I’d written about the Savarkar issue last week, trying to point out the futility of straining to appropriate him and/or indulging in meaningless mudslinging, although I should admit that I’m attempting to look at the positive aspects of mudslinging. In the same entry, I had also chided Moron Mani Shankar Aiyar and others, who denounce Savarkar without (with?) knowing the sacrifices they undertook in their quest to free India.
A few days later, I happened to read the ever-secular Vir Sanghvi pontificate at length, in the usual garb of objective analysis. In summary, his marvellous piece of analysis has this to say:
- It is shameful for the Congress in Maharashtra to glorify Savarakar
- People espousing the Congress or Secular ideology cannot (should not?) accept Savarkar
- Savarkar’s ideas ran diametrically opposite to Gandhi’s (so?)
- The Congress has no ideology: it is only thirsty for power and will do anything for it (so what’s new?)
Now the question I ask of Vir is this, in the light of what he himself has written: It is understandable for the BJP/Shiv Sena et al, to claim Savarkar as their own, so don’t trust (aka don’t vote) them; that done, the Congress is equally vile from another perspective: so, to whom do the people of India turn? No prizes for guessing the answer.
Amidst all this, I read a very good analysis of the Savarkar issue in the Indian Express. Ashok Malik minces no words in expressing his admiration for Savarkar, in doing him honours due to a fierce fighter and patriot.
A jejune magazine article informed us Savarkar was a Chitpavan Brahmin, part of a community that seemingly specialised in ??ideologues … of Hindu nationalism??. One of them was Bal Gangadhar Tilak, accused of introducing ??primordial? Hindu imagery into public discourse.
It is the sort of sweeping, breathtaking assessment that leaves you gasping. In one sentence, an entire community has been written off as ??tainted?? by the parameters of contemporary political correctness. In one phrase, the great Tilak has been disowned, handed over to Acharya Dharmendra and the VHP.
Who is next? Now, should we be surprised if the Congress, which choreographed the 1984 Sikh massacre, says tomorrow that Bhagat Singh should not be honoured because he belongs to a community which murdered “India” Indira Gandhi?
Why does Savarkar evoke such passion? He was a thinking man?s Hindu, a prodigious mind, an author of repute. His Hindutva (1923) is a persuasive and remarkably evocative document.
As such, to the liberal rabble, he is flesh-and-blood refutation of the charge that Hindutva lacks an intellectual tradition. Hence the fervent desire to destroy him, efface him, erase his memory.
How many “respected” journalists and other media persons who deride Savarkar, have really read what he has written? Some, like Sanghvi make an appearance of having done scholarly research about all that he has said and/or written; I’ll grant them the benefit of doubt, but they are more adept at the art of quoting out of context as well as employing the heinous device of selective quoting. Savarkar’s complete works are available in 10 volumes, and it is only after reading them thoroughly (not to mention objectively) that one can come to a conclusion about the man, his thoughts, ideology, etc. Instead, these eminences, when they quote, do so from his “Essentials of Hindutva” and pick stuff from it which in the current parlance are politically incorrect. Let it be known that Savarkar was an agnostic person who defined Hindutva and Indian nationalism in terms of patriotism and a society/civilization based on scientific mode of thought. For those who are quick to quote his politically incorrect statements, here is a sample of what he has also said:
AASINDHU SINDHU PARYANTA YASYA BHARATBHOOMIKA PITRUBHOO PUNYABHOO SHCHYAIVA SAH VAIH HINDU RITI SMRITAH
Those all are Hindus for whom this land spread between Indian Ocean and the river Sindhu is Fatherland and Holyland.
This has been historically, roughly the geographical boundary of (the now-truncated) India. Now, what is so offensive in this? Why do our eminences leave this out when they quote him? Which is exactly what Malik says albeit differently.
To see Savarkar minus his context is to do disservice to not just him, but to India.
