In the year 1920, as the non-cooperation movement gained momentum, the British were taken aback by the growing anger of the Indian people. In an attempt to appease their “angry subjects,” the British announced some reforms. However, these measures were insincere. To add insult to injury, Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, a prisoner from the infamous Cellular Jail, was not released even after the British administration had assured that he would be set free. The reason for his continued detention was that he was considered a “threat to the Empire.”
In this article, we will delve into how Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was unjustly imprisoned in a baseless case and how some people continue to refer to him as a “traitor” due to a well-planned conspiracy.
Freedom struggle fought abroad
Leftists have long accused Savarkar of repeatedly trying to escape from prison and sending mercy petitions, even going so far as to mockingly refer to him as “Mafivir.” However, the truth is that Savarkar was a staunch nationalist from the beginning, actively involved in student unions in Pune and furthering his education in London under the guidance of nationalist advocate Shyamji Krishnavarma. Krishnavarma’s “India House” was not just a hostel, but a revolutionary school that inspired many ideas and freedom fighters.
After completing his legal education and earning the title of Barrister, Savarkar continued to propagate the ideals of the Abhinav Bharat Sanstha that he had founded. He even referred to the rebellion of 1857 as the freedom struggle and wrote a book about it called “India’s War of Independence”. However, the British administration saw him as a constant thorn in their side.
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After Madanlal Dhingra killed a British official, a pro-British Indian diaspora passed a censure resolution that Savarkar strongly opposed. This incident happened at Caxton Hall, which is the same venue where Michael O’Dwyer, who approved the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, was assassinated by Udham Singh in 1940.
Incident in Nashik
Why did Savarkar have to go to Kalapani? Well, in 1910, a sly British collector named Jackson was assassinated in Nashik. Jackson was well-versed in both Hindi and Sanskrit, which helped him gain the people’s trust, and he promoted British policies and false conversion.
Savarkar, a staunch nationalist, was arrested without any legal or technical grounds, despite the lack of evidence to frame charges against him, let alone conviction. The British administration was notoriously cruel, and as Anant Laxman Kanhere, Jackson’s attacker, had connections to Abhinav Bharat, an arrest warrant was issued against Savarkar. He was detained upon his arrival in London from Paris.
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Savarkar anticipated the consequences of the Nashik incident and decided to flee by jumping from the porthole of a ship called “SS Morea” near the Marseilles Port in France. Though he managed to reach the shore, his companions couldn’t. He was taken into custody. Despite the case reaching the Court of Justice (now ICJ), the British administration used tactics to prevent the French authorities from taking them into custody. Savarkar was eventually brought back to India and sentenced to 50 years of life imprisonment on baseless grounds.
This behavior even after “apologising” to the British?
Despite being a beneficiary of King George V’s Amnesty Order along with many prisoners, Savarkar was not released until 1921. Even today, there is a debate about whether Savarkar was a patriot or a traitor. Many leftists, including the Congress, consider him a traitor and a British agent. However, if he was indeed a British agent, why was he imprisoned in Ratnagiri jail until 1924? Why was he not given special facilities like Hansraj Vohra and Phanindra Nath Ghosh? Furthermore, until 1937, he was prohibited from active politics. Why was this so? These questions remain unanswered.
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