWvrin^ under two fundamental error.s, viz.
u 4 t .verksting “’’y
vvouUl U.S ler^ d^.,„ancl for Indian Indt;pendence
allaying the Muslim hunger for pouer, Savarkar said, Fakistan would put them into a wore effective position to make further demands. He further declared that the Hindu
Mahasabha would never assent to seJJ its birthright, the integrity of India as a nation and a State for the mess of pottage of the united Indian demand for Quit India.
The Working Committee of the Congress at its Wardha sitting by this time passed a resolution and agreed to the stationing of alhed troops in India to ward off Japanese aggression. The two opposite stands taken by the Congress were inconsistent in Savarkar’s opinion, and therefore he said that the Congress indulged in tomfoolery when it said to the British Government : “ Quit India but keep your armies here.” And indeed this meant reinstallation of the British
military rule over India in its much worse form.
On his return to Bombay from the Kashmir tour, Savarkar issued a statement on July 27, replying to the president of Jammu and Kashmir Conference, a pro-Pakistani Muslim body which had presented him with compliments for his clear- cut and well-defined views as contrasted with other nationalist leaders. Since his democratic political convictions admitted of no half measures or mental reservation, the memorandum appealed to Savarkar to say whether he was prepared to apply his popular principle of the majority rule to the problem of Kashmir, and support the claim of the Muslim majority rule in Kashmir ! The memorandum in fact was submitted to him when he entered Kashmir and he had boldly and fearlessly replied to the same in an open meeting. But for clarification and assertion, he issued this statement on the problem of Kashmir. Savarkar was not a slogan-ridden
MAHASABHA MARCHES OH
291
leader. He fearlessly, frankly and squarely answered that his principle laid it down that all citizens who owed undivided loyalty and allegiance to the Indian Nation and State would be treated with perfect equality. They would, he declared, share duties and obligations equally in common, irrespective of caste, creed or religion ai representation would either be on the basis <jf one man 1 1 e vote or in proportion to the population strength in case ■ ’ f eparate electorates, and public services would go by merit
But those who contributed, Savarkar affirmed, to the Pakistani creed or wished to secede from India had no right to the democratic principle of representation in proportion to the population. The Muslims of Kashmir had never publicly or privately declared their consent to apply the same principle of the majority rule to the States of Bhopal and Hyderabad. Further, in Savarkar’s view although the Hindus were in a minority in Kashmir, they were a part of the national majo- rity from whom they were not cut off ! Thus the false democrats in Kashmir were exposed by Savarkar. Of course, in their slogans for the majority rule in Kashmir, they were supported in no small measure by Pandit Nehru whose attitude towards the Kashmir Maharajah and antipathy towards the Hindus were proverbial !
On the last day of July 1942, Savarkar tendered his resigna- tion of the Presidentship of the Hindu Mahasabha. Owing to the continuous strain for the last five years of the Presiden- tial duties and the whirlwind propaganda, Savarkar badly needed rest. He now thought it fit to shift the burden and responsibility to some stronger and broader shoulders and entrust the leadership of the Hindu Mahasabha to worthy hands. Reviewing the work and prestige of the Hindu Mahasabha in his statement declaring his resignation, he said, “The Hindu has regained once more his national soul and self-consciousness. Witness for example what Prof. Coupland admits in his latest work. The Cripps Mission, published by the Oxford University Press. ‘The Hindu Mahasabha has come to be a militant organization of the Hindus and has been growing fast in membership and influence.’ Sir Stafford Cripps has himself written to me that so influential an organi- zation as the Hindu Mahasabha cannot be left out on any
292 SAVARKAR AND HIS TIMES
account when constitutional questions arise. But the most eloquent compliment that can be desired is paid to the Hindu Mflhasahha by Mr. Jinnah when he said at Madras in his Presidential Addi-ess, ‘ The Hindu Mahasabha is an absolutely incorrigible and hopeless body, and I can have nothing to do with it Savarkar further asked the Hindus in his parting message to ‘Hinduise all politics and militarize Hindudom.’ He also promised that he would ever continue as a soldier in its rank and file and serve the Hindu Mahasabha in any capacity it wanted him to do in furthering the cause of the Hindus.
