Ganesh Damodar Savarkar was a patriot of the first order. also known as Babarao,he is the epitome of heroism that is unknown and unsung!He was the eldest of the Savarkar siblings Ganesh,Vinayak,and Maina.Babarao was a great revolutionary,philosopher,writer and organizer of Hindus

He Was instrumental in MITRAMELA & later Abhinav Bharat,a secret revolutionary society, Lokamanya Tilak had close ties with MitraMela.The primary activities were organising public celebrations of Hindu festivals, inviting other freedom fighters and intellectuals to give lectures.

On a dussehra procession, the Mitramela members marched the streets of Nashik with loud “Vande mataram” slogans. It infuriated the Britishers. Babarao and some members were arrested as they thrashed a policeman who hit Babarao with a baton.

They were tried, found guilty and punished with a hefty fine.This was widely known as the Vande Mataram trial.

Later Babarao was arrested in Bombay for a duel with Hussain,a sub inspector posted for crowd control.He had come forward to save a Khoja gentleman from the policeman.

After he was arrested, JF Guyder the Superintendent of Police recognized the Tiger of Nashik was in his clutches. He left no stone unturned to ensure Babarao’s conviction.
He had to argue on his own as he did not get a lawyer. had to spend a month in prison, where he met Tilak !

He was under constant surveillance of the RAJ and finally Laghu Abhinav Bharat Mala, a collection of 18 Poems, was cited as the evidence for proving him guilty for waging war against the Empire.

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His trial was initially before the Nashik District Collector, Jackson who ensured Savarkar’s Transportation of life. The judgement was pronounced on 8th June 1909, which happened to be Babarao’s birthday as per the Hindu calendar.

The news of Babarao’s sentence spread far and wide. This made the blood of the Indian revolutionaries boil. On 1st July 1909, Madanlal Dhingra, a patriot assassinated Curzon Wylie as a “humble revenge for hangings and deportation of patriotic Indians”. Dhingra was hanged to death

In November 1909, the Bombay HC upheld the verdict against Babarao. Anant Laxman Kanhere, a 19 year old student hatched a plot to kill Jackson, the DC of Nashik. They knew that he was the kingpin behind Babarao’s sentence.

The same DC had saved a Britisher from the law, when he murdered an Indian driver On 21st December 1909, they killed Jackson. Kanhere, Karve and Deshpande were tried and executed.

The Britishers conducted several raids and arrests to prevent further retaliation.He was constantly tortured and forced to reveal the names of other revolutionaries in mainland prisons. He never gave them even the slightest hint.

This torture affected his health. In the Cellular Jail, he faced the worse torture under a cruel Irish jailor, Barrie. The conditions were so harsh that some of them preferred to commit suicide or escape.

In 1911, Veer Savarkar joined his brother in Andaman.

He was found guilty for various crimes,mainly the supply of guns to kill Jackson.they were not allowed to communicate and were separated.They organised ‘Shuddhi’, to bring back those Hindus who had converted to Islam.This was to prevent forced conversions by the muslim jailors.

Babarao met Maulana Mohani from Sabarmati prison. He was part of the Khilafat movement. It whipped up the pan islamist sentiments of Indian muslims in support of the defeated Ottoman Empire.

He learnt about the sinister Gandhi Amanullah pact from the Maulana. According to this, Amir Amanullah of Afghanistan was ‘invited’ to invade India to drive the Britishers away. Babarao smelt something fishy in this

This was when he saw the loopholes in such a philosophy and the damage it was doing to the cause of Swarajya. Babaro disagreed with Gandhi’s theory of ‘Go to jail for patriotism’. He believed that the ideas like spinning charkhas and filling up prisons would not win the cause

He felt that Gandhi was refusing to adapt to the industrial age, which was needed in any modern country. He viewed Gandhian ideals of ahimsa and non co operation as ‘shackles’ in the fight for freedom

He was released from jail in September 1922, after 13 years of imprisonment.

He came out of jail on a stretcher and was in a critical stage. He knew that death awaited him as the Civil Surgeon did not predict he would live beyond a few days. Fortunately he managed to recover and dedicated his life to awaken the Hindus.

Though he did not agree with Gandhi, he set aside differences and went to meet him to save Bhagat Singh from execution. They met at Gandhi’s Ashram in Wardha on 15th February 1931 where they had a long conversation.

Babarao had come to know of his meeting with Irwin, the next day. A smart man he was, he could see the emergence of a pact where political prisoners would be released. He urged Gandhi to strive for Bhagat Singh’s release.

Though he tried hard, he could not convince Gandhi, who kept his ideal of ahimsa above the lives of revolutionaries. That was their last meeting as Gandhi had walked away, unable to answer Babarao.

He formed the Tarun Hindu Sabha to find and groom patriots to work for Bharat,between 1923-24. It was also to provide a cadre base for the Hindu Mahasabha. Babarao met Anusilan Samiti member KB Hedgewar in 1924 at Nagpur.Hedgewar left a lasting impression on Babarao

He later handed over the Nagpur Branch’s charge to Hedgewar when it was time for him to leave Nagpur .In 1925 when Hedgewar founded the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Babarao was also present in the function. He had helped them in preparing the pledge and flag.

In April 1930, Babarao merged his organisation into RSS and started working for the Sangh.He further approached other Hindu nationalist organisations to merge their groups with the Sangh and work for the Nationalist cause.

Babarao Savarkar breathed his last on 16th March 1945.

He could not live to see the light of the day India would become independent.
His brother Veer Savarkar continues to be vilified and attacked by the Congress party and its ecosystem. However the Savarkar family’s legacy lives on and inspires a Nation today!