From being orphaned at all but 20 years of age to 13 years of struggle behind bars, the eldest of the Savarkar siblings lived not for himself but for Bharat Mata. Tuesday, June 13 marks the birth anniversary of the revered freedom fighter Ganesh Damodar Savarkar, the spark which ignited the fire named Veer Savarkar.

Known as Babarao in his home state Maharashtra, GD Savarkar is a prominent name in the Indian freedom struggle. He founded Abhinav Bharat in 1904 along with his younger brother Vinayak Damodar ‘Veer’ Savarkar. He was and is known for his revolutionary thinking and writing, exceptional political conscience, and indomitable devotion to freeing Bharat Mata from the clutches of the colonial powers.

Babarao was born in Bhagur, Maharashtra. The responsibility of the upbringing of his siblings fell on his young shoulders following the death of their mother Radhabai and later the death of their father Damodarpant. Taking the challenge head-on, Babarao sacrificed his education for the upbringing of his siblings.

How Babarao fanned the flames of the Indian freedom struggle

In 1899, Vinayak aka Tatyarao, started a secret revolutionary group called ‘Rashtrabhakta Samooh’. Babarao soon became a member of this group. In 1902, he took charge of ‘Mitramela’ after VD Savarkar left for Pune for higher studies.

Babarao had devoted himself to serving his motherland as a means of attaining moksha; his pursuit was just as spiritual as it was physical thus proving that his love for his motherland equated his love for Bhagwan.

By 1904, ‘Mitramela’ had several members and was eventually renamed ‘Abhinav Bharat’. Under the leadership of Babarao, Abhinav Bharat organised several revolutionary meetings with revered freedom fighters like Lokmanya Tilak and Aurobindo Ghosh.

After the British announced the partition of Bengal in 1905, Babarao and Tatyarao parallelly organised the public bonfire of foreign goods in Nashik and Pune respectively.

Babarao’s nationalistic fervor spread across Nashik after his and other Abhinav Bharat members’ arrest and trial by the British for raising Vande Mataram slogans.

The trial was organised to harass the heroes but was followed by a backlash at every place where the trial was held, the four-point programme of Swadeshi, boycott of foreign goods, national education, and Swaraj received a fillip. Babarao was now under the radar of the ‘british’.

First and second arrests of Babarao

In 1908, Babarao was tricked into what became his first arrest. He was sentenced to one month’s imprisonment for “disobeying sub-inspector Muhammad Hussain”, despite no proof. After being shifted from Dongri to Thane jail, Babarao was subjected to inhumane treatment that hospitalised him for a month.

After his release, the British surveillance on the Savarkar residence increased. Babarao was constantly being watched. He learned bomb-making, distributed manuals, met rulers of small principalities, and continued his revolutionary movement all the while escaping detectives and giving a slip to the secret police.

In 1909 came Babarao’s second arrest over the nationalist and religious poems published by him. He was sentenced to transportation for life under section 121 and two years rigorous imprisonment under section 124A of the IPC.

Babarao was a worshipped figure across Nashik. In order to quell the cry for freedom in the city, the British paraded Babarao on the streets donning a yellowish cap signifying kaala pani jail, prison clothes with his hands and legs chained.

What followed was 13 years of torture, abuse, and mental and physical harassment. The abuse meted out to prisoners of the Cellular Jail in the Andamans was and is still not lost on any Indian.

Babarao was forced to do hard labour, yoked to the oil mill, exploited to the extent of getting bloody diarrhea, forced to pass motion while standing, fed spoilt food, and sent to solitary confinement. He lived with diarrhea and tuberculosis for years at a stretch with no access to healthcare.

His ill health was never cured even after being released from jail.

Babarao’s release in September 1922

By the time of his release after over 13 years, Babarao was reduced to skin and bones. He was released on a stretcher from the Sabarmati jail in September 1922. His youngest brother Narayanrao was dumbfounded to see the plight of his eldest brother.

But the diya of his devotion towards his Bharat Mata was above and beyond the mental and physical ordeal he was subjected to.

Exposing the Gandhian ideology

During his time in prison, the flame of freedom kept burning in Babarao’s heart. He met and spoke to many Gandhi followers, and extensively read literature on Gandhism and Sufi Islam.

He vowed to expose the farce and sheer spinelessness of the Gandhian ideology and to reveal the sinister plot of the revival of Islam in India, and he kept that vow.

On his deathbed, on 31 July 1944, this was Babarao’s last message in service of the nation as told to Dr. Shayam Prasad Mookerji,

“My end is near. The journey of my life is drawing to a close. I now have to enter the land of liberated souls. Before that, I am handing over the flag of the Bharatiya revolutionary battle to you! I want to give you a word of warning regarding Gandhi. Under the spell of misguided nationalism, he is eager to hand over the sovereignty of Hindustan to
Jinnah. Gandhi has decided to cover himself with greatness at the cost of the welfare of Hindustan. This is the first stage in this sinful tradition. Gandhi has done his utmost to destroy the revolutionary movement in Bengal and Maharashtra. But I want to tell you that the rights secured by the Act of 1935 were a result of the sacrifices of the revolutionaries and not because of non-violent agitation! I have documentary evidence that Gandhi had hatched an anti-national conspiracy to hand over Hindusthan to Muslims way back in 1920. In these terrible times, I am handing over the lamp of Hindutva and the freedom of Hindusthan to you.”

This son of Bharat Mata who endured brutal cruelties at the hands of the British will continue to guide Indians through his thoughts.