His resignation was a stunning news to the Hindu Sangha- tanist public in India. Hundreds of letters and telegrams soon poured in Savarkar Sadan urging Savarkar not to leave them in the lurch. The Bengal Provincial Hindu Sabha in its message said : “ Amidst the universal confusion and chaos you have been the one beacon-light to Hindudom and so long as you would be the President of the All-India Hindu Maha- sabha, the whole of Hindusthan believed that the calamity of Pakistan would never befall their Motherland.” Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee wired to Savarkar that his lead was essen- tial in the prevailing national crisis. Meherchand Khanna from the N.-W.F.P. stated that Savarkar’s guidance was essential to India at that juncture. In a frantic appeal Sir J. P. Srivastava said that Savarkeir’s resignation had come as a great shock to the Hindu Sanghatanists all over India, and would injure the Hindu cause. Rai Bahadur Harischandra of Delhi wrote to Savarkar : “ It is entirely correct that but for your energy, determination and constant hard work, nobody would have cared or even cared to know about the Hindu Mahasabha in this country and its condition would have been as it had been more than a decade before you resumed the control.” The late Raja Maheshwar Dayal from U.P. said : “ You have always risked and sacrificed all even at the cost of health. You cannot refuse to guide the nation at this critical jimcture.” And it was a fact that only Savar- kar could work the miracle. It is the man of strong will, says Swami Vivekananda, that throws, as it were, a halo round him and brings all other people to the same state of vibration as he has in his own mind. When a powerful individual
MAHASABHA MARCHES ON 293
appears, adds Vivekananda, his personality infuses his thought into us. This was true to a letter in respect of Savarkar.
Despite the fact that there were great patriots of long service, great sacrifice and great learning like Devata Swamp Bhai Parmananda, revolutionary leaders of great sacrifice like Sri Ashutosh Lahiri, and representative Hindu leaders of long service and statesmanship like Dr. Moonje in the Hindu Mahasabha, Savarkar alone could vibrate the entire India soon after he entei od the Hindu Mahasabha. In a vast country like India, to be a -cader in the true sense of the term is a colossal feat of physical and mental capacity. This is given only to a few. Even the Congress organization during the span of sixty years of its life of service could hardly produce magnetic personalities who could be counted on one’s fingers. They were Surendranath, Gokhale, Gandhiji, Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas. Gandhiji was all political organization, and Nehru all political energy for the Congress. But Tilak and Savarkar were born leaders. Their class was original. Such leaders bring forth original thoughts. They make organizations great unlike others who are made great by organizations which they cling to. Subhas Bose was a born leader, but not a man of original ideas. The role and responsibility which Gandhiji and Nehru played and bore in the Congress, which arose over the taints and toils of Dadabhai. Surendranath, Gokhale, Tilak and Das, fell on Savarkar alone in the Hindu Mahasabha. Savarkar had to begin on a clean slate. There was no other electric personality like Pandit Nehm in the Hindu Maha- sabha to strengthen the hands of Savarkar. Dr. Mookerjee was once considered to be so by many, but he eventually broke the backbone of the Hindu Mahasabha when he himself withdrew his candidature at the time of the elections to the Central Assembly in 1945, and ultimately even resigned the membership of the Working Committee of the Hindu Maha- sabha in 1948 !
Ill
The resignation of Savarkar from the Presidentship of the Hindu Mahasabha was disastrous and shocking to the forces of Akhand Hindusthan in view of the grave situation that
294 SAVABKAR AND HIS TIMES
was developing in Indian politics. The Individual Civil Dis- having failed to achiavn any practical
purpose or attract any attention, Gandhijl was obbged to call it off. The Congress was fast approaching a critical situation. Its virtual dictator, Gandhiji, prepared for a short, swift and final struggle for India’s freedom. And the All -India Congress Committee awaited marching orders for an open rebellion called the Quit India Movement.
