Book Review -
Savarkar (Part 2): A Contested Legacy, 1924-1966.
Dr. Vikram Sampath.
Penguin Viking.
712 pages. Rs. 729 (Hard cover)
The much awaited concluding volume of Savarkar series, Savarkar: A Contested Legacy was launched on this July 26. The book unravels the story forward from 1924 where it left the reader in nailbitting curiosity in it's precluding volume, Savarkar: Echoes from forgotten past. Many commentators after favourably reviewing the first part infact belived that this upcomming sequel to be most crucial book of Dr. Vikram Sampath's academic career and a litmus test of his scholarship. The book however after being launched and warmly received by readers and academics with much expected enthusiasm was also accompanied by an unfortunate absence of any reviews or critical engagement by any leading magazine or newspaper (Swarajya Mag being the first to publish a very brief review just a couple of days back), despite the book recieving enviable scores of advance praise from scholars of distinction such as Prof. Faisal Devji ("The perspective is both novel and sobering, and the picture he presents of Savarkar picking his way through the debris of history a vivid and compelling one."), Prof. Francis Robinson ("Rooted in wide-ranging research, but also very easy to read, it brings to life the world and the ideas of a revolutionary Hindu who did much to shape modern India."), Lavanya Vemsani ("Sampath's Savarkar makes the most valuable and original contribution to historical scholarship on Indian independence movement") and even from someone ideologically hostile to Savarkar like Jairam Ramesh ("My endorsement of Sampath's fine book is as a student of Indian political history and not as someone...who believes that Savarkar is a profoundly divisive figure and the very opposite of what Mahatma Gandhi lived for-and ultimately was killed for as well.") among many others and covering one of most tumultous period of Indian history that too of one of it's most controversial dramatis personnae. With regard to this glaring absence, we at the The Darkest Rhyme with our credo "When facts change I change my mind, What do you do sir?" (Keynes) and with firm belief in core academic ideals of engagement, dialogue and critique have endeveoured to review this significant book, who's significance can be grasped by the fact that both the volumes of Savarkar series are currently National best sellers and the former volume has already ran into multiple editions in a nation with readership that normally doesn't lean towards non fiction much.
Before proceeding ahead, I would like to specify to the reader the structure of the following review. This review has been divided into three essential components, former dealing with the technical aspects of this book, then later one proceeding to analyse the substance of it and then resting with the penultimate conclusion.
Technical Aspects -
This present book claims to take the narrative of Savarkar's life story forward from where it left in the first volume (Echoes from the forgotten past) and covers the time frame of the crucial, tumultuous and much contested 1924-66 years. This book is divided into twelve chapters in chronological progression backed by an array of copious amount of footnotes, two attached appendixes and several rare photographs of Savarkar.
Perhaps the greatest service that this book does to the legacy of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and our understanding of his life and actions, is what to use words of another contemporary Historian Manu S. Pillai is - "reiterating the importance of that age-old principle: context". While chronicling the most controversial and stormy period of his subject's life, Dr. Vikram Sampath rather than aggressively becomming an apologist for him, patiently places each and every episode in proper context that he identifies on the basis of first hand sources properly footnoted and than allows the reader to draw his own conclusions. The various contentious issues of Savarkar's life that are often used to harangue his legacy by his present day ideological detractors such as his alleged exhortion of Hindu chiefs to retaliate molestation of Hindu women by molestation of Muslim women, his approval of formation of coalition government by Hindu Mahasabha along with Muslim Leagues and most crucially his implication and further supposedly technical aquittal in Mahatma Gandhi assassination case and his posthumous indictment by Justice Kapoor commision are similarly subjected to this methodology of contextual analysis whereby a particular instance at hand is placed within proper respective context organically leading to the emergence of a nuanced perspective of events (not necessarily to be always favourable to the subject).
The other much appreciated highlight of this book as in previous volume remains Dr. Sampath's conception of Savarkar not only as completely monotonous, politically animated personna but also someone who was deeply engaged and much more than that contributed to Literature, poetry, drama and plays (He was also elected as President of Marathi Sahitya Samellan after initial controversies). Dr. Samapth's meticulous translation of Savarkar's works including his journalisitic output, poetry, essays from Marathi to English are an integral contribution of this book. The book also endeveours to highlight the important contributions that Savarkar made in linguistic traditions of regional Marathi language, the continuing influence of which can be witnessed even today. The author makes commendable use of vast and voluminous ammount of literature Savarkar left behind primarily in Marathi which was hitherto ignored by or was inaccessible to the mainstream English reading intelligentsia.
After that the most remarkable even if secondary breakthrough of this book is use of "Oral History" for shedding light on much forgotten and brushed aside episode of 1948 Anti Maharashtrian Brahmin genocide in aftermath of Mahatma Gandhi's assasination through the medium of personal interviews, soliction of crowdsource information, compilation of family sagas passed from generation to generation (Appendix 1). On sidelines, one is forced to think that is this one of the reasons why prominent media entities have imposed self censorship on reviewing this book, lest they too be branded as "Savarna media" by elements of radical leftist academia.
Substantial Aspects -
Dr. Sampath has displayed prodigious scholarship in chronicling the life story of his subject from blurring haze of hagiographical legends and demonising denunciations to a hard fact based narrative. The author plainly compiles facts based on undoubtedly academic hardwork and serious research and allows the facts to direct the readers rather than adavancing any conclusions of his own. In this respect the book stands out for it's objective and neutral perspective from the previous work on this subject where Veer Savarkar by Biographer Dhananjay Keer has been noted by many as hagiographical albeit being well researched and Savarkar: The true story of father of Hindutva by journalist Vaibhav Purandre was considered to be apologia in tone and direction. Now after entirely reading this book, one wishes the author may have allowed reader to know what his conclusions are as well perhaps in a seperate section.
