Hero or traitor? Reassessing Veer Savarkar’s role in Indian history Part 3: Trials and Triumphs

In March 1910, Savarkar was arrested and transported back to India. En route, he made a daring escape attempt, diving into the sea as the ship docked in Marseilles, France. Despite his pleas for political asylum, the French authorities handed him back to the British, sealing his fate. In 1911, at the age of 28, Savarkar was sentenced to 50 years of hard labor in the notorious Cellular Jail in the Andaman Islands, also known as Kala Pani.

Life in Kala Pani was brutal. Savarkar endured solitary confinement and harsh punishments, yet his spirit remained unbroken. He penned thousands of poems on scraps of paper, secretly sending them out to inspire others. His most significant literary work, "The First War of Indian Independence," challenged the British narrative of the 1857 rebellion as merely a mutiny, instead framing it as a coordinated struggle for freedom.

Savarkar’s years in prison were marked by a controversial aspect of his legacy: his petitions for clemency. Critics accused him of cowardice, but a closer examination reveals a strategic mind at work. Savarkar understood the power of the pen and used his knowledge of the law to his advantage. His petitions were calculated moves to secure his release, not just for his own sake but to continue the fight for India’s freedom from a more effective vantage point.

In 1924, after 13 years of imprisonment, Savarkar was released but confined to Ratnagiri under stringent conditions. Here, he turned his focus to social reform, particularly the eradication of the caste system and the promotion of Hindu unity. His seminal work, "Hindutva," laid the ideological foundation for a unified Hindu identity, advocating for one nation, one culture, and one race.

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