Savarkar came out of the Andaman prison and observed the world in full light. Everyone's day-to-day business was running smoothly. The incubation of freedom struggle continued. Indeed, Savarkar was now not free to spend his time roaming about. His responsibility was further increased. His life's ambition was to free India from the grip of the British. In that way, Savarkar could have lived comfortably as a lawyer.

But he did not think in that direction. Because he was not an ordinary person. He is an incomparable patriot Veera Savarkar!

After being released from prison, Savarkar first traveled to the city of Mumbai. There he stayed in his house.The news of his arrival spread like lightning everywhere. Enthusiastic youth came to see him. What do you do next? How was the prison experience? What should we do? They were asked questions. He answered everything with patience and tolerance and discussed freely with the youth.

Savarkar was to live in Ratnagiri as ordered by the British government. But no one dared to rent them a house. What a plight for a freedom fighter! Some were even afraid to talk to Savarkar. Famished savarkar stayed at a friend's house in Sharagavi near Ratnagiri. After a few months, a person had a generous heart and gave a house to Savarkar. Later he started living in Ratnagiri along with his family. Within a few days, the car of the Hindu organization started there. Savarkar celebrated Shivaji Jayanti with the help of enthusiastic youth activists. Unfortunately, a plague broke out in Ratnagiri around this time. Savarkar inevitably left Ratnagiri and went to Nashik, taking permission from the government.

Nashik is the capital of modern India. Savarkar was thrilled to see the holy ground for the revolutionaries, the places where he had roamed eighteen years ago. He was happy to see all his old friends. The people there honored Savarkar. presented a certificate and twelve thousand rupees on behalf of Maharashtra. Puri Shankaracharya sent Mahavastra with blessings. Meanwhile, things like Savarkar honouring, Hindu Sangathan came to the attention of the government. The authorities could not tolerate this. An immediate return to Ratnagiri was ordered.

As per government order savarkar was not supposed to participate in freedom struggle.But they were accomplishing their work indirectly. He took up the work of Hindu organization with the cooperation of many dignitaries. He wandered the streets with activists to collect funds. Some gave money with a generous mind, while others sent money as much as they could. But Savarkar was not angry. Instead, he would touch the feet of the elders who were praying and bow down and say, 'If you have one blessing, let it be enough'.

Savarkar had special concern for the backward (untouchable) people. Thus, he started a struggle to get the children of untouchables admitted in public schools. But this was opposed by some traditionalists. Savarkar did not give up his efforts.He continued to fight. He also met the traditionalists and persuaded them. His gentle nature and words of wisdom touched people's minds. Savarkar supported the struggle. Untouchables got admission in many schools. On this occasion, hundreds of people who had converted from Hinduism to other religions returned to their mother religion.

Some Christian priests who were observing Savarkar's popularity, cleanliness etc. complained to Governor against Savarkar. An angry government asked Savarkar for clarification. Then the reply he wrote was as follows: "There is right of conversion in your administration. So we are also doing that work freely. Let the Christians stop the conversion work. Then we will also stop".

The government was shocked after reading Savarkar's letter. Surrendered to silence without speaking.

Savarkar was trying to sensitize Hinduism to the people.His opinion was that there should be no caste discrimination among Hindus. For that, she established a women's force and formulated the Haldi Kumkum programme. It is a religious and cultural ceremony where women of all castes come together and give each other Kumkum. He said that upper caste women do not give Haldi Kumkum to lower caste women as long as the program is successful. Savarkar did not sit still. Immediately he gave Haldi Kumkum to the lower caste women from his wife Yamuna. Some of the women of the upper class were outraged by this. Savarkar was distributed and left. But he didn't care about all this. Haldi Kumkum Kathyakrama continued. Then all those who came joined hands in Savarkar's kathyakrama. They do not know what is the purpose of Savarkar

Savarkar tried hard to get the backward people to enter the temple. He was fairly successful. He also had to face a lot of opposition. 'God belongs to the world. It is by his grace that this world is going on. Therefore, it is everyone's right to have his darshan', he told people from all walks of life. Even so, there was no shortage of people who were bursting at the sight of him. But Dalit class people appreciated Savarkar's poetry and hailed him as 'political revolutionary', 'social revolutionary'. Meanwhile, Savarkar arranged a sahabhojan for all Hindus. On this occasion he vowed that 'henceforth I will call myself only Hindu'.