Context is king. When somebody says that women shouldn’t be allowed to work, that their place is in the kitchen, their only function is to produce babies, etc, it is propah to examine this statement in the context (by context I also mean period in history) in which such statements were made. Just try making that statement today, in public. A certain Mr.Dhoot had done something similar to this, and the now-defunct Jivha’s blog rightly raised a campaign to protest against a Rajya Sabha seat to this nincompoop. The call for “radical” Islamism today precisely rests on this foundation: anachronism–to somehow try to recreate a “glorious past” heritage.
The Poona Brahmins, contrary to what conventional wisdom may be, were among modern India?s early elites, along with, for instance, the Parsis of Bombay, the Banglo-Indian bhadralok of Calcutta. These are not groups to be scoffed at; they shaped the consciousness that evolved into Indian nationalism. They are our founding fathers.
Yet, it is also true that they were marginalised by Gandhi?s mass politics.
Today’s offshoots of some of these Poona Brahmins are scattered all over in the Left parties howling from rooftops about class inequality and other outdated Marxist blabber. Does doing so negate their identity as Brahmins? Or using a bit of psychoanalytic lingo, can we see in them a desperate attempt to overcome their guilt for having been born as Brahmins? Or is it that by adopting Marxism, they have overnight become progressive, and therefore, their identity-by-birth has evaporated? Gandhi’s mass politics was the breeding ground of much of today’s sycophancy in politics. Moreover, the idea of non-violence in politics was pretty novel, it was a first of sorts in human history. The outer trappings–of khadi and charka–were easy symbols to manipulate masses: look its effect today, now that it has been overdone a million times: every person, party, organization takes to satyagraha-till-death at the slightest pretext, and nothing comes out of it.
If you listen to today?s television debates ? or read the ghastly chapter on Savarkar in Freedom at Midnight, packed with cheap shots that mar an otherwise readable book ? you would imagine the build-up to the Mahatma?s murder was an open-and-shut, black-and-white affair.
Like many Indians, I was mesmerized by the overtly romanticized story of Indian freedom as is found in Freedom at Midnight. And I recently read somewhere that the first few(?) editions of this book portrayed Savarkar to be a homosexual. Not that I have any problem with people’s sexual tendencies: but given the bias against homosexuality, (that still exists) the authors have somehow tried to link Savarkar’s alleged role in Gandhi’s murder to his alleged homosexual tendencies. I also tend to go with Malik’s comment about the black-and-white affair. If anything, Gandhi’s murder was the extreme expression of millions of Hindus whose sentiments had been hurt by Gandhi’s insistence on allowing Muslims to butcher Hindus, and his call to Hindus to offer no resistance.
I’ve already ranted enough. Go read the whole piece. It’s thoughtfully written.
Tags: Commentary, History, Indian Politics, Society & Culture
On 09.17.04 Prasanna says:
I agree with your point about the ‘brahmins’ scatterred in Left parties/Left controlled instituitons.why only poona brahmins,you can find a number of Kashmiri brahmins like Kak,Raina regularly coming up something or the other against the post-Godhra riots but you hardly find them making a sinlge documentary or writing an article about the genocide of their fellow pundits by muslim terrorists in Kashmir.
On 09.17.04 Dilip D'Souza says:
Sandeep,
>Gandhi’s insistence on allowing Muslims to
> butcher Hindus, and his call to Hindus to offer no
> resistance.
Remarkable. Can you please tell me where and when, exactly, Gandhi “insisted” that Muslims be “allowed” to “butcher Hindus”? And where and when he “called” on Hindus “to offer no resistance”? Please supply me with explicit references. Thank you.
May I echo Ashok Malik, whom you yourself pointed us to? “Can’t Gandhi and Savarkar share space in the Indian pantheon?”
If it is not necessary to denigrate Savarkar to understand him, is it really necessary to turn Gandhi into a caricature, and a genocidal one at that, to restore Savarkar’s place in that pantheon?
On 09.18.04 RR says:
Remarkable. Can you please tell me where and when, exactly, Gandhi “insisted” that Muslims be “allowed” to “butcher Hindus”? And where and when he “called” on Hindus “to offer no resistance”? Please supply me with explicit references. Thank you.
