Excerpts from the book “Savarkar and His times “ 1950 by Kheer Dhananjay .
Savarkar’s effort regarding “mixed-caste”
schools
On of first and foremost battle in Ratagiri Savarkar
had with the Hindu orthodoxy was over the question of mixed-caste schools in
the District. The orthodox Hindus opposed the idea tooth and nail. The School
Board faltered and the District Board failed in its support.
Savarkar carried on intense propaganda in favor
of mixed schools through the press and from the platform, and appealed to the
District and Provincial authorities for help against the forces of orthodoxy
which denied the just, civic, human, and legitimate rights to the children of
the “untouchables” to sit in public schools along with the “caste-Hindu”
children. Attention of the Government also was drawn by Savarkar to the fact
that the untouchables being as good tax-payers and citizens as the touchable,
their children were entitled to the benefit of a public schools. It was also
pointed out that those very orthodox Hindus did not feel any qualms of
conscience in allowing the Christian and Muslim children to sit with their
children in the schools.
Savarkar entreated the orthodox Hindus in an
appealing tone not to treat their co-religionists worse than dogs and cats. "
You insult
the untouchables, because they are ignorant and helpless; but you yield to the
unjust demands of the Muslims because they are aggressive. When a Mahar becomes
a Muslim or a Christian convert, you treat him as your equal. But as a Mahar he
will not receive the same treatment. What a shame my countrymen ! “ he thundered. Savarkar appealed to the
District Magistrate to bring the rowdy elements to book and wrote to him in a
moving tone : " I wish, sir, to enlist not only your legal protection as a
Magistrate, but also your human sympathies as a gentleman, in the cause."
It may seem strange that Savarkar should have written for help to the
Government of those days. But it must be noted that Savarkar is always
uncompromising with untruth and injustice, and not with men and power. The
breath of his ideology is the hatred of oppression in every form, not of
personalities and authorities. The virility and sincerity of Savarkar in this
cause ultimately triumphed. The District Magistrate saw things for himself, and
wrote the following remark during one of his visits to the schools : "It
is the good result of Mr. Savarkar's lectures that the untouchable boys have
been allowed to sit mixed and get their education without any invidious
distinction being made in their case ! "
Then came another shock to orthodoxy ! An untouchable teacher was transferred in
1928, to a school attended entirely by caste-Hindu children! The Sanatanists
moved heaven and earth to get the order of the School Board rescinded, but to
no purpose. The School Board threatened to close the school and the orthodox
Hindus regained their civic sense! The effect was tremendous and historic. Due
to this victory of Savarkar over orthodoxy and the establishment of rival
mixed-caste schools by the Hindus, and consequently for want of new converts,
the American Mission working in Ratnagiri had to wind up its activities, and
its chief departed in despair . Thus ended the first battle at Ratnagiri
against orthodoxy in a unique victory for Savarkar.
Temple entry to “untouchables”
The question of Temple Entry for the
untouchables cropped up in 1925. The orthodox quarters were alarmed. They
shouted that their Religion, God and Traditions were in danger. Their religion
and traditions and customs welcomed an untouchable provided he became a
Mohammad or a Minto. The orthodox touched animals like bullocks and buffaloes,
could endure the presence of a dog or a cat in their houses, but not the
presence of their co-religionist Hindu Mahars or Hindu Bhangis though they were
human beings!! They feared that their sacred God would be polluted by the mere
sight of a Hindu Bhangi! “He is not God who can be desecrated " went the epigrammatic Savarkarian reply to the
orthodox. Savarkar holds that those men, who regard such inhuman faith as
abhors the touch of a human being, and yet gladly touches animals like dogs and
cats, are themselves a blot on humanity. It is they who are really fallen and not the "
untouchables " ! Removal of
untouchability, therefore,. Implies purification and salvation of such misguided
orthodox touchables also!
