A shorter version of the biographical film on India's revolutionary freedom fighter, Veer Savarkar spanning the period from his birth until India's independence
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00:00Saturday, the 26th of February 1966, Veer Savarkar passes into history, immortal in
00:24the eternal glow of his fiery patriotism. In Bombay, the last journey reflects the deep
00:30sorrow of a nation in mourning. The militant spirit of the 1857 War of Independence reverberates
00:44through the life of Veer Savarkar. History produces the man for the period. The nation
00:55doomed to a long period of darkness under colonial rule needed a reformer and a rebel.
01:03Swami Dayanand Saraswati, the reformist, and Vasudev Balwan Phadke, the rebel,
01:08passed away in 1883. It was in that year that Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
01:15was born on 28th May at Bagudi, a village near Nasik, Maharashtra.
01:29Uttering the name of Lord Ganesh, young Savarkar began his early education.
01:34The keenness he showed in his studies then never deserted him all his life.
01:44Life had its own lessons to teach at the other end. Disease and deprivation were the lot of
01:49the people and Savarkar in his boyhood witnessed many a tragedy caused by famine and a devastating
01:56plague. Even in the midst of the gloom of such calamities, the rulers were celebrating the
02:02diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria's reign in 1897.
02:11The callousness of the authorities roused the anger of the people to a flaming point.
02:21At Pune, Damodar Panchathekar assassinated the plague commissioner, Mr. Ram.
02:26Other killings followed and injustice was creeped in the name of justice.
02:32Savarkar had just turned 15 when he took a solemn pledge to dedicate his life for the freedom of his country.
02:51To arouse the people, Savarkar composed a stirring ballad
02:55hailing the martyrdom of the Chafikar brother.
03:06By now, Savarkar's life had taken a firm course.
03:12He was at school at Nasik, but all his activities had a set goal. The goal of independence of his
03:19motherland. Even as a schoolboy, Savarkar formed a patriotic group
03:26which was eventually to sprout into the famed Abhinav Bharat society.
03:40Independence was the watchword that would light the torch of liberty
03:44and wrest freedom from the imperialist crown.
03:49Burning with nationalist zeal, Savarkar came to Pune to study at Ferguson College.
03:55Staying at the college hostel, he was soon to form a group of his own to further the freedom movement.
04:02At the library, Savarkar reached out to the heritage of the land,
04:06but his religious fervor never forsook the rationalist approach.
04:20Emerging as a student leader, Savarkar widened his contacts.
04:25On important occasions, Savarkar called on Lokmanya Tilak while in Pune.
04:32In 1905, the partition of Bengal created a national issue, adding to the general unrest.
04:39To spur the people onto a greater political awareness, Savarkar, with Tilak's support,
04:45organised the Swadeshi campaign in Pune through staging a bonfire of foreign cloth.
04:52Savarkar's anti-imperialist campaign was frowned upon by his college authorities,
04:57who imposed on him a fine of 10 rupees.
05:10Savarkar was also expelled from the hostel.
05:16The close association with Tilak brought an important turn to the direction of Savarkar's life.
05:22It was Tilak's blessings and recommendation that made Pandit Shanji Krishna Verma
05:27offer the Swadeshi scholarship to Savarkar for studying law in Britain.
05:339th June, 1906, Savarkar sailed for London from Bombay.
05:38If Savarkar had not gone to London, remains a big if in the story of his life.
05:46He had to study law to learn, as he said, the accurate base from which to strike at an advantage.
05:56Lodging at India House, founded by the same person who had extended the scholarship,
06:00Savarkar studied law at Grey's Inn.
06:09In London, Savarkar formed the Indian Society that brought several bright minds to work for the Abhinav Bharat.
06:17Britain celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Indian mutiny of 1857 in a thanksgiving fashion,
06:24more so to condemn the revolt.
06:27In protest, Savarkar organized a solemn function to observe the golden jubilee of the Indian War
06:33of Independence and to pay homage to the martyrs.
06:39Savarkar had designed a flag of independence for India.
06:43At Savarkar's behest, the flag was unfurled by Madam Kama
06:46at the International Socialist Congress at Stuttgart.
06:53Meanwhile, India was in agony of brutal repression.
06:57The entire country was in turmoil. The nationalist press was silent.
07:02The news of the atrocities committed by the imperialists
07:05stung the hearts of patriotic Indians abroad.
07:11Madanlal Dhingra, a member of the Abhinav Bharat, chose to accept martyrdom
07:16by assassinating Sir Curzon Wiley in London.
07:19That was on the 1st of July, 1909.
07:24Dhingra's death was not an accident.
07:26That was on the 1st of July, 1909.
07:31Dhingra's last words were,
07:33My wish is that I should be born again to the same mother
07:37and that I should die the same death for her again.
07:42In London, Savarkar was seeking through all available sources
07:46the accurate base from which to strike at an advantage.
07:51The British libraries were better stocked with books dealing with India.
07:56The India Office Library had a vast collection of original letters,
08:00secret parliamentary papers and confidential documents
08:03concerning Indian affairs of the times and earlier.
08:07Savarkar had gained permission to study all available material.
08:12Finally, Savarkar completed his monumental work in Marathi
08:15on the First Indian War of Independence, 1857.
08:20The book was proscribed even before it was published.
08:24A great tribute to its contents.
08:28The English translation was circulated under the guise of classic fiction.
