Demand for Bharat Ratna to Veer Savarkar

A typical modus operandi of British authorities during British rule was this : when they spotted an Indian who made fiery speeches or wrote fiery articles against British rule they would arrest him on trumped up charges, manufacture evidence and get the accused sentenced to long periods in jail through their biased judges.

 In jail the person would be given harsh treatment, solitary confinement, beatings, etc. This would usually ' soften up '  the detenue, and he would emerge as a tame person, often as a secret British agent after a secret deal with the British authorities

  This happened with many persons---M.N.Roy, Aurobindo Ghose, Veer Savarkar and Bal Gangadhar Tilak

  In 1908 a bomb blast killed a British barrister's wife and daughter in Alipore in Calcutta.. In the Alipore Bomb case Khudiram Bose was hanged, while Prafulla Chaki committed suicide when cornered.

 Aurobindo, who was a fiery revolutionary before this incident, was arrested for planning this incident on trumped up charges, and sentenced to jail. When he came out of jail he was no longer a revolutionary but had become a spiritualist, preaching nonsense like ' Integral Yoga ' ( see Life Divine )

 Bal Gangadhar Tilak, was a fiery person who said ' Swaraj is my birthright and I will have it '. He praised Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki in his newspaper, and for this was tried for sedition and sentenced to 6 years imprisonment. When he came out of jail, he had mellowed, and was no longer the same man. He gave up the demand for Swaraj and became a Home Ruler.

 M.N. Roy was known to be getting money from the British.

 The same happened with Savarkar.

 This revolutionary was arrested in 1910 and sentenced to two life terms in jail, and sent to Andaman Islands, where he was softened up.

 On November 14, 1913, Savarkar sought clemency while lodged in Andamans' Cellular Jail. In his letter, asking for forgiveness, he described himself as a "prodigal son" longing to return to the "parental doors of the government". He wrote that his release from the jail will recast the faith of many Indians in the British rule. Also he said "Moreover, my conversion to the constitutional line would bring back all those misled young men in India and abroad who were once looking up to me as their guide. I am ready to serve the government in any capacity they like, for as my conversion is conscientious so I hope my future conduct would be. By keeping me in jail, nothing can be got in comparison to what would be otherwise."

In 1920, the Indian National Congress and leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi, Vithalbhai Patel and Bal Gangadhar Tilak demanded his  release. Savarkar signed a statement endorsing his trial, verdict and British law, and renouncing violence, a bargain for freedom.

 On being released in 1921 Savarkar ceased being a revolutionary, and became an ardent champion of Hindu militancy, thus serving the British divide and rule policy. He became President of the Hindu Mahasabha; and during the Second World War advanced the slogan ' Hinduize all politics, and militarize Hindus '. Obviously this was in furtherance of a secret deal he had struck with the British for his release

 And this is the man for whom Bharat Ratna is proposed

 Hari Om

Bharat Ratna awards

The media are full of the award of Bharat Ratna to Pt. Madan Mohan Malviya and Atal Behari Vajpayi. Many people have applauded it.

 I regret I cannot join in this adulation. In my opinion neither of them deserved the award.

What was there so great about Vajpayee ? And what was there in Malviya ? It is said that he set up the Benaras Hindu University. But how can a University be Hindu or Muslim ? A University is something universal. In fact setting up Aligarh Muslim University and Benares Hindu University was part of the British policy of divide and rule.

 The persons who in my opinion should be awarded Bharat Ratna are :

(1) Mirza Ghalib

 When I first spoke of this some people said : why not to Gautam Buddha and Ashoka ? My answer is : Ghalib is modern, not ancient or medeival, and he has taken literature to the highest pinnacle. Also, posthumous awards have frequently been given, e.g. to Dr. Ambedkar and Sardar Patel.