Pan-Hindu Ganesh Festivals:
Orthodoxy began to collapse under such
ruthless arguments. To pull down the steel walls of orthodoxy, Savarkar started
Pan-Hindu Ganesh festivals in 1925. He
transformed the Ganesh Festival started by Tilak into a Pan-Hindu Festival. An
untouchable was not allowed for ages within the precincts of the Hindu
sanctuaries By and by the question of
temple entry was discussed with wisdom and vehemence during the days of Ganesh
Festival The untouchables were brought
into the hall of the Vithoba Temple in Ratnagiri, the most important temple in
the Ratnagiri District. Then in November 1929, took place an event of
far-reaching consequences. All the city was agog. The City Magistrate was present by a special order to see that the proceedings
of the public meeting, held in the Vithoba Temple of Ratnagiri to decide the
question of the entry of the untouchables into the Vithoba Temple, came off
peacefully.
The momentous meeting began. Savarkar's
convincing speech swept away doubts, hesitation and misgivings which were
lurking in the minds of the opponents.
The Magistrate himself having been carried
off his feet by the force and faith of Savarkar's speech, forgot his entity,
rose and exclaimed, " Now who and what remain to be convinced ? "
None came forward. It was a unique triumph for Savarkar. Amidst flickering
opposition and deafening exclamations, the untouchables entered the Vithoba
Temple of Ratnagiri, step by step, singing gracefully and gratefully the glory
of " one God, one goal, one language, one country and one Nation."
With great feelings and devotional eyes the densely crowded meeting saw the
historic spectacle, the first of its kind in the history of Hindusthan! As the
age-long sufferers followed their children who climbed the steps of the temple
one by one, singing the song, their hearts throbbed, and eyes glowed. The song
was especially composed in Marathi by Savarkar himself for the occasion! It
read :
“The Impurity of ages is gone Scripture-born stamp is torn The age-long
struggle is ended The net of enemies shredded The slave of ages hoary ! Now is
a brother in glory!”
The Bhageshwar Temple in the Ratnagiri Fort
was also declared open to all Hindus at a meeting held under the chairmanship
of Shrimat Shankaracharya, the religious head of the Hindus. Sri Shankaracharya
was garlanded on the occasion by a Hindu Bhangi as the representative of the
Ratnagiri Hindus. The scene was reminiscent of the first Shankaracharya, who
had embraced centuries ago a pantheist untouchable while returning from his
bath in the Ganges !
A Pan-Hindu band was trained and it replaced
the non-Hindu bands. The Hindu band attended festivals and functions. Women of
Ratnagiri performed to the shock of Maharashtra and Hindustan their Haldi-Kumkum
ceremony on a Pan-Hindu basis. During the Pan-Hindu Ganpati festivals a Bhangi
Hindu sang Vedic hymns and Gayatri Mantram, the sacred privilege enjoyed so far
by the Brahmins alone. The incident echoed throughout India. The Times of
India, Bombay, styled it as a sacrilegious prize. The event resounded through
some London papers too ! On another occasion a Bhangi family needed a priest;
for a marriage ceremony. The Mahar Hindus being the Brahmins of the Bhangis,
their priest declined to perform the ceremony. The Hindu Sabha thereupon sent a
Brahmin priest, and he performed the ceremony.
Patit Pavan Temple:-
 |
| Patit pavan mandir Ratnagiri Maharashtra |
The opening ceremony of the temple came off
on a grand scale. Acharyas, Shankaracharyas, pundits and patriots declared
Ratnagiri a place of pilgrimage. In fact, as one speaker then put it, Ratnagiri
became the new Kashi of the re-awakened, purified and unified Hindudorn where a
Hindu scavenger acted as a priest, persons from the so-called Depressed Classes
delivered Kathas, Mahars read the sacred Gita, Brahmins garlanded and bowed
themselves before these priests and kathekaries; and Brahmin youths conducted a
Pan-Hindu Hotel. Indeed, the Patit Pavan Temple came to be the university of
the Pan-Hindu Movement.
Prohibition of one caste from dining with
another was the keystone upon which the arch of the caste system mainly rested.
