In the silent, dark dungeons of the Cellular Jail in Andaman, a man toiled like a beast. Shackled, starved, flogged, and forced to grind oil with his bare hands, he endured day after day for the motherland. That man was Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, remembered in history as Veer Savarkar, though the title ‘Veer’ barely does justice to his grit.
While he suffered eleven years of brutal imprisonment in a colonial hellhole, across the seas, the so-called ‘leaders’ of the freedom struggle enjoyed comfortable confinement in British guesthouses. They wrote letters of courtesy to the Crown, polished their image as ‘Mahatmas’ and ‘Moderates’, and promoted a brand of nationalism that compromised national integrity at every step.
This is the untold contrast, between a true revolutionary who chose chains over compromise and those who bent the knee under the polished banner of non-violence.
The Revolutionary Spirit
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was a rare blend of intellectual brilliance, revolutionary zeal, and cultural pride. From an early age, he displayed extraordinary courage and commitment to the cause of Bharat Mata. As a student in London, he mobilized expatriate Indian youth through the India House and Free India Society, infusing them with the spirit of nationalism. His seminal work, “The First War of Indian Independence, 1857,” challenged the British narrative and was one of the first documents to inspire armed resistance.
Savarkar believed that freedom could not be begged for, it had to be seized. Unlike Congress leaders who relied on petitions and diplomacy, Savarkar advocated for revolution, military training, and direct action. His arrest in 1909 and sentencing to two life terms totalling 50 years was not a punishment for violence, it was a British attempt to silence a dangerous ideologue who had awakened India’s youth.
The Horror of Kala Pani
The Cellular Jail in Andaman was the British Empire’s cruelest penal colony. Unlike the soft prisons occupied by Gandhi and Nehru, where followers visited and comforts were offered, Savarkar’s prison cell was solitary, suffocating, and cruel. He was denied paper, books, visitors, and even sunlight. He was made to grind oil like cattle, with blood oozing from his hands. His daily meal was barely edible, and punishments included flogging, chaining, and isolation.
While Nehru wrote his ‘Discovery of India’ in comfort, Savarkar etched poems on the prison walls with nails and memorized over 10,000 lines of his writings, later published as “Kamala” and “Kala Pani.” His mind became sharper, not weaker. His body bent, but his resolve did not.
The Mercy Petitions: A Misunderstood Strategy
Much has been said about Savarkar’s so-called ‘mercy petitions’. Leftist historians and Congress apologists portray them as a sign of surrender. But the truth is far from this politically motivated smear.
Under colonial law, petitions were not acts of submission, they were strategic tools. Savarkar used these to re-enter the public domain and continue his fight legally and intellectually. Upon release, he did not retreat but intensified his ideological battle through speeches, writings, and organizational leadership.
If his petitions were surrender, then what should we call those Congress leaders who signed loyalty resolutions, supported British war efforts, or opposed revolutionary action outright? The hypocrisy is glaring.
Architect of Modern Hindu Nationalism
Savarkar laid the philosophical foundation of Hindutva, not as a religion but as a cultural and civilizational identity rooted in Bharat. He argued that India is the homeland and holy land of Hindus, and that this civilizational bond should define national identity.
He was not against Muslims or Christians as individuals. His opposition was to those who placed foreign religious loyalty above national allegiance. While Gandhi preached unity at any cost, Savarkar asked a critical question: Should appeasement be the price of unity?
His warnings were clear: if communal politics and vote bank pandering continue, Bharat will be divided. History proved him right in 1947. The creation of Pakistan was not just a geopolitical tragedy but a civilizational wound, one that Savarkar foresaw decades earlier.
Betrayal by Historians and Congress
Today, Savarkar is deliberately demonized by Marxist historians and Congress loyalists, who paint him as communal and cowardly. School textbooks barely mention his contributions, and when they do, they distort facts. This distortion is not ignorance but a calculated political move to suppress the truth about India’s freedom struggle.
Gandhi is celebrated for his “Quit India” slogan, while Savarkar is vilified for speaking against it, but what students are not taught is that Quit India came in 1942, when World War II was raging, and Britain was weakened. Savarkar had already served 27 years in jail and house arrest by then. He opposed the movement not out of fear, but because he wanted India to build a modern army and seize independence strategically.
Moreover, it was under Nehru’s watch that Article 370, minority appeasement, and temple control laws took root, all policies that Savarkar warned against.
Post-Prison Contributions
After his release, Savarkar led the Hindu Mahasabha and continued to fight for civil liberties, abolition of untouchability, uniform civil code, scientific education, and military preparedness. He promoted inter-caste unity, widow remarriage, and women’s empowerment, long before such reforms were politically fashionable.
Unlike the Congress, which pandered to caste and communal lobbies, Savarkar envisioned a united Bharat, free of colonial chains and social evils. He also opposed the partition, warning that giving in to the Muslim League’s demands would lead to endless bloodshed, a prophecy that came tragically true.
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was not just a freedom fighter, he was a civilizational warrior, a pragmatic strategist, and a visionary thinker. His sacrifices were deeper, his suffering harsher, and his ideology clearer than many celebrated icons of the Congress narrative.
It is time India rises above the false binaries of ‘Gandhi vs Savarkar’ and recognizes the full spectrum of its freedom struggle. To honor Savarkar is not to demean others, it is to reclaim truth, courage, and civilizational pride.
Savarkar stood alone, imprisoned, tortured, and defamed, but never broken. His legacy is not in stone statues, but in the awakening of a nation.
He was right. He is relevant. And he must be remembered.