As days went by, Savarkar went up the ladder of success. His pure mind, sincere efforts, love and admiration for Hinduism and country attracted the hearts of people. Inspired by this, Savarkar said, and decided to establish 'Akhila Hindu Centre'.Luckily for him, a famous businessman agreed to help him with money. Within a few months, the 'Pathitapavan' temple was built in Ratnagiri. Within a few months it became a center for all Hindu worship, meetings, ceremonies, communions and campaigns. All castes, ie all Hindus started gathering there day by day. Under the leadership of a young Brahmin, an 'Akhil Hindu Upahara Griha' was started right next to the temple. Dalits were the ones who were preparing the meals there. Untouchables were the priests in Patithapavan temple. The broadcasters and the reciters were all from different castes. Savarkar created awareness among the people by saying that the temple belongs to Hindus and the food hall belongs to Hindus. Overall, the Patitapavan Mandir became the center of study for the Purification Movement.

[ Patitapavana mandir,Ratnagiri,Maharashtra, India.]

Savarkar's work attracted Gandhiji, Dr. Ambedkar and many other leaders. Ambedkar openly praised Savarkar in his paper. Ambedkar was greatly impressed by Savarkar's treatment of the lower castes.Mahatma Gandhi also came to Ratnagiri and met Savarkar. Politically there was no agreement between them. But both have the same goal. Only the ideal and the path were different.

As the British government ordered Savarkar not to engage in politics for any reason, he met people through religious and social programs. He was trying to unite people through Hindu organization. Wherever there were untouchables in the hilly areas and villages, he used to travel like lightning and unite the people. He mingled freely with everyone without any discrimination. His aim was to develop equality and harmony among all. They were requesting to buy only indigenous products. On the other hand, what they are doing? What are you talking about? News about it was being submitted to the government through intelligence.

Savarkar adopted the Hindu National Anthem and the Hindu National Flag through the All India Hindu Mahasabha. He also demanded that Hindi should become the national language of India and Devanagari should become the national script. He also had the desire to purify the language. He also campaigned for the removal of Urdu-Persian words from Marathi and Hindi languages. At first there was opposition from Marathi writers. Savarkar then convinced everyone about the importance of purifying the language. After that Marathi dictionary was created with the help of many authors. Not only that, all the languages came together and called for the non-committal words in their languages to be removed without hesitation and substitute words.

Even though Savarkar was not in prison, he felt as if he was in prison. The reason was that he could not leave Ratnagiri town and go anywhere else. Behind them is always the annoyance of intelligence.Besides, there was nothing to talk about politics. Fed up with this, he repeatedly submitted petitions to the government requesting a complete release. But only the government did not take their pleas seriously. Despite this, Savarkar was undaunted and tried to create awareness among the people through religious and social activities.

Days rolled by. His well-wishers formed a committee to make Savarkar a fully independent individual and collected one lakh signatures and submitted to the government.As usual, the government neglected. Finally in 1937, the government made Savarkar a fully independent person at the insistence of Jamunadas Mehta, a disciple of veteran freedom fighter Balgangadhar Tilak. As Mehta was the chief minister of Mumbai province, the government valued his words. On this occasion, a stream of congratulations flowed from all corners of India. The people of Ratnagiri organized a huge meeting and honored Savarkar by offering funds. After a long imprisonment of twenty seven years he became a free man.

Savarkar's mind was filled with joy as he was blessed to continue serving the country. He visited cities and towns like Kolhapur, Pune, Mumbai and told about his next goal. Public meetings were held everywhere. The same enthusiasm, the same enthusiasm, the same smart words, the same diligence in the car, which was not lost among the Savarkars, attracted the public a lot.

Savarkar did not rest after completing his tour of Maharashtra province. He had decided not to rest until India's slavery was emancipated. For this reason he toured North India. He made revolutionary speeches in cities like Kansur, Faizabad, Lucknow, Barabanki, Agra. People used to come from surrounding villages to listen to him. He met the local freedom fighters and encouraged them further. From there he went to the province of Punjab and met Jananayaks like Ganipindi Das Captain Keshavchandra. When he went to the Sindh province, he asked the people there not to insist on a separate Sindh province.

Savarkar's speech was as direct and bitter as it was justified. His clear ideology and vision attracted the youth. He was not taking any route for happiness. Think deeply. He used to keep in mind the facts, think about the future and move on a path.