Savarkar decided to strike a fatal blow at this keystone. He contemplated
inter-caste Pan-Hindu dinners. As usual orthodox Hindus opposed the idea
vehemently. Savarkar, however, silenced their learned spokesmen by throwing at
their faces extracts from their own scriptures and Holy Works that sang that
God Krishna dined with Vidura, a son born of a maid-servant, and that their
great Brahmin Rishi, Durvasa, dined along with his numerous disciples at the
Pandavas* who were Kshatriyas ! Yet, it was not easy to hold a Pan-Hindu
dinner. The movement developed gradually from private quarters to public
places. And then came off the first public Pan-Hindu dinner popularly known all
over India as Sahabhojan, in a theatre in 1930. This was the acid test to know
who were the real seasoned reformers and who were seasonal. What a horrifying
event it was in the eyes of old traditions ! Upto this time even the beggars
recoiled from touching the food of the Pan-Hindu dinner. Mahars refused to eat
with the Bhangis and Bhangis with the Dhors. The Depressed Classes desired to
eat with the caste-Hindus but not with the different sub-classes from amongst
themselves. Onlookers thronged to see the neo-function, and Ratnagiri was the
subject of headlines all over India.
All caste dinner
In its " current topics " the Times
of India, Bombay, writing on the subject, observes in its issue of December 9,
1930 : "This all-caste dinner was celebrated in a unique manner? a manner
that has given deep offence to Nationalist Congressmen, who are mostly
believers along with Mr. Gandhi in four watertight castes by birth. For, at
Ratnagiri some enthusiastic reformers, who regarded caste system as the bane of
Hinduism, held an all-caste dinner which was attended by Brahmins, Banias, Chamars,
Mahars and Bhangis!" Styling it as a bold creed, the writer goes on :
" What is still more interesting, the spirit of this splendid essay in
practical reform, Mr. V. D. Savarkar, delivered a speech in which he flung into
the teeth of orthodoxy the daring credo of his party. “From today I shall not believe in highness
or lowness of caste. I shall not oppose the intermarriage between the highest
and lowest castes. I shall eat with any Hindu irrespective of caste. I shall
not believe in caste by birth or by profession and henceforth I shall call
myself a Hindu only? not Brahmin, Vaishya, etc "
Savarkar incessantly preached : " Eat with
anybody. Eat anything that is medically fit and clean. That does not deprive
you of your religion. Remember the root of religion is not the dish or the
stomach, but the heart, soul and the blood!
" The names of those persons, who took part in the all-caste
dinners, were published in newspapers to the surprise and shock of their
orthodox relations !
The first week of the opening ceremony of the
Patit Pavan Temple saw the biggest of such Pan-Hindu Dinners in India. The
reactions to the Pan-Hindu dinner were tremendous. Acharyas took to their heels
and saints went head over heels. Cow-worshippers thought it beneath their
dignity to honour human beings and eat with men who were their co-religionists
! There were some who did everything else for the movement, but declined to eat
with all classes. Their heads agreed, but hearts disagreed ! At last their
dilemma was solved, when Savarkar, who held that social reforms settled down
more permanently if they were effected with full consideration and
conciliation, accepted a compromise which allowed the no-changers to take their
dinner by sitting not in the line with the revolutionary reformists, but in
another row facing them. Orthodoxy clamored and raised a hue and cry in the
city ! Rumours were afloat in the neighbouring villages that the all-caste
dinner would cost the reformers dear and that a rift was visible in the ranks
of the reformers.
