View from Abroad: Who's afraid of Veer Savarkar?

Gray’s Inn in London is not a hotel. Founded in the 14th Century, it is one of the four ancient ‘Inns of Court’ where English barristers are called to the bar. It counts among its distinguished alumni Thomas Cromwell, Francis Bacon, at least five Archbishops of Canterbury—and most famous of all, India’s own B.R. Ambedkar. In 2021, Gray’s Inn unveiled a portrait of Ambedkar, which they installed in their public events room, which they renamed the Ambedkar Room in his honour. As well they might. Any institution that can take credit for the legal education of the father of the Indian Constitution very well should. But Ambedkar was not the first prominent Indian independence leader to study at Gray’s Inn. That honour goes to V D ‘Veer’ Savarkar. Only Savarkar was never called to the bar. Instead, he was accused of “condoning assassination” and “inciting revolution” (true and true), and thus passed over. Savarkar was arrested for sedition soon afterward, deported for trial in India, and ultimately sentenced to 50 years’ hard labour in the Andamans. He ultimately served 10 years at Cellular Jail, followed by another 16 years of imprisonment and house arrest. Gray’s Inn has no monument to Savarkar. Instead, he is listed on the Inn’s web page for “members of the Inn remembered more for some misfortune, injustice or scandal than for their legal distinction.” It seems that Gray’s Inn would rather not be associated with Savarkar. It’s not that London’s Inns of Court have any aversion to association with revolutionaries. Lincoln’s Inn has hung a portrait of Jinnah since 1965, and has a hagiographic web page dedicated to him. The Middle Temple honours Sardar Patel as one of its “Famous Middle Templars”. And of course the Inner Temple devotes an entire section of its website to Mahatma Gandhi. But Savarkar was different, and in two ways. First, he not only advocated, but directly participated in armed insurrection against British rule. And second, he is the only one of these five titans of history who has not been unequivocally embraced by his own country. It would be one thing if the Indians who disparage the memory of Savarkar condemned him for his revolutionary activities, disavowing his rejection of Gandhian nonviolence. It can fairly be said of Savarkar that he was a terrorist, at least in his younger years, and in later years he tirelessly promoted military training for Hindu Indians. But that’s not what Savarkar’s critics object to. Instead, they endlessly recycle pleas for mercy written by a 27-year-old who had been sentenced to fifty years of torture, including months of solitary confinement, days-long shackling in stress positions, and random beatings by unaccountable prison guards. After 28 months of hard labour under these conditions in the jungle heat of Port Blair, he wrote with remarkable fluency that he was “ready to serve the Government in any capacity they like, for as my (Savarkar’s) conversion is conscientious so I (Savarkar) hope my (Savarkar’s) future conduct would be." Few of us know how long we would bear up under years of torture. What we do know is that Savarkar was the only one of India’s major independence leaders to be set to hard labour, and that he returned to covert revolutionary activities the moment he was released. It seems clear that his conversion from violent revolutionary to loyal subject was purely tactical, and no more than skin deep. So should Savarkar be honoured with the prefix ‘veer’ (brave), and should he be honoured with a place at Gray’s Inn? His bravery was tested in ways that few barristers have ever had to endure, and having lived through a decade of torture, he repeatedly risked a return to Port Blair in his pursuit of revolutionary goals. It might be reasonable to condemn Savarkar as a terrorist; it is ridiculous to malign him as a coward. As for Gray’s Inn, their website already honours 17th century regicides, 18th century revolutionaries, and 19th century imperialists. Whether or not they want to find space for a 20th century freedom fighter is up to them. But after missing an opportunity to make history by calling Veer Savarkar to the bar in 1909, they might consider taking the opportunity to correct history by remembering him with a portrait in 2023. In light of Savarkar’s long-term collaboration with Ambedkar in the cause of eliminating untouchability, they might even hang it in the Ambedkar Room. The writer is an associate professor at the University of Sydney and the executive director of the Indian Century Roundtable. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost’s views. Read all the Latest News, Trending News,  Cricket News, Bollywood News, India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.