Savarkar led a movement in 1938-39 under the leadership of the Hindu Mahasabha. Location: Hyderabad, where Muslims were heavily represented in the Nizam's administration. Savarkar raised his voice against this and demanded that Hindus should be given priority. As the movement became very sustainable, thousands joined the struggle. But the Congress party remained silent about this movement. Savarkar alone did not stop the movement. Finally the Nizam of Hyderabad agreed to meet the demands of the Hindu Mahasabha to some extent. Hindus were given 50 percent representation. The movement paid off so quickly that the entire country sang Savarkar's praises.

In 1940, it was decided to hold the annual session of the Hindu Maha Sabha at Bagalpur in Bihar. But the government should not leave! Banned the session. Prohibitory orders were also enforced in some towns. But, regardless of this, the people violated the government order. Police arrested Savarkar. However, the session did not stop. Successfully held. Lokmanya Balgangadhar Tilak's grandson Jeevi Ketkar took the stage and read Savarkar's speech. The government was stunned. Savarkar became aware of his enormous power and popularity.

British Government representative Sir Stafford Cripps landed in India in 1942 to meet many leaders regarding Indian independence. He was known to be very intelligent, clever in speech. What he talked about was that the other side was fooled. The British government believed that he could not be defeated in an argument. Because of this, the Cripps were present when the most important negotiations took place. In the pre-independence days, people used to talk about the achievements of Cripps who raised Russia against Germany and captured Nehru.

[ Image Credits: wikipedia ]

The Cripps met many leaders. Savarkar is the most prominent among them. Cripps's two-factor formula. One, the establishment of the Indian Commonwealth.Second, the right of self-determination for states that do not wish to join the Union. In reality the first point was suggested by the editors themselves and was agreed upon without further discussion. But in the latter there was a conspiracy to break up the country. So Savarkar said without hesitation that he could not agree to it. Cripps didn't stop there. He told the story of not coming to work. Examples of Canada and South Africa were presented. Savarkar disagreed with all of them. India is but one nation: All Hindus think of Mother India as their mother. They believe that India is a single, undivided country.The British government is using 'Indian Government', 'Indian Army'.Then he said like a stick that there is no question of dividing India.

Cripps didn't sit still. Tried to woo Savarkar. But they are smarter than the Cripps. He was not fooled by his soft words. continued his argument.

'Provinces in India have always been united and having central legislation.India is a culturally intact country. In addition, the British government also accepted the integrity of Hindustan from the point of view of politics and state administration. All these facts prepare Hindustan to be a centralized nation and state. Mumbai, Bengal, Punjab are provinces within it, thus the power of self-determination applies to the entire nation. Not to the parts within it. In fact you are the one who created this theory.'

Having said this, Savarkar tore the copy of the plan given to him and stood up. By this, Cripps clause was completely rejected. But the Cripps had Savarkar's back. Again invited for discussion. Savarkar had only one word: I am not ready for any talks that lead to partition.

Savarkar also informed the Congress leaders of Cripp's trickery and requested them to not to agree to his formula. He warned that if India were to be accepted, there would be a situation where India would have to be divided into pieces. A few days later the Cripps held a discussion with Congress leaders. Confused by his words, ideas, strategy, and cunning, the Congressmen passed a resolution supporting Cripps's cabinet proposals.

In between, i.e. in 1942, the Quit India movement took place. On this occasion, Gandhiji said, 'Let the British leave the country, if they want to give power to the Muslim League, there is no need to worry. We will join hands with them,' he said. Savarkar condemned this statement.

The British government imprisoned most of the Congress leaders, including Gandhiji. After that the incubation of the movement went down. But after this movement the Muslims completely changed.They sat adamantly saying that they wanted a separate nation.

The movements continued. Negotiations took place. Savarkar alone tried hard to prevent the partition of the country. But that was never possible. There were communal riots. Thousands of innocent people died. India finally became an independent nation on August 15, 1947. Pakistan emerged under the leadership of Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The Savarkar were greatly saddened by the loss of the indus River to India. Gangecha Yamune Chaiva Godavari Saraswati Narmade Sindhu.... the verse has now lost its meaning. Most have forgotten it. But Savarkar was emotionally attached to this holy river of India, so his mind agonized. But nothing could be done. He touched the Indus river which was flowing peacefully in the country called Pakistan.