When the beggars saw lawyers, leaders,
Divans, merchants, doctors, big and respectable men of all castes sharing food
in a communion, they, too, expressed their willingness to accept the Pan-Hindu
food which they had declined to accept on the previous occasion ! But now Savarkar
would not offer them the food unless they also sat in one and the same row
irrespective of castes. And ultimately they did so ! At last Pan-Hindu sense
and mentality came to stay. Karmaveer V. R. Shinde, a great social reformer of
the Deccan, rejoiced to see what his D. C. Mission aimed at was both preached
and practised in Ratnagiri. Overwhelmed with grateful tears, he acclaimed
Savarkar as the real Patit Pavan of the Hindus, the saviour of the fallen and
trodden. It was a noble appreciation and correct assessment of a great
achievement! Some leaders, who witnessed the practical reforms, called Savarkar
Sanghatanacharya? Master-brain at organization and others described him as
their Shankaracharya, the supreme head of New Hinduism I
Dealing with orthodox Hindus
Every revolution has its convulsions and
revelations. Defeated at all other points orthodox Hindus and non-Hindus now
threatened Savarkar's life. In many families dissensions arose. Unpleasant
words were said and heard between sons and fathers, wives and husbands. Harsh
gestures were exchanged between friends, and estrangement rankled amongst
relations. Newly married girls were forbidden to see the faces of their
reformist parents, brothers or relatives. A married girl in one case perished
in her illness despite her father's fervent entreaties to her father-in-law to
send her to him for medical treatment. The father of the girl was asked to
withdraw his support and devotion to Savarkarian ideology, but he did not yield
!Half-hearted reformists were trapped and they repented in sack-cloth and
ashes. If some one from Savarkar's camp fell ill, whispers and vilification
would attribute the illness or misfortune to God's wrath ; and Savarkar would
retort that “even his cat was still unaffected. All the while Savarkar infused
courage into the minds of his followers with his undying dictum : " Reform
implies always a minority, custom means a majority. Have undeviating faith in
your mission and courage of conviction, and you will successfully overcome the
forces of reactionaries ! "
Savarkarian Model of social reforms
This was the model moulded in a District-wide
movement of Savarkarian Revolution which echoed throughout Hindu-sthan and had
its reverberations even in the London papers. Savarkar succeeded where
prophets, philosophers and emperors had failed. A man who had to rot for
fourteen youthful years in the most dreadful jail and again was interned for
over another thirteen years in Ratnagiri and was forbidden to participate
publicly or privately in any political activities, had worked this miracle. All
this happened a considerable time before Gandhiji made the Harijan uplift one
of the chief planks of his activities !
Savarkar's approach to untouchability, the age-long corroding
current of evil, and his potent remedy and method for its abolition were as
rational and constructive as they were fearless, fundamental and far-reaching.
There had been in the past rationalists like Agarkar, and institutions like the
Arya Samaj, the Brahmo Samaj and the Prarthana Samaj working for that cause.
Later, there followed also the great personality of Gandhiji in the field.
There were some showy, touchy, and fashionable learned men who expressed lip
sympathy in spotless diction for the Depressed Classes in order to please and
show the ruling bosses their radical views ! But Savarkar's angle of vision
fundamentally differed from those of such institutions and personalities.
Western ideas of Equality, Fraternity arid Liberty dominated the motives of the
rationalist group led by Ranade. Revolt against orthodox Hinduism and re-orientalization
of Hinduism were the objects of the Arya Samaj ; electicism was the aim of the
Brahmo Samaj and Prarthana Samaj. Agarkar was an unbridled rationalist, a
lonely giant. He had no genius for constructive work. The Arya Samajists
compromised their prophet's stand by mixing their identity with the Gandhian
principles, lost sight of its political impact, and lost their vitality,
fervour, and firmness ! Though Gandhi believed in the caste system, he wanted
to remove untouchability. But his Harijan movement was anything but Hindu,
though tb money for the cause came mainly from the Hindus
Gandhiji never raised his little linger
against the proselytizing greed of the Maulavies and Missionaries and observed
reticence about it! But even then it was his fortune that he received wreaths
for his work for the Depressed Classes while Savarkar faced the wrath of all
non-Hindu missionaries ! Like all positive and powerful reformers, Savarkar
wielded the force, construction and hammer of Luther ! And a Luther is not born
for laurels. Savarkar's one aim was to purge Hinduism of its most baneful
superstitions and orthodox bigotry. His reformative zeal did not aim at the
denunciation of Hinduism. He strove for its revival in the light of modern
times and to ensure its survival. That was why he was offensive inside and
defensive outside. He aimed at moulding the different castes of the Hindus into
a classless Hindu society in which all Hindus would be by birth socially,
economically and politically equal ! Rational, nationalistic and revolutionary
in outlook, his ideology was as deep-rooted as it was far-reaching, and looked
to the prosperity and peace of the Hindu society, Hindu life, Hindusthan and
ultimately universal welfare. His was not the work of a fashionable reformer,
or a showy rationalist, or a wordy humanist. His was a mission for a great
cause for the emergence of Hindu-sthan as a world power to play her destined
part in the comity of nations.
Two decades ago he admonished the Hindus to
break off the seven shackles that hindered the progress of the Hindu society.
