The nation celebrated the 127th birth anniversary of Swatantraya Veer Sawarkar on 28th May 2010. Born on 28 May 1883 to Shri Damodar and Smt. Radhabai Savarkar in the village of Bhagur, near the city of Nasik, Maharashtra, Sawarkar became one the most celebrated freedom fighter who is known for his fearlessness, boldness and gifted intellect. He was a great revolutionary and an uncompromising nationalist. A powerful orator, Sawarkar was also known for his zeal for social reforms and social unity. Apart from penning the book "Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?" defining the ideological contours of the Indian national movement he authored several books including "Mazi Janmathep" (My Life Sentence), and most famously "1857 - The First War of Independence". Another noted book was "Kale Pani" (similar to Life Sentence, but on the island prison on the Andamans), which reflected the treatment of Indian freedom fighters by the British. In order to counter the then accepted view that India's history was a saga of continuous defeat, he wrote an inspirational historical work, "Saha Soneri Pane" (Six Golden Pages), recounting some of the Golden periods of Indian history.
Sawarkar who started as a revolutionary since his much younger days was sentenced to Kala Pani in 1911 for 50 years imprisonment and transported the Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He is also credited with organization of Mitra Mela, a group of revolutionary youth in his early days. Supported by renowned nationalist Shyamji Krishnavarma Sawarkar he reached England on a scholarship and stayed in India House in London where he founded Free India Society and Abhinav Bharat Society. In the cellular jail he was submitted to harsh treatment, torture and corporal punishments. On his release form the jail he again started his nationalist mission by joining Hindu Mahasabha of which he later became president.
Of late there have been attempts to tarnish the legacy of Sawarkar by Marxists historians and anti-nationals committed only to politically vested interests. It has been argued that he had sought clememcy form British authorities to seek his release from cellular jail. But they forget to mention that Sawarkar remained active after his release and even penned his most celebrated treatise "Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?" which continues to inspire the nationalists even today. His appeal for clemency which is misinterpreted by some misguided elements was nothing but a tactical ploy, to be like Shivaji's letter to Aurangzeb, during his arrest at Agra. A true follower of Shivaji, Sawarkar was never afraid of the suffering but it would have been a setback for the country if a man of his calibre would have continued doing manual labour when his country needed him the most. As a true revolutionary Sawarkar was committed to nationalist cause and worked throughout his life to safeguard the interests of Indian nation exposing the conspiracies by the politicians with ulterior motives and designs by the enemies of the nation. The real tribute to his memory will be to imbibe his nationalist spirit and work for the nation by saluting his legacy.
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Dr. Shiv Shakti
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