Forgotten Heroes of India -Narendra Nath Datta and Vinod Damodar Savarkar

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Forgotten Heroes of India -Narendra Nath Datta and

Vinod Damodar Savarkar

By: Bipin Shah

Swami Vivekananda (1862-1902)

Narendra Nath Datta, a Bengali man later known as Swami “Bibikanando” better known as

Vivekananda, was a chief disciple of Swami Rama Krishna and represented India at the 1893

Parliament of the World Religions. Vivekananda conducted hundreds of public and private

lectures and classes, disseminating tenets of Hindu philosophy in the United States, England

and Europe. In India, Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint and one of the giant of the

Indian history. He promoted Yoga and Vedanta now very popular throughout the world. He

was the first one to identify the weakening of Indian National Identity and patriotism after

one thousand years of subjugation by Islam and British. He maintained his high level of

spirituality. The colonial British show his advocacy of revival of Hinduism as a rising threat to

their interest but were not alarmed until the arrival of Vinod Damodar Savarkar. This is when

the word “Hindutva” got confused with “Indian Nationalism”. The unfortunate burning of

returning Hindu pilgrims in a train and follow-up by Hindu outrage that witnessed killing of

Muslim are series of sequential events that were the result of ill conceived idea of the

country’s Partition. It was and still remains a major mistake by colonial British and his allies’

pacifist Gandhi and Nehru to sanction the unnatural partition of British India. The war weary

Britain had its own reason to offload its colonies and was the direct result of trade wars

among Europeans and the mess they created that lead to World War II. Although militarily

victorious with American help, small British isle was bleeding heavily with finances strained

and treasury emptied, they cannot hold on to their colonial possession too long.

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Chicago religious convention attended by Vivekananda (Hindu), Vir chand Gandhi (Jain)

among other participants from India.

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Vinod Damodar Savarkar (1883-1966):

Founder of Hindu Mahasabha and Rastriya Seva Sangh (RSS)

Vinod Savarkar was a “Free India” activist and wanted to free India from Muslim as well as

British invaders. Savarkar recognized the realities of India after 1000 years of occupation by

foreigners. He was a politician, poet, writer, playwright and founder of Hindu Mahasabha

that morphed into RSS (Rastriya Seva Sangh or RSS). He recognized that the Muslims of South

Asia, all had Hindu past and the routes to reconciliation and reconversion should be created

to strengthen Indian identity that can cause potential problem for British. To prove that he is

not a religious bigot, he advocated the dismantling of the caste systems Hindu, Muslim alike

and those on the fringe of Hindu mainstream, he wanted to be inclusive and not exclusive.

He was born in the state of Maharashtra, home of great heroes like Shivaji and Gangadhar

Tilak. Savarkar created the term “Hindutva” but emphasized its distinctiveness from

Hinduism that can be construed as social and political communalism. The stated aim of

Savarkar Hindutva was to create an inclusive but collective national identity.

The five elements of his philosophy were: 1. Utilitarianism 2. Rationalism 3. Positivism

4. Humanism and 5. Universalism. British rulers of India and Muslim and Hindu opponents

purposely misrepresented him. His stated goals should cause no heartburns to anyone but his

outspokenness was exploited by his opponents that included Gandhi, Nehru and his Muslim

allies.

During 1906 AD, in a quiet suburb of London, England where there was lodging house for

Indian students. Mohandas Gandhi, a law student dropped in when Savarkar was cooking his

meal that included prawns, a Maharashtrians’ delight. Gandhi being a Guajarati Vegeteranian

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refused the meal offered by Savarkar. Savarkar responded perhaps jokingly that how “he

expect to defeat and wrestle British, when he refuses to take any animal protein in a diet?”

this may have started a hostile relationship between two. Gandhi received the credit for

waging his non-violence struggle to free India, while some historians doubt that conclusion.

Judging from the British behavior after WW 2, it appeared to be a strategic decision for the

British to withdraw from their worldwide possession. They neither had the monies or

manpower to rule their colonial possession. A small island of few million people miraculously

ruled almost entire world for several centuries. That impossible dream cannot last forever as

the history of Roman and Persian Empires have demonstrated.