He fought for temple entry, popularised Pan-Hindu dinners, naturalised
Shuddhi-reconversion, annihilated the belief in highness and lowness of birth, favored
inter caste marriages, and ridiculed the injunctions on caste-ridden vocations
and sea-voyage. The power and faith of the Savarkarian movement depended for
its vitality and goal upon the elixir of Shuddhi and Science which hold the key
not only to Indian peace and prosperity, but also to the destinies of the
Middle East and Far East, the one-time tributaries of Hindu life ! In one of
his songs he visualized that the Hindus after achieving freedom would liberate
all subject nations under the sun, and would help them establish love, equality
and peace for the progress of humanity. And it was towards this end that all
his Sanghatanist movement was directed. Savarkar preached and worked for the
abolition of untouchability wilh unparalleled success when few of his great
contemporaries were thinking of the removal of the untouchability, and a
majority of them had not gauged its significance.
Restricted in his activities, shadowed by
spies, Savarkar thus shelled one of the strongest holds of the Hindu orthodoxy
in India. For this signal achievement he applied the battery of his oratory,
poured in his volcanic energy, utilized the fund of his resourceful erudition
and the flow of his volcanic pen. He used platform, press, examination centres,
theatres, circus-tents, festivals, fares and functions for popularizing the
Movement, and whipped the people into a revolt. The forces of conservatism and
orthodoxy tottered before his powerful personality, and the bees that had
nestled in the barriers of the caste system tried to fling their poisonous
stings into his body, but failed. For, every Luther is born with an
impenetrable armour !
The revolution in the Ratnagiri District was
an unparalleled success; so much so that Karma veer Shinde, hearing the news of
Savarkar's unconditional release in May 1937, remarked that had Savarkar's
activities been restricted to social revolution only, he would have banished
untouchability altogether from the face of India within five years. Worthy was
the glowing tribute and noble appreciation made by a writer in a special issue
of Dr. Ambedkar's Janata that Savarkar's service to the cause of the
untouchables was as decisive and great as that of Gautama Buddha himself. Sri
Kakasahib Barve, his contemporary, and President, Maharashtra Provincial
Harijan Sevak Sangh, in his Presidential Address at a Conference at Sangli, in
July 1945, expressed the view that had Savarkar continued his intense work in
the cause of the removal of untouchability, his contribution would have given a
tremendous impetus to the movement!
Thus it can be seen that the itality of Lord
Buddha, who raised a revolt against untoud; ability, the virility of Shivaji,
who purposefully hammered its corners that lay in his way, the vigour of
Dayananda, whc> strove to bury it, are all crystallized in the revolutionary
philosophy of Savarkar whose approach to the problem v: predominantly political
and fundamentally social.
Upliftment of dalits the “Savarkarian” way
Savarkar's propaganda was not one-sided. With
a batch of his workers, he visited the slums and squalid dens, hamlets and
hills, villages and towns where the untouchables lived, This batch studied
their ways of living, taught them cleanliness, guided them, and worshipped with
them. They took the Chambhars into the quarters and temples of the Mahars and
the Bhangis into the quarters and temples of the Dhors.
The discussions and debates with opponents
over the burning problem of Shuddhi-Reconversion and Hindu organisation stormed
and abated. Stirring speeches and moving appeals would go on till early dawn.
The next morning saw Savarkar in another village and so his propaganda went on.
Savarkar was then in the best of his health. Men of wealth, distinction and
status followed him climbing zig-zag distances and dales with cheer. In fact,
all the Indian leaders, whose names are connected with the removal of untouchability,
have not seen as many quarters of the untouchables as Savarkar has done. The
suppressed humanity watched and sat far into the night with bewilderment and
hope, and crowded for the darshan of Savarkar, the Saviour of the fallen
Hindus, who opened to them the gates of the Temples of God, Man and Light!
Savarkar also attended and presided over the
conferences of the so-called untouchables. In June 1929 he was received with
great ovation at Malvan in the southern part of the Ratnagiri District, where
he presided over the Conference of the Depressed Classes of the Konkan
Division. The Conference sang Vedic hymns in a body. Savarkar distributed the
sacred threads among the so-called untouchable Hindus and declared amid great
applause : " A battle royal has been raging for the last seven generations over the
right of studying the Vedas. Here are the Vedas. Here is the sacred thread.