(2) Dr. Dwarkanath Kotnis, for his outstanding sacrifice to help the Chinese people when they were fighting the Japanese invaders. This brought laurels to India, showing that we are not a people concerned only about ourselves, but also think of the welfare of other nations

(3) Sharat Chandra Chattopadhyaya, for his powerful attack against the caste system and womens' oppression in his stories and novels

(4) Subramania Bharti, for his nationalism and powerful support for womens' emancipation in his poetry

 (5) P. Sainath, for his courageous journalism, exposing the truth of the social and economic realities in India, e.g. farmers suicides.

  But who cares for my opinion ?

( My article in The Hindu on 29 December, 2011: Who should get the Bharat Ratna? )

Subramania Bharathi

Today, 11th December, is the birthday of the great Tamil poet Subramania Bharathi ( 1882-1921 ). I had appealed to the then Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, to award him Bharat Ratna posthumously, but in their wisdom the Government ( or rather, the person who was in fact running the Government at that time ) gave it to Sachin Tendulkar.

Hari Om !

Subramania Bharati was a great patriot and nationalist, as the poem given below shows :

" Muppadhu kodi mugamudayal

Enil maipuram ondrudayal

Ival seppumozhi padhinetudayal

Enil sindhanai ondrudayal "

i.e.

" This Bharatmata has 30 crore faces

But her body is one

She speaks eighteen languages

But her thought is one "

Subramania Bharathi wrote (around 1908-1910) powerful verses in favour of women’s emancipation. In fact he wrote all this at a time when probably no one in India, or even in foreign countries, even thought of women's emancipation, and thus he was far ahead of his times :

“Gummiyadi Gummiyadi Nadumughudum

Kulungida thaikotti Gummiyadi

Nammai pidiththa pisasugal poyina

Nanmai kandomendru Gummiyadi

Ettaiyum pengal thoduvadhu teemaiyendru

Enniyirundhavan mainduvittar,

Veettunkulley pennai pootivaipomenra

Vindhai manidhar thalai kavinghhar”

(Dandiya-dance to celebrate women’s emancipation) : 

“Dance oh friend dance, playing dandiya let it be with such

force that as you dance it shakes up and wakes up this entire Nation.

Let us dance to celebrate our emancipation from the ghosts

which were holding on to us for centuries. Let us celebrate our achievement.

Those who thought that if education was given to women it

would harm society, are all dead today !

Those strange fellows who wanted women to be kept locked

inside their homes have now tasted their downfall !

So, oh friends ! Let us celebrate the emancipation of women

and dance playing dandiya”.

“Pudhumaip Penn” (The New Woman)

“Aanum Pennum Nigar Enakkollvathaal

Arivil O’ngi Ivvaiyagam Thazhaikkumaam”

(This world will achieve excellence in knowledge

and wisdom by holding men and women equal)

“Vilagi Veettilo’r Pondhil Valarvadhal

Veerap-Pengal Viraivil Ozshippaaram”

(Valiant women will soon eradicate the custom

of growing in seclusion in homes)

“Pengal Viduthalaik Kummi” (Women Liberation Song)

“Yettaiyum Pengal Thoduvathu Theemai

Endrenni Irundhavar Maaindhu Vittaar,

Veettukkulle Pennai Pootti Vaippom Endra

Vindhai Manithar Thalai Kavizhndhaar”

(Those who thought that it was a sin for women to

touch books are dead.

The incredible men who

wanted to lock women inside their homes 

now hang their heads in shame)

“Kangal Irandinil ordrai kuththi

Kaatchi Kedutthidalamo

Pengal arivai valarthal, vaiyyam

Pedamai attridum kaaneer

(from a poem titled “Murasu”)

(Out of the two eyes, if you pierce and destroy

one, are you not spoiling your own vision? In fact,

if you educate the women, the backwardness

which grips this world will vanish automatically.”)

“Pattankkal Aazhvadum Sattankkal Seivathum

Paarinil Penkal Nadatha Vanthom

(Women have come up now to get degrees,

to legislate and rule in the world)

My appeal to the then Government of India to award Bharat Ratna to Subramania Bharathi obviously fell on the deaf ears of the person who was in fact ruling India at that time, and who has no knowledge of our culture. Sachin Tendulkar was, in that person's eyes, a greater person than Subramania Bharathi.

Hari Om!