The Liberals deprecated the proposed Congress struggle as inopportune. Dr. Ambedkar despaired of it, and Mr. Jinnah construed it as a direct challenge to Islam ! According to Savarkar, the declaration of “ Quit India bag and baggage ” was attended with colossal absurdity. Gandhiji wished the Britishers to quit India, but agreed to the stationing of their army in India ! On the eve of the August Revolution the late Sir Tej Bahadur Sapru declared that none had the right to gamble with the lives and safety of 400 million people. Though he was not a believer, he said, in any sepai’atist cry, he felt the necessity of coming to a settlement with the minorities ; that the British should declare that India would have the fullest measure of self-government within a year after the war ; that coalition Governments should be formed in the provinces ; that Gandhiji, Jinnah, Savarkar and the leaders of all parties should meet in a conference and come to a settle- ment for the period of the war and set up a machinery for the framing of a constitution for the future and that the Congress should abandon the contemplated struggle.^ Lokanayak Aney, then a Member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council, appealed to Gandhiji and the Congress to convene a conference of lead- ing political parties in the country with a view to presenting a united demand for freedom. Aney said in his speech at the Tilak Mandir, a week before the outbreak of the August Revolution : “ Tilak was a firm believer in the integrity and indivisibility of India. This was amply shown by his attitude towards the plan of partitioning Bengal.”^ But with all this Aney’s subsequent attitude was quite inconsistent with Tilak’s teachings. What must have been the magnitude of the agonies caused to the departed soul of Tilak when his
1 The Mahratta, dated 7-8-1942. lilbid.
MAHASABHA MARCHES ON 295
brilliant lieutenant, Aney, afterwards wished Jinnah and Gandhiji success in the travail of Pakistan ! And what mental torments Aney’s Guru and prophet must have undergone when his worthy disciple congratulated Mr. Jinnah on his becoming the first Governor-General of Pakistan carved out of the vivisected and bleeding Motherland of Tilak !
Savarkar’s attitude to the Quit India movement was clear. In his famous speech before the Shanivarwada, Poona, on August 2, 1942, Savarkar complimented the Congress on its having come round to the view of the Hindu Mahasabha that communal unity was not a sine qua non for the winning of freedom. He also declared that the Hindu Mahasabha would join the Congress in the contemplated struggle provided that the Congress solemnly guaranteed that it would irrevocably stand by the unity and integrity of India, that the Congress would not make any pact with the anti-national Muslim League, and that the Congress would accept Hindi with the Nagari Script as the Lingua Franca of India. Savarkar, how- ever, put it tersely on the strength of the unquestionable proof he had in his possession that the leader in Gandhiji had always been vacillating and further said that it was his considered opinion that Gandhiji would unquestionably agree not only to one Pakistan in India but to many. Then ex- pressing his unfailing belief in the militarization policy of the Hindu Mahasabha, Savarkar said that if Gandhiji pinned his faith on his fast to secure his demands, it would not be heeded at all by the British amidst the fire and booming of the war. This historic speech of Savarkar was considered to be so important that even the British Broadcasting Station broad- cast it from London.
Although the terms laid down by Savarkar for co-operation were reasonable, the Congress and its virtual dictator stub- bornly refused to have anything to do with these conditions. Instead, the A.I.C.C. in its fateful Bombay session on August 7, 1942, actually went on placating the Muslims more by declaring that the residuary powers would be vested in the Provincial Governments in addition to the right of self- determination given to the Provinces to secede from the Central State. The climax was reached when Gandhiji, the de facto ruler of the Congress, in an authoritative letter to
296 SAVARKAR AND HIS TIMES
Mr. Jinnah, said in all sincerity : “ Congress will have no objection to the British Government transferring all the powers it today exercises, to the Muslim League on behalf of the whole of India including the so-called Indian India. The Congress will not only not obstruct any Government which the Muslim League may form, but even join the Government.”