Take these two. Is that all ? Even non-Hindus read the Vedas. Why should not
the Hindu Mahars read them ? The feud over this problem was a useless task. Let
us expiate the sins we committed. We are all responsible for our political
subjugation. That is the past. Now let us declare on oath that we shall rectify
our past blunders and win back our weal, wealth and glory." Sri P. N. Rajbhoj, a volatile leader of
the Depressed Classes from Poona, who was present at the Conference, observed :
"I was really sceptical of the Savarkarian movement at the beginning. My
contact and discussions with Barrister Savarkar and my personal observation
have thoroughly convinced me of its far-reaching effect. I am extremely
rejoiced to declare that this famous leader of the political revolutionaries is
also an out and out social revolutionist ! "
Another notable Conference was held in the
Patit Pavan Temple at Ratnagiri just after the temple was opened during the
last week of February 1931, under the aegis of the D.C. Mission led by
Karmaveer V. R. Shinde. This was the Mission's Sixth Annual Session and was
presided over by Savarkar. All the workers and leaders of the D.C. Mission and
other leaders of the so-called Depressed Classes were thrilled to survey the
achievement of this Savarkarian movement. One after another they acknowledged
gratefully that their dreams were brought into reality by Savarkar in
Ratnagiri. They repeated that if the atmosphere of Ratnagiri captivated all the
parts of India, there would be no untouch-ability left in the land.
A third Conference was held on April 26,
1931. It was the Ratnagiri District Somavanshiya Mahar Conference. Savarkar
presided over it. It was attended by hundreds of Mahars from all corners of the
District. The Mahars had poured in the city as they heard that ' Pandhari' was
shifted to Ratnagiri where they were allowed to enter the temple and worship God?an
unbelievable thing for them?a thing for which they had pined for ages ! Savarkar’s
teachings and message to the untouchables were appealing. He asked them to live
a simple life, and to shed their inherent inferiority complex. He admonished
them : "Your
weakness is worse than the wickedness of the caste Hindus. For your own welfare
you must also suffer with fortitude and faith. You want rights, but you are net
prepared to pay the price. Be men. Know that you arc men. If someone scolds you
for your proximity on the public road, tell him that the public road is not the
property of his father. Do not abandon your occupations. Stick to them and
improve them. Every occupation has its value. Live a clean and temperate life.
Never disown your fathers, saints, and blood. Do not observe untouchability
among yourselves. Always treat with equality and kindness all the sub-castes
amongst your own so-called Depressed Classes. That is also your duty. Forget it
not! "
Savarkar's love of Hindu religion was not
narrow-minded either. He said : " When a non-Hindu worships or a Mohammedan merges into humanity
melting his religious libido, the Hindus, too, shall dissolve their separate
entity." " Till then," Savarkar observed, "it is
necessary that the Hindus should be within their bonds. It is against the creed
of humanity itself, if we ignore stark realities of life." To the
so-called caste Hindus his piece of advice was that they should be prepared to
adopt even the pursuit of sweepers. There should be no monopoly in any field.
He advised the non-Brahmins to administer to their own religious and sacramental
life themselves and told them that there was no need of an authorised
intermediary between them and God. " The moment you resolve not to invite the Bhat (Brahmin)
to perform religious functions, Bhatshahi collapses like a pack of cards/' he
wrote. Learning and expounding the scriptures or sacerdocy should not be the
monopoly of one particular class. Prestige and authority should be justified by
individual achievement and not by caste, he opined. Priests, irrespective of
caste, should be certified as are our doctors, asserted Savarkar.
To the so-called caste Hindus his piece of
advice was that they should be prepared to adopt even the pursuit of sweepers.
There should be no monopoly in any field. He advised the non-Brahmins to
administer to their own religious and sacramental life themselves and told them
that there was no need of an authorised intermediary between them and God.
" The moment you resolve not to invite the Bhat (Brahmin) to perform
religious functions, Bhatshahi collapses like a pack of cards/' he wrote.
Learning and expounding the scriptures or sacerdocy should not be the monopoly
of one particular class. Prestige and authority should be justified by
individual achievement and not by caste, he opined. Priests, irrespective of
caste, should be certified as are our doctors, asserted Savarkar.
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