Savarkar - The Adventure Stories In London

Sketch by Darshan Rathi

          As we have discussed earlier Savarkar travelled from Nasik to Pune and then to London. He had been an active participant in the freedom struggle. He had been famous as a young activist in Pune. He left for London on 9th June and reached there on 3rd July 1906 with the ambition to be a Barrister .

                     He had enrolled his name in Gray's College at London as soon as he reached. A special report about his political thoughts and actions was sent to the ‘India Office’. The report content was to tail Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. ‘India Office’ enquired about him but nothing was found offensive. The storm had yet to come.

                     Mazzini not only influenced Vinayak but there were many similarities between them. Savarkar thoroughly read 6 volumes of Mazzini's biography as soon as he settled. He wished all Indians should read and learn Mazzini's ideology so he  penned  his biography in Marathi.

                    'Joseph Mazzini - Autobiography and Politics' was penned in Marathi only in the duration of three months.  He sent the copy to his brother Ganesh Savarkar at Nasik for publication. Two thousand copies of the first edition were sold in a very short time. Many youngsters had learned the inspiring introduction by heart.

                    1857 national revolt was the next topic chosen by him. Very little information was available to him about the 1857 revolt.  So Shyamji Krishnaverma suggested him to search for the topic in ‘India Office’ to get original manuscripts. According to this suggestion Savarkar somehow managed to enter ‘India Office’ and thoroughly read and studied all the original documents. Based on the study of original documents he penned ‘1857th Freedom Struggle’ in Marathi. But  'Joseph Mazzini's' Autobiography was already banned in India by the british government as it was

Provocative. Ganesh Savarkar tried his best but failed to publish Vinayak's book on ‘1857th revolt in India’. The book was then published in English as ‘Indian War of Independence 1857’.

                    Savarkar was being recognized as an activist in London by this time. His leadership was approved and accepted by many. Even Shyamji Krishn Verma had vowed for ‘Abhinav Bharat’. In London Savarkar established an organisation named ‘Free India’ as well. Many Indian festivals were celebrated by this organization.He started the birth and death ceremonies  of great leaders from India like Chatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Maharana Pratap, Guru Govind Singh. He used to deliver encouraging speeches on these occasions as many people gathered. There was nothing much than that so the organisation ‘Free India’ was not considered as a threat by the british government.

                     The Shamji Krishn Verma's ‘India House’ celebrated the Golden Jubilee of 1857th revolt in London. The leadership of ‘India House’ was automatically handed over to Savarkar after this incident. So the revolutionists of ‘Abhinav Bharat’ were engaged in  the experiments  with Picric Acid to develop bombs on the top floor of India House.

                    Actually ‘Abhinav Bharat’, the revolutionary organisation was the fire ball covered by ‘Free India’. Ceremonies and festivals were celebrated in ‘Free India Society’ and ‘Abhinav Bharat’ was a revolutionary front.

                   Everything was going on smoothly. After some days british government banned ‘Indian War of Independence 1857’ before its publication. A book was banned before the publication as it was written by Savarkar. The name was enough for the government to ban the book as Savarkar had created the fearsome influence. British government was more than ready to ban every article penned by Savarkar.  But the newspapers in London criticized this act saying how could the government ban an unpublished book.

                   In India Ganesh Savarkar was jailed for publishing  provocative literature  at the same time. He was then sent to Andaman for the punishment of ‘’Kala Pani’. British government in India was rigorously searching Vinayak Savarkar as the  author of ‘Mazzini’ but couldn't find him and so Ganesh Savarkar was arrested.

             Ganesh Savarkar's arrest aroused unrest in India. People were enraged. Madanlal Dhingra was one of them. He was a noble follower of the Savarkar brothers but was in constant touch with Carzon Wyllie also. He considered him as his own acquaintance but Madanlal was enraged by Ganesh Savarkar's arrest. Carzon Wyllie was to attend a function at the ‘National Indian Association’ where he was followed by Madanlal.

Sketch by Darshan Rathi

Sketch by Darshan Rathi

After the programme when Wyllie left for his house he was followed and shot by Madanlal. He was arrested on the spot with two revolvers , a knife, a dragger and a reason behind the murder in his pocket. The declaration was tried to be  suppressed by the british but it was published in America and all over the world before Madanlal's  hanging. On 16th August Madanlal was hanged to the death . Though British government was acquainted with  blasts and gunshots in a limited area of India like Pune, Kolkata and Mujjafarnagar but now it was echoed in London. It was a real shock. Madanlal was hanged on 17  August 1909 at 9 am and the Freedom Struggle gobbled it as a death sacrifice. 

                    A similar incident inspired by Madsnlal's sacrifice occurred in Nashik. Ganesh's arrest had provoked severe unrest in Nasik. So youngster Anant Kanhere, Krishnaji Karve and Vinayak Deshpande planned to murder Collector Jackson. He was transferred from Nasik to Mumbai and it was his last night in Nasik. He had gone to watch the drama ‘Sangeet Sharada’ played by Balgandharva in a theatre and was shot by Anant Kanhere who was in his thirties. Anant Kanhere, Krishnaji karve and Vinayak Deshpande were hanged for the same offence on 19th April 1910.

                    At the same time the suffering of  Savarkar's family had no end. The eldest one Ganesh was jailed in Andaman, Vinayak was in London and the youngest one Narayanrao was under arrest. The only woman left was Yesu Vahini (wife of Ganesh Savarkar). The house was seized by the government and each and every thing in the house was seized. After knowing this Vinayak wrote to his Yesu Vahini ,

You are the idol of courage

You are my inspiration

You are the innate follower of lord Rama

That's your inborn moto

You have worn the bracelet of a great work

Now you are on the way to superiority

You are supposed to live an austere life which suits the Saints 

                     Till then Savarkar rode on the wave of fame in Europe. British government had a clear idea about his activities. It was in the search of a reason to arrest him. Once Savarkar had gone to Paris for some work. He heard the news that british government had started troubling their family members in India as Vinayak was not yet arrested. His eldest brother had no chance to escape from Andaman as his punishment was continued by the high court. So Savarkar left Paris in a hurry to return to London but was sure to be arrested as soon as he entered London.

                    He alighted the train at Victoria Terminus on 13th March 1910. Inspector  Parker and McCarthy were ready to arrest him before his arrival. He was arrested at the moment he arrived. He was arrested for treason and provoking murder. Savarkar just asked them where they were going. He was then taken to ‘Bow Street Police Station’. After knowing this news rapid actions were taken in London.

                    At last the fearsome arrest was turned into a reality. What about ‘Abhinav Bharat’ and the Freedom Struggle henceforth...Would it be the end of Savarkar era? What happened at the ‘Bow Street Police Station’, where was he taken thereafter..There might be many questions in your mind..Let's meet in the next week to discuss this great hero.

- Apoorv Shriniwas Kulkarni