It is quite clear that in view of this anti-national attitude of the Congress towards the national majority, Savarkar did well in not identifying the Hindu Mahasabha with the so- called all-out struggle of the Congress as its price and inevi- table consequences would have been and were in fact after- wards the vivisection of India ! Besides, Savarkar was of the opinion that in respect of tactical questions, the timing, the ways, the means, the methods of revolution and above all, the effectiveness which could depend on sane calculations, there was no elaborate planning in advance by the Congress at all. The truth of this remark was realized by many Congress leaders afterwards. Savarkar was not for mere mass upheaval. The historian-leader wanted a pre-planned revolution which would attempt to gain the support of the military. For, no revolution ever succeeded without the backing of the army. This reality was never visualized by the Congress, nor did it even dream of it.
Gandhiji was to launch his all-out struggle for the over- throw of the foreign domination after the A.I.C.C. approval of his plan on the 8th August 1942. But all the Congress leaders including Gandhiji were arrested the same night. As a result of their arrest, popular discontent, mass disturbances and their rigorous suppression by the British Government threw the country into a turmoil. Post offices and railway stations were damaged and destroyed by the Congress under- grovmd workers. Telegraph, railway and telephone wires were cut. Rails were removed and a few small bridges were wrecked by youths actuated by patriotic motives.
Yet the marked feature of the struggle was that it was predominantly Hindu and practically the whole of the Muslim sections, Muslim localities, Muslim majority towns and cities, the provinces of Assam, Orissa, the Punjab, N.-W.F.P., and comparatively Sind remained aloof from this revolution. Mr. Jinnah emphasised the Muslim aloofness from this
“■ But t’lis ‘ Quit India ’ must nol end in ‘ Split India said Savarkar, addressing a mammoth meeting belore the Shanivarwada, INama, on August z, 194^
mass meeting hearing Savarkar in pin-drop silence at Bombay
MAHASABHA MARCHES ON 297
movement when he declared in unmistakable terms that the Muslims were opposed to the August revolution, and urged the Muslims to keep away from it. He also warned the August revolutionaries not to meddle with Muslim affairs and provoke them into any counter-revolution.
Savarkar’s stand was both patriotic and practical. In a statement issued on the 10th of August he said : “ The
inevitable has happened. The foremost and patriotic leaders of the Congress including Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru and hundreds of other leaders of the Congress party are arrested and imprisoned. The personal sympathies of the Hindu Sanghatanists go with them in their sufferings for a patriotic cause.” He strongly condemned the drastic measures adopted by the Government to quell the disturbances, and warned the British Government that nothing but an imme- diate proclamalion by the British Parliament granting India the status of a completely free and equal partner in the Indo- British Commonwealth with rights and duties equal with those of Great Britain herself and its immediate realization would solve the problem.” He openly sympathized with the patriotic struggle of the Congress Hindus, and their sufferings and the untold calamities from detention to death they faced and underwent. But despite the malicious and mad propa- ganda against Savarkar by the Congress press for his not joining the revolutionary struggle, his foresight and judgment could not drive him headlong and blindfold into the struggle, the outcome of which, he conscientiously believed, would be detrimental to the interests and integrity of India. Nay, it was his firm conviction that under the lead of Gandhiji, the Congress Quit India movement was bound to end in a split India message. So he said he could not make a common cause with the Congress on a wrong issue that would ultimately lead to national dissolution and devastation, and he could not adopt a line of action for the sake of a united front. He pointed out that even the Congress and Gandhiji never made a united front with the revolutionaries or with the Sanghatanists at Hyderabad or at Bhagalpvu* although the issues then were of national importance and interests. For Gandhiji and the Congress in their own way believed sincerely that the line of
298 SAVARKAR AND HIS TIMES
action adopted by the revolutionaries and the Hindu Sangha- tanists was detrimental to the interests of the nation.
Savarkar now exhorted fervently the Hindu Sanghatanists who happened to be Members of the Cabinet, Local bodies, Legislatures, Councils, Government Committees, those serv- ing in the Army, Air Force, Navy and those working in ammunition factories not to be led away by emotion and abandon their posts. He advised them to stick to their various posts, and conserve their energies for the impending real fight for the national integrity and interests. He warned them that those very Congressmen would ultimately endanger the national integrity of India, and their Quit India movement would thus end in the vivisection of India.
After the outbreak of the August revolution, Savarkar’s views were heard with more concern and interest throughout the coimtry and in foreign lands as well. Although Savarkar was not in favour of the line of thought behind the Congress struggle, he was ever insistent on the demand for Indian freedom. He sent a cable to the British press warning the British public that the British bayonets might suppress the violent outburst of popular discontent ; but “ bayonets can never appease national discontent or remove its cause.” He further stressed in his statement that India’s willing co- operation could only be secured if the British Parliament made an immediate declaration to the effect that “(1) India is raised to the position of a free nation in the Indo-British Commonwealth having equal status with that of Britain herself, (2) during the war period this declaration should be immediately implemented by Indianization of the Central Executive Council whose decisions would be binding on the Viceroy with the only exception of matters military and strategical in connection with suppression of any internal anarchy and defending India against external invasion, (3) military forces should be fully Indianized as early as possible, (4) Provincial Governors should also have Executive Coim- cils similar to the Central, and (5) after the end of the war, a conference should be immediately convened to frame a national constitution for India so as to give full effect to the declaration referred to above.”
This appeal issued by Savarkar to the British public, writes
MAHASABHA MARCHES ON 299
the London Correspondent of the Bombay Chronicle in his despatch of August 26, 1942, was “prominently featured by the leading newspapers like the Times, Manchester Guardian, Daily Herald, News Chronicle, and the Yorkshire Post without comment.” The correspondent proceeds : “ The appeal has been the topic of discussion among a section of the political leaders here and it is felt that an early initiative on the part of the British Government on the lines suggested by Mr. Savarkar is well worth making and with goodwill and co-operation on both sides, a satisfactory way out of the present Indian deadlock may yet be evolved.” The correspon- dent concludes : “ Mr. Savarkar’s statement also came up for informal discu.ssion among the Indian residents in London who gathered last night in a public meeting of the Indian League in the Central Hall.”
But Mr. Winston Churchill, the greatest imperiahst under the sun, was not there to liquidate the British Empire. On September 10, 1942, he assured the British Parliament in a statement on India that there was nothing serious about the Indian situation to cause them any worry and added that there were more British forces in India than there had ever been. Savarkar could not tolerate the British Premier’s boast which he uttered in utter contempt for Indian national aspira- tions. So Savarkar reminded Mr. Churchill of the fate of Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty king of Babylon, who spoke in a similar boastful tone, while standing on the precipice of his mighty pride and power, and met his doom. Savarkar further remarked that the future of India did not lie in the lap of Mr. Churchill, but lay in the laps of war gods.
Though the British propaganda had duped Americans into believing the hoax to a very great extent, it became quite impossible for the British Government to misrepresent any longer the deteriorated Indian political situation and the dead- lock in foreign countries. At this juncture the Muslim League resolved to send its deputation to foreign countries to propagate the ideal of Pakistan. Savarkar therefore resolved to coimteract the Muslim League propaganda in foreign countries by sending a Hindu Mahasabha deputation to America and other countries to acquaint those covmtries with the political struggle and problem of India, and to foil the
300 SAVARKAR AND HIS TIMES
false British propaganda and expose its hollowness which had misled the world opinion into believing that the Cripps Mis- sion had failed not so much owing to unwillingness of the British to part with power as to internecine conflicts of the Indian people.
The idea of sending the deputation was subsequently dropped as neither the Muslim League members were, nor Rajaji was allowed to go abroad. However, the Hindu Maha- sabha leaders decided to set up a committee of the Hindu Mahasabha to conduct negotiations with all important Indian political parties and personalities on the three outstanding national demands which the Hindu Mahasabha had framed. The Committee consisted of Savarkar, the President, Dr. Mookerjee, Dr. Moonje, Sri N. C. Chatterjee, Raja Maheshwar Dayal, Rai Bahadur Meherchand Khanna and Prof. V. G. Deshpande. Tlie national demands were as fol- lows : (1) the immediate recognition of India by the British Parliament as an independent nation, (2) national coalition government with full powers during the war period excepting the military portfolio, so far as the operative part was con- cerned, (3) the holding of a constitution-framing Assembly as soon as the war ceased. Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee was the prominent figure that moved with interest and vigour so much so that the committee evoked a great wave of enthuiasm all over India and representatives of the British, the American, the Chinese press and also of other countries took interest in the developments, and gave wide publicity in their home countries to the move and efforts of the Hindu Mahasabha.
The second All-India great organization, to quote Lord Devonshire, the then Under-Secretary of State for India, succeeded in securing an agreement on the national demands and a united appeal signed with unanimity by the foremost leaders of the Sikh brotherhood, the Presidents of the Momin and the Azad Muslim Conferences and other prominent Muslim organizations, the Presidents of the Christian Federa- tion, the Nationalist League, the Liberal Federation and the ministers of Provincial Governments of Sind, Bengal and Orissa. The only party that did not sign the national demands was the intransigent Muslim League. Savarkar
MAHASABHA MARCHES ON SOI
knew the Muslim League’s attitude, and had strictly warned Dr. Mookeriee not to interview Mr. Jinnah unless the League leader himself expressed his desire to meet him. Still in his personal capacity, Dr. Mookerjee saw Mr. Jinnah who surprised him by quoting offhand extracts from Savarkar’s Presidential Addresses and twisting them to support his own demand for Pakistan.
Savarkar forwarded the Memorandum containing these united demands on the 9th of October 1942, to Mr. Churchill, the Premier of Great Britain, urging the British Government to transfer power in accordance with the united national demands put forward by the Hindus, the Muslims and the Christians ; the Congress demand being more or less on the same lines. Mr. Churchill acknowledged through the Viceroy the receipt of the appeal, and appreciated Savarkar’s efforts in promoting unity among the several elements in Indian life, but observed that they had not so far resulted in any specific or constructive proposals enjoying the support of all the major parties. Savarkar then exposed the British Government by declaring that if the British Government could bestow the curse of slavery on India in spite of India’s united will, why did the British now bestow the blessings of freedom in spite of her differences and dissensions ? He also asserted that the British Imperialism and not India’s dissensions was the cause of India’s misery !
The Hindu Mahasabha move for the united demand for independence flashed into the headlines. It had a very power- ful effect on the public opinion in India and in foreign lands too. As a result of this, several press representatives and public men, who came to study the Indian situation in general from America, China and England, tried to know more closely the Hindu Mahasabha ideology and policy. Even American film-men got the Presidential office at Savarkar Sadan, Bombay, and its routine work screened and the news reels were exhibited in America.
But the most important outcome of the move for the united demand for independence was that it proved beyond cavil or criticism the falsity of the dishonest criticism of the opponents of the Hindu Mahasabha that being a communal organization, it could not give a lead to national policy. The Hindu
302 SAVARKAR AND HIS TIMES
Mahasabha was in fact ever for a reasonable compromise. The Sind Hindu Sabha had honourably joined hands with the Muslim League in running a coalition Ministry. Dr. Mookerjee worked with Mr. Fazlul Huq successfully for a year or so in the Bengal Cabinet for the benefit of all communities ; but he resigned the post when the Governor made it impossible for him to serve the people with self-respect. These steps suffi- ciently demonstrated that the Hindu Mahasabha endeavoured to capture the centres of power only in public interest and not for the loaves and fishes of office.
But when their monopolized reserves were utilized by the patriotic forces for the good of the people as best as they could, the Congress press, circles and leading groups shed crocodile tears and condemned Savarkar for being pro- Pakistani, and beti-aying Hindu interests as if they themselves had turned overnight Hindu-minded, caring for and guarding Hindu interests more watchfully than Savarkar did. Savarkar was amused with this accusation levelled by Congressmen and, saying that their anxiety for Hindu interest was quite laudable, he added ; “ The pity is that whether these very gentlemen would have any face to welcome their leaders when they would rush to the League-Headquarters after their release, to sign the pact for the vivisection of India, and sacrifice the Hindu interests with a vengeance on the altar of the Congress fetish of pseudo-nationalism.” What a prophecy ! There never was a prophet so unfailing and so unrelenting in his prophecies ! For all these gentlemen and journals did verily support, some with brazen faces and some with sunken heads, the anti-Hindu policy of the Congress leaders after their release from jails.