A prominent figure who was particularly attracted by Savarkar was the brave warrior Sardar Bhagat Singh. Savarkar's Mahakranti of 1857 had a profound effect on Bhagat Singh. So he molded 2000 copies of that book and sold them secretly to raise money for the freedom struggle. Bhagat Singh greatly admired Savarkar's idea of full swaraj. Unfortunately, Bhagat Singh fell into the clutches of the British and had to be hanged. On this occasion, Savarkar could not contain his grief and cried like a small child.

Another great activist who greatly admired Savarkar's positive and realistic attitude was Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

Once, news spread that Savarkar would join the Congress party. But some of the policies and ideals of that party did not suit him. So he stayed away from Congress till his last breath.

There was no intimacy, no emotional connection between Gandhiji and Savarkar. One is the North Pole, the other is the South Pole. Savarkar had opposed Gandhi many times on the issue of Kashmir. If Savarkar had made up his mind, he could have joined the Congress party and gained power and fame. But they didn't need all that. His opinion was that national honor is more important than power and fame. He used to say that winning people with love is better than winning people with power.

On January 30, 1948, a young man named Nathuram Godse shot Gandhi.The whole world was shocked to know this. No one expected such an event. The whole of India was in mourning. A few hours after Gandhiji's assassination, it was revealed that Godse was an active worker of the Hindu Mahasabha. The crowd was outraged. The members of the Hindu Mahasabha were identified and beaten. As the moments rolled by, violence started everywhere. The house of Hindu Mahasabha leader was set on fire. The shops of the people belonging to the Hindu organization were set on fire. Violence broke out all over the country, especially in Maharashtra.

A group of people barged into Savarkar's house and pelted stones at his house. Savarkar was hit by a stone and blood started flowing from his forehead. Meanwhile, the police arrived there and dispersed the people. The police called, "Come, we will secretly take you to a safe place." But Savarkar did not agree to this. They are deeply hurt by Gandhi's assassination Now people should maintain peace and order, he said. People clearly did not understand Savarkar who said that killing someone just because of differences of opinion is a great sin and unforgivable. They were inciting to kill only English officers who had anti-India attitude!

Fate's behavior is strange, it had nothing to do with Gandhiji's assassination and Savarkar.But the Government of India arrested Savarkar for the sole reason that Godse was an activist of the Hindu Mahasabha. How ironic! Veer Savarkar, who spent more than 20 years in jail for India's liberation, was imprisoned by the leaders of independent India. Even more surprising and shocking is the fact that Irresponsible journalists who do not think ahead portray Savarkar as a villain.

All these things caused boredom among the devotees. But he was calm and not under any pressure. The prison authorities treated him very badly. Savarkar were not allowed to eat food brought from home. He was not allowed to see his wife and children from a distance. Fearing that if we spoke for Savarkar, we too would be put in jail, people did not go to jail.Besides, there was no voice in support of him anywhere.

A few days later a Mumbai lawyer named Devdhar dared to plead for Savarkar. Allowed him to talk to his wife and children. After that L.B. Bhopatkar came forward to argue for Savarkar. Strangely, some newspapers wrote articles suggesting that Bhopatkar was making a huge mistake. But Bhopatkar didn't bother about it. Inquiries continued.

On February 10, 1949, the final judgment was pronounced:

'Vinayak D. Savarkar was acquitted as he was not guilty.'

As soon as the news was heard, lakhs of Savarkar's fans gathered outside the Red Fort in Delhi and congratulated him. After that, he came directly to the city of Mumbai where thousands of people met him, shook hands and expressed happiness. On this occasion, his health was not good and he came to Bangalore to rest. The good climate of this city, the generosity and care of the people enthralled the devotees. Soon his health improved and he started walking like a young man.

Savarkar toured India. Delivered an inspiring speech at the Hindu Mahasabha session held in Calcutta. He called upon the youth to develop patriotism by going to other parts of the country.

Time rolled by. In May 1958, Savarkar's 75th birthday was celebrated with great fanfare. Mumbai City Corporation awarded him citizenship. University of Pune honoured with degree of D.Litt.

As time passed, Savarkar's health began to deteriorate.

By the time Savarkar recovered, his wife Yamuna died. Savarkar did not sleep for two days due to grief.

Again Savarkar's illness started worsening. Skipped the meal and started spending the day drinking tea. Speech was reduced. The body began to swell slowly. Stopped taking medicine completely.

On February 26, 1966, at 11 am, Savarkar left his beloved 'Bharat' and went to the unknown world.On hearing the news of Savarkar's death, Indians were drowned in grief.

Mother India wept silently after losing the inestimable.