08:34Dhingra's martyrdom resounded with a mighty echo at a Nasik theatre
08:38where a drama was being staged in honour of the outgoing collector, A.M.T. Jackson.
08:44A young patriot, Anand Kanhale shot dead the representative of the British Raj.
08:54The link was found and on the 13th of March, 1910, at Victoria Station, London,
09:00Savarkar was arrested on various charges,
09:02including abetting the murder of Jackson.
09:11Britain conveniently forgot that it had sheltered great revolutionaries,
09:15Mazzini, Karl Marx, Garibaldi, Kosuth and Lennon.
09:20Savarkar was sent back to India to stand trial.
09:24The 7th of July, 1910, the ship anchors at Marseilles Port.
09:31Early next morning, Savarkar finds a way of escape.
09:51But freedom is short-lived.
09:53Bombay High Court, the 15th of September, 1910.
09:59A special tribunal without a jury hears the case.
10:03Savarkar, denied the right of appeal, declines to produce any evidence in his defence.
10:09Savarkar is framed under two sets of different charges
10:12and receives a double sentence of transportation for life.
10:15In addition, his property is forfeited.
10:25The 4th of July, 1911, Savarkar is brought to Port Blair.
10:37He stands condemned to spend 50 years in the military.
10:40He stands condemned to spend 50 years in the most dreaded jail of the time.
11:11At the cellular jail, the entire Yard No. 7 is isolated
11:15to heighten the agony of Veer Savarkar.
11:41Savarkar is lodged in a detached cell on the 3rd floor,
11:54class 3 convict, classified as dangerous.
12:01Savarkar receives the first punishment of six months solitary confinement
12:05until further orders.
12:10The Delhi Darbar of 1911 brought some relief by way of release or remission
12:28to even hardened criminals.
12:40But Savarkar was still in solitary confinement.
12:54Jailer Barry kept a close and constant watch on the activities of Veer Savarkar,
12:59helpless behind bars and in fetters.
13:08All the inhuman flogging was carried on in direct view of Savarkar's cell.
13:14Those sent to the gallows were marched within Savarkar's sight
13:18to instill fear in his mind.
13:20But Savarkar kept his courage till the end.
13:24A seven-day standing handcuffs punishment was imposed on Savarkar for possessing a letter.
13:32Such cruelties were to be a common feature
13:35while Savarkar suffered imprisonment at the Cellular Jail.
13:40Again, a month's separate confinement, Savarkar now embarked on a glorious adventure of the mind.
13:47Poems after poems he wrote on the walls and memorized them as treasures for the future.
14:05Savarkar's refusal to work enraged the jailer, who had invented special forms of punishment
14:11and did not hesitate to treat a political prisoner as a criminal.
14:34The strain of all these sufferings of body and mind finally told on Savarkar's health.
15:05Often, he was close to death on the sickbed, but with indomitable will he carried on.
15:11He had to see India independent.
15:17The 1st of August, 1920, the death of Lokmanya Tillak plunged the nation in grief.
15:27When the news reached Andaman, Savarkar was taken to the hospital.
15:32When the news reached Andaman, Savarkar observed a total farce.
15:40All other prisoners followed his example to pay homage to a great patriot.
15:48The demand for Savarkar's release was voiced by many leaders and gained tremendous public support.
15:53At long last, on the 2nd of May, 1921, the imperialists agreed to the transfer of Savarkar from Andamans to Ratnagiri Jail.
16:03Here Savarkar recalled to memory the poems he had written on the cellular jail walls.
17:04The 6th of January, 1924, Savarkar is released conditionally.
17:12He shall reside in Ratnagiri and not go beyond the district limits.
17:16He will not engage himself in any political activity.
17:20He will not engage himself in any political activity.
17:22He shall remain in his own country and not go beyond the district limits.
17:26He shall remain in his own country and not go beyond the district limits.
17:29He will not engage himself in any political activity.
17:55The reformist zeal in him now came to the forefront.
17:58The upliftment of Hindu society, ridden by the caste system, was an unfinished work.
18:04At the Paratwane school, Savarkar got the low caste children to sit alongside the upper caste.
18:14Savarkar set an example by asking his wife to invite women of the neighbourhood
18:18and offer the traditional haldi kumkum irrespective of any caste distinction.
18:28Temple entry was another of such programs to promote oneness among the masses.
18:42Inter-caste dinners.
18:50In March, 1927, Gandhiji came to Ratnagiri.
18:55In March, 1927, Gandhiji came to Ratnagiri.
18:57The birthplace of Lokmanya Tilak.
19:01Now, opposite Tilak's home, Savarkar had his residence.
19:07Gandhiji called on Savarkar to renew their acquaintance of London days.
19:15Savarkar was granted an unconditional release.
19:17The 10th of May, 1937.
19:2080 years to the day on which the First Indian War of Independence started.
19:26The first task was to understand the prevailing political climate in the country,
19:30even as the war clouds were gathering in Europe.
19:36Hitler unleashed the Second World War on the 3rd of September, 1939.
19:46Savarkar found a blessing in the war.
19:48For Indians who now had a grand opportunity to receive military training.
19:56A war of independence was also in the mind of Subhash Chandra Bose,
20:00who was in course of time to form the Indian National Army.
20:08The Second World War compelled the son to set in the British Empire.
20:12The goal Veer Savarkar had set himself was realized in his lifetime.
20:42The End