The British Officer who charged Savarkar in London during 1910 AD, to conspire to wage a

war against the British crown earned Savarkar two life sentences. He was deported to

Andaman Island to serve his sentence and was shipped via ship Morea to British Indian held

Island. Savarkar, the prisoner was recorded as an “a small Indian man with an intelligent face

but nervous manner.”

However, this small man gave British captain a chase and a grief and created a diplomatic row

with France, when he jumped the ship to swim offshore to Marseille harbor. He successfully

escaped except French police without consultation with their foreign office handed him back

to the British. France demanded his return and British never obliged.

Great escape by Savarkar

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Savarkar prison cell on Andaman Island

The hindsight is 20/20 for all of us. Vallabhbhai Patel, Netaji Subhash Chandra, Swami

Vivekananda and Vinod Savarkar probably had the right ideas after all, but like they say- “the

history belongs to the victor”. These great heroes are now forgotten and shoved under the

carpet by Congress and their UPA gangsters for a long time until return of Narendra Modi.

Indian people have witnessed endless misery under congress’ License Raj. Other failures are

the sequential episodes of corruption, ill conceived economic socialism that resulted in the

inflation and flawed foreign policies. Gandhi did not live long enough to witness these

mistakes otherwise he himself would have joined Anna to outlaw Indian National congress

and their allies for misleading the country and belching on widespread corruption. When

Russia and china were making the course corrections by abandoning communism and

socialism, the politicians like Mamta Banerji is accentuating the same failed experiment. The

black mail and threats continues against central government by some rogue states. The days

of compromise are over.

These strands of thoughts advocated by Vinod Savarkar and his predecessors is now generally

recognized by the Indian people and have sent another Narendra (Vivekanand’s reincarnation

perhaps) to guide the country with overwhelming majority. He is not going to waste time like

President Obama trying to work with opposition by having series of meetings or conclaves.

He is going to get things done right from the day one. The obstructionist and opportunists

who stand in the way will be thrown out in the next election because this steam roller pushed

by Indian people is not going to stop for a while, may be a decade or two, until we catch up

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with the rest of the world. Indian media and their obstructionist journalists and politicians

take this prediction very seriously. “The train is leaving the platform, get on board or will be

left behind.”

Besides having many things in common like ethnic diversity, cultures and shared strategic

goal of open commerce and security, India is conveying to American businesses that India is

open for business for all who want to set up the industries or businesses that will create jobs

in India and carry the product that will carry the stamp-“Make in India.”. The implementation

or rule by ordinance will stop the obstructionist against economic progress and elimination of

poverty that Sonia Gandhi championed for so long without any success.

Just take a look around, what religious bigotry has done to the neighboring country of

Pakistan? They lost over 140 of their youngsters in Military run school. The Pakistani army,

their government and Mullahs who are running scores of Madrassas (religious schools) must

take the responsibilities. Pakistan’s neurotic fear of hypothetical encirclement by India has

led them to “terrorism ditch”, so deep that it will be hard for them to get out of that mess.

These religious mentalities and bigotries have driven them to disastrous policy of exploiting

and encouraging Jihadi groups against west and world at large including Kashmir.

For thousands of years, Hinduism has shown tolerance with various splinter groups and Islam

can free to worship their God like Jains, Buddhist, Parsee and Christians. Those who want to

readopt Hinduism; they should be allowed to do so. “Hindutva” concept as envisioned by its

founder is not Anti-Islam. Anti-jain or Anti-Christian but is a defensive phrase of Pro-Hindu to

build , preserve and maintain the Indian National Identity where all citizens regardless of

their religious affiliation are stake holders for maintaining and preserving India’s territorial

integrity and economic progress.

The democracy grants equality, freedom of speech and certain basic human rights but to

preserve the democracy it requires the citizenry to behave with certain degree of

responsibilities. The politician’s first obligation is for nations’ welfare and provides corruption

free good governance and service for which they were elected by the people. More and

more, It appears that congress led opposition in Rajya Sabha is bent on stopping nation’s

business at all cost. Maybe they are learning from prevailing political dysfunctionality in

Washington DC. India as a country cannot afford that. Rajya Sabha will be stopped and it

must be stopped.

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