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi, dear Mr D’Souza. May he grant us all wisdom, peace and propserity.
Koenraad Elst quotes from the Collected Works of Gandhi, vol.LXXXVII, p.394-5, the following words of Gandhiji spoken by him at a prayer meeting on 1st May, 1947:
I would tell the Hindus to face death cheerfully if the Muslims are out to kill them. I would be a real sinner if after being stabbed I wished in my last moment that my son should seek revenge. I must die without rancour. (…) You may turn round and ask whether all Hindus and all Sikhs should die. Yes, I would say. Such martyrdom will not be in vain.
I wait for the spin to begin.
Can’t Gandhi and Savarkar share space in the Indian pantheon?”
Yes, but can Gandhi not be subjected to criticism the same way as Savarkar is?
is it really necessary to turn Gandhi into a caricature, and a genocidal one at that
Looks like we are eager to jump not just the gun but the whole goddam artillery. Are we generally in the habit of believing that we just couldn’t be wrong?
Cheers,
RR
On 09.18.04 Prasanna says:
….and there is the famous interview of Gandhi where he said it would have been good for the jews to surrender themselves the Nazis.Strangely,I never found Gandhi or Gandhians preaching the muslims the same.I mean,how about a delegation of eminent Gandhians(including his grandson who thinks he has a copyrght of non-violence) to Gujarat asking muslims to submit to the VHP /RSS in riots?How about another delegation to urge them to surrender every suspect to the police ‘coz whenever the police goes to arrest any Godhra suspect,the ‘peaceful and innocent’ muslims start throwing stones?
Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to all!!!
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On 05.31.06 kalpana says:
Namste…
Can you please tell me from where i found complete works of Veer Savarkar..
As I am searching his book
“1857 - The First war of Independence”.
Awaiting your kind reply.
-Kalpana
Vandemataram…
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On 11.14.08 Adnan says:
Homosexuality is not uncommon and shouldn’t be used to malign somebody. In India, we talk about Homosexuality in hushed voices due to the Victorial legacy.
Savarkar was gay and in his later years, he was not treated well in Ratnagiri. But many Hindu and Muslim personalities have been gay, either secretly or openly in the past.
He was a brilliant man, who was a revolutionary, initially a secular man who later turned to Hindutva. But he was not a bigot or fanatic. The Indian flag designed by him had both Hindu Swastika and the Islamic Crescent.
On 11.14.08 Sarvesh says:
kalpana says: Namste…Can you please tell me from where i found complete works of Veer Savarkar..As I am searching his book “1857 - The First war of Independence”. Awaiting your kind reply.
The book can be downloaded for free from here:
On 11.14.08 Sarvesh says:
sorry the href did not work. Here is the link:
http://www.savarkar.org/content/pdfs/en/the_indian_war_of_independence_1857_with_publishers_note.v001.pdf
On 12.06.08 Best Bakery Arsonist says:
WTF
savarkar was NOT a homosexual and there is ZERO evidence to suggest that he was.
all this is based on ONE ALLEGATION (NOT BACKED BY EVIDENCE)
from some french mofo who was a fan of gandhi
he referred to savarkar as a homosexual in his book.
also, no flag designed by savarkar has a SWASTIKA along with a MUSLIM CRESCENT.
adnan, stop puking this garbage all over.
On 12.06.08 Minotauro says:
The alleged homosexuality of Savarkar is mostly based on hearsay and rumors without evidence, he could have been just like anyone else could be, we don’t know and it really doesn’t matter because what are important are his ideas. Also even after he became convinced that Hindus needed their own voice, his proposal was one man one vote for anyone irrespective of religion when he was campaigning against partition, a much more secular policy than the Congress policy of tacitly approving partition and watching the butchery of Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan while still maintaining that populations shouldn’t be exchanged and even granting Indian muslim’s special privileges such as hajj subsidy etc.