1.
At Vasai
in North
Maharashtra,
Jyostna
Tandel a
twenty-year-old
girl was
thrown into
fire. It
was believed
that evil
spirits
had possessed
her. The
young girl
died on
1st February
2006. A
bit earlier
on 10th
May 2005,
a mob burnt
fifteen
houses of
dalits at
a place
near Kolhapur
in South
Maharashtra.
The poor
lost their
homes in
the caste
riots. We
do feel
that our
society,
gripped
as it is
by superstition
and castism,
so, needs
a forward
looking
and rational
approach
to our common
problems.
Hence the
present
publication.
2. Humanism
is at the
very core
of Sawarkar's
thought.
Of course,
Veer Sawarkar
fought against
the British
rule. With
guns and
bombs, he
took on
the might
of the British
Empire.
Fearless
volunteers
from his
secret society
'Abhinav
Bharat'
ventured
to England
to kill
tyrannical
British
Officers.
Nevertheless,
Sawarkar
had no hatred
against
the English.
He says
at one place,
"We
have never
hated the
English
people.
Nor encouraged
others do
so. As long
as they
remain aggressors
in India
and continue
to oppress
us, they
remain our
enemies.
Once they
cease to
be aggressors,
they become
our friends.
We share
a common
humanity
and stand
together
for the
brotherhood
of man.
We would
even fight
on the side
of England
if the liberty
of England
were in
danger of
being usurped*.
*Samagra
Savarkar
Vaangmay
(Marathi),2001-
pg 1:172
Further
on, in the same article,
there is the lodestar
of
his thoughts "Our
true caste is Man, true
religion humanity and
true motherland, the
Earth.”
3.
The British
rule was
unjust and
tyrannical.
It rested
on the force
of arms.
Therefore,
Sawarkar
retaliated
by using
arms thus
opposing
utmost power
by adverse
power. A
nation that
has lost
its freedom
is ceaselessly
at war.
The revolutionaries
did not
have artillery.
Therefore,
they made
do with
small arms.
In the circumstances,
Sawarkar
found limited
violence
to be inevitable
and justified
its use.
This was
not because
he was in
love with
violence.
While delineating
the inevitability
of use of
force he
says, "It
is necessary
to use force
to draw
out the
fangs and
nails of
cruel animals.”
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