Back to Freedom

Although his heroic struggle in the direction of social and mental revolution continued through the period of his internment at Ratnagiri, S was doing his utmost to break his shackles. Whenever there was fire in any part of India, S’s house was shadowed. One morning the police surrounded S’s house to search for his proscribed book The Indian War of Independence of 1857. They searched his house but found nothing. Yet they did not come to his house without reason. Sardar Bhagat Singh had printed 2,000 copies of the famous book to raise funds for his revolutionary society and as a mark of respect sent S the first two copies to him. For a man who had dodged Scotland Yard for four years, what was the Indian police?

Gandhi had just begun to come out of virtual retirement. The Madras Resolution of the Congress passed a resolution in December 1927 demanding absolute independence. Gandhi dubbed it as childish; S supported it but wanted complete independence to include Goa and Pondicherry too. His biting articles in the Mahratta and his weekly Sharaddhananda in which he criticized Motilal Nehru and Gandhi for their pro-Muslim policy did more harm than good to the cause which S championed. Both the weeklies were would up.

There was a failed move to elect him as the President of the Hindu Mahasabha in 1927. The govt prevented him from presiding over the Depressed Classes Congress in Nov 1927. Bhai Parmanand Jain, a prominent Sabha leader wanted S to represent the Hindus at the Round Table Conference but alas!

The govt went on extending the period of S’s internment from time to time-1929 to 1937 as they considered him a danger to the peace of India. Leaders in the Council and people from outside were doing their utmost for the release of S, but the Govt was not yielding to the pressure. In the meantime a Committee called Savarkar Restrictions Removal Committee was set up under the chairmanship of Dr M.B.Velkar in July 1935. Lakhs of signatures were collected and the petition was submitted to the govt. But India of those days was dominated by Gandhi who literally threw into the waste paper basket the appeal for S’s release. Nehru was reported to have torn the memorandum to pieces. This was before S had joined the Hindu Mahasabha as a political party, opposed to the Congress.

Meanwhile provincial elections were held, the Congress was victorious. The Brits were keen that the Congress accepts office. Due to a deadlock Bