28th May was the 137th birth anniversary of freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who we know as Veer Savarkar. Whenever someone in this country takes the name of Veer Savarkar, Congress feels very bad.
Congress leaders often talk derogatory about Veer Savarkar. You will remember when the demand for the award of Bharat Ratna to Savarkar was raised, the Congress had opposed it the most. We tell you why the Congress is so angry with Savarkar’s name? For this, we take you into history, in which history we also get the answer that why Savarkar does not like Congress?
Those who are students of history will know that Congress was founded by a British man. The name of this British man was A O Hume. AO Hume came to India from Scotland in 1849 as an officer of the Indian Civil Service. At the time of the revolution of 1857, and what we call the first battle of independence, AO Hume was leading the British contingent near Etawah in Uttar Pradesh.
The same AO Hume founded the Congress Party in India in 1885. Its first conference was held in the then Bombay province and that too with the permission of the then Viceroy, which was then the largest post in British India. At the first conference of the Congress there were 72 people, including AO Hume with some British officials, many rich and influential people from India, Raja-Maharaja. These include Dada Bhai Nauraji, Justice Ranade, Feroz Shah Mehta, Badruddin Tyabji. It was a small elite group in a way, and there was no representation of the general public in India.
At the time of the establishment of the Congress, the motive was told that in the British Raj, Indians should be given maximum rights. But the real purpose of forming Congress was that the rebellion started from 1857, the fire of that rebellion should be cooled. There should be no other rebellion. He was successful in this to a great extent, because the British had no threat from the Congress, the British were in danger from the revolutionaries.
But it was Veer Savarkar who reminded the nation of the revolution of 1857 and called it India’s first freedom struggle. Its 50 years were completed in 1907, which should have been that the whole of India would have missed it, would have been proud of it, but nothing like this happened. Only Veer Savarkar remembered it and called all those people who were killed by the British in 1857.
Veer Savarkar was then in London, and was studying law. He also performed at India House in London, remembering the martyrs and revolutionaries of 1857. Now you must understand why Savarkar does not like Congress. Because Savarkar used to expose the purpose of the Congress and used to say that the British are serving their interests through the Congress.
Today, Congress is the main opposition party of the country. The Congress has ruled the country for nearly 58 years in 73 years after independence, either directly or through coalition governments. When the Congress was founded 135 years ago, its real purpose was that the thinking of revolutionaries like Savarkar should not dominate the country, even today the thinking of Congress is that people should not remember the real heroes of the country like Savarkar.
Congress was created by AO Hume for the purpose that a revolution like 1857 should not happen again. After this, the Congress became the party of Mahatma Gandhi, and Mahatma Gandhi made the Congress the stage of the freedom struggle. But after independence, Congress became Jawaharlal Nehru’s party, and after Nehru, Congress became completely family party.
To understand in detail what was the purpose of the establishment of the Congress, we have a book, this book has been written by writer and historian Vikram Sampat, who has done extensive research on Savarkar’s life.
Even though Savarkar does not like the Congress, even though Congress does politics on the demand of giving Bharat Ratna to Savarkar, the truth is that at one time former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi called Savarkar a brave warrior. A postage stamp was also issued in his name. We have also talked to writer and historian Vikram Sampath. All of you should definitely listen to them.
There are many people in our country who do not like Veer Savarkar’s name. They keep insulting Savarkar. Such people run their agenda by propagating about Savarkar. But they do not know that Savarkar is one in the centuries. We tell you three important things about Savarkar, about which very few people know. Or suppose in a way that a lot of effort was made to keep these things hidden from the country for years.
Savarkar was the first person in the freedom struggle, who started burning Holi of foreign cloth to oppose the British. This was the year 1905, when Savarkar was studying at the fergusson college in Pune. Savarkar was expelled from the college after this incident, and was fined 10 rupees. This was the time when even Mahatma Gandhi did not return to India from abroad.
When there was not much discussion between Gandhi and Ambedkar in India, Savarkar advocated abolition of untouchability and caste system altogether. Savarkar did agitations for those who were not allowed to enter temples as untouchables then. He asked to build temples named Petit-Pavan, where people of all castes could worship together.
The third big thing about Savarkar is that he was the first person who called the battle of 1857 India’s first freedom struggle. Otherwise, the battle of 1857 was called Sepoy Mutiny. But Savarkar had filled the entire country with pride by calling it the first war of independence. He had also written a book on it, due to which the British feared the book was stopped before it was published.
Prison Years of Veer Savarkar in Andaman Cellular Jai
Savarkar wrote a book called The Indian War of Independence, 1857 between the years 1906 and 1910. This book was banned by the British. In March 1910 Savarkar was arrested on charges of inciting violence and war against the British government. He was prosecuted and in the year 1911, he was sentenced to 10 years of black water in the Andaman Islands.
In this 693-room prison, the living space of the prisoners was very small. There was only a small skylight for the lights. Revolutionaries were subjected to various kinds of torture there, they were tied to fetters. They were made to extract oil from the crusher.
Every prisoner there had to extract oil from about thirteen and a half kilograms of coconut and mustard at a certain time, and if anyone could not do it, he was beaten up severely and chained with fetters.
The British were very ruthless and always hurt the honor of the Indian people. Indian prisoners were given food in dirty utensils, they also got drinking water in limited quantities.
Prisoners’ feet were always tied in chains. It was also difficult for them to walk and do routine work. Despite such a difficult situation, Veer Savarkar wrote 8 to 10 thousand lines on the walls of the dungeon. He used the stone as pen and the prison wall as paper to write poems.
The British government used to torture Veer Savarkar. Whereas prisoners like Jawaharlal Nehru in other jails of India had all the facilities to read and write. He also used to get newspaper daily. Through which they used to get every news of the country and the world. You can call it VIP treatment in jail. While no one could bear the tortures that Savarkar endured.
The prison built on the Andaman Islands was surrounded by sea and many revolutionaries were hanged after being disturbed by the torture here. Some revolutionaries also went on hunger strike. But Savarkar had termed suicide and fast as a wrong strategy. He believed that by staying alive and free, the country can be served more. Not even 25 per cent of the punishment that Savarkar got due to the rebellion against the British, did not get the share of the big leaders of that time, whose names are still taken today. Former Prime Minister Late Atal Bihari Vajpayee wrote a long poem on Savarkar many years ago.
There are many such things about Savarkar, which people do not know. We have found out more similar things. You should also know these today.
There is a picture of 22 June 1940, when Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose went to his house to meet Veer Savarkar. There was a conversation between the two for about three hours. It is said that Savarkar had told Netaji that if the country is to be liberated, then he will have to go out of the country and make an army and fight the British. With the inspiration of Savarkar, the very next year, Netaji dodged the British and reached Germany via Kabul and raised the Azad Hind Army within two years.
Harindra Srivastava has done extensive research on the life of Veer Savarkar and has written 17-18 books on him. His research has revealed such things about Savarkar, about which very few people know. Savarkar was seen in this country with contempt for years, but the truth is that there was no one like him. As a poet, revolutionary, thinker, social reformer and true son of the country, Savarkar was considered as his enemy too.
Some people were afraid to bring the truth of Savarkar to the country, that is why his image was made for years of a disputed person and it started with the whole conspiracy since independence. Whatever compositions Savarkar had done to inspire the youth of the country and give new ideas to the country, were not allowed to come before the country for nearly five years after independence.
These things show that there was a conspiracy with Savarkar so that his contribution in the freedom struggle can be completely forgotten, but any effort can be made, the heroes of a country like Savarkar cannot be forgotten.
source News- DNA