As it was also evident in first volume, one of the essential backdrop premise of this book is identification of various streams of freedom movement running parallely even if sometimes overlapping or conflicting with each other as against the unifocal focus on Non violent mode of resistance championed by Congress as done by a previous generation of scholars. The book purports to establish Savarkar's centrality in those other streams of freedom movement on basis of Savarkar's regular correspondence and close contact with prominent revolutionary organizers such as Sachindranath Sanyal and Rash Behari Bose among many others.
Reading the book one cannot afford to miss how much Gandhi's presence loomed as an over arching presence throught out Savarkar's works, politics and life as he did for most of the figures of that period including his other critical detractor Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, even though as in case of Savarkar, the actual instances of their interactive engagement remains very sparce. (Dr. Sampath does do hardwork in bringing out various other forms of engagement between both ferociously opposed luminaries, sometimes warm & humane, sometimes fraught with tension but no one conceding any ground to other.) Though in case of Jawaharlal Nehru, the record proves to be more contentious as the book depicts in an incident concerning the cenetary celebrations of 1857, War of Independence, How Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India refused to share stage with Savarkar on less than convincing reasons.
The book also opens up Savarkar as multi dimensional personnae, in form of Poet-Essayist (See, Vol. 1 for better perspective) and Historian by assessing his two significant contributions to Historical literature - his groundbreaking The first war of Indian Independence, 1857 (which was considered to be seminal text on 1857 revolution by many Indian nationalists including Bhagat Singh, Subhash Bose and even Pandit Nehru) and Six Glorious epochs at length. Dr. Sampath while acknowledging Savarkar's trademark literary flourish and often lapses into emotional, mythical and metaphorical exxagerations also highlight the scholarship with respect to sources and facts available at that time.
The book understandbly dwells for a considerable length on Savarkar's zeal and action based commitment for social upliftment of untouchables considering it to be central pillar in construction of modern Hindu community and for that end often willing to take radical stands such as interdining, inter-marraige as well as conducting sacred thread ceremonies or constituting Bhajan Mandalis for/of untouchables notwithstanding strident and often hostile opposition from his natural constituency of high caste orthodoxy.
The book comes at it's critical best while depicting Savarkar's role as president of Hindu Mahasabha. The author while depicting how Savarkar by his sole charisma and zeal changed the nature of Hindu Mahasabha by striving to aggressively to take it up to Hindu masses and claim the mantle of it's monopoly over the leadership of Hindu community which he felt was increasingly cornered by Muslim League while simultaneously abandoned by Congress, succinctly highlights how Savarkar the radical rable rousing reveloutionary of London days falls short of being a perfect leader in those critical years. The book proceeds to highlight instances of Savarkar's policy flipflops of the very same nature which he criticised in Congress throughout his political career. The generational shift within Mahasabha led by Dr. Shyama Mookerjee advocating a comparitively liberal attitude towards Congress and the factional fights within Mahasbha continued unabated despite Savarkar's efforts to contain them.
As an interesting note, The book also shows Savarkar's ambiguous relations with Bose brothers. There were instances of disagreements between Savarkar and Subhash Bose even while the former was held in high regard by later especially with respect to later's support for reveloutionary activities and encouragement of Military recruitment whereas there are instances when Savarkar used to bitterly clash with Sarat Bose.
It is often expected that a reviewer should avoid the tendency to term biographies as "Definitve" as certainly some lacuanes exist in even most prodigious works of scholarship. In case of this book, it's strength can also be seen as one of it's weakness. Undoubtedly, The book while being a work of scholarship, and introducing the English speaking reader to a whole volley of authentic facts, it basically lacks any pentrating insights into Savarkar's psychological state and mental make up, a much deeper analysis of what currents shaped his personality or gradual development of the same, his beliefs especially his much proclaimed Atheism despite being the foremost idelogue of Hindu nationalism and it's inspiration given his childhood in relegious atmosphere, the constant friction in mind of Savarkar where he utilises relegious motifs throughout all his writings while discarding relegion as institution and matter of faith, or the influence or professional antipathy for Gandhi (as the book convincingly shows an absence of personal one) over Savarkar's later course of actions and outlook. To be fair to the author, the book does conclude the with a very perceptive and intriguing analysis of Savarkar by leading sociologist Asish Nandy.
(Front view of Savarkar: A contested legacy along with a letter to reader by the author.)
Conclusion -
For all it's certain lacunaes no one can deny that this book in particular and entire volume in general provides torrential ammount of fresh facts, marshalling them to weave a coherent and multi-layered narrative of Savarkar, the man and his times.
As many today, especially on right of center and many in radical right wing consider V.D. Savarkar as their patron saint against the liberal and pacifist and secular Gandhi and his near villification by left academia as very personification of communal-reactionary forces and fascism, one important and intriguing question that any future academic can dwell upon is how much it is appropriate to place Savarkar on right side of political spectrum given his opposition to ritualistic worship, antipathy towards traditional sentimentality, a strong zeal to completely demolish the Chaturvarna system and his support for radical overthrowing of government through force rather than constitutional moderation, his support for scientific technology and focus on practicality and rationalism. Contrast this with Mahatma's views on the same issues and the entire idea of ideological placement collapses. (Many prominent communist leaders of yore like M.N.Roy of Radical Humanisim fame & Sripad Amrit Dange actually held Savarkar in great esteem and ironically it was M.S Golwalkar of the RSS who was often at loggerheads with him.)
"If we would speak true/
Much to the man is due".
(Written by Bhuvan Krishna with support & valuable inputs from Abhishek Tripathi, Undergraduate Students at University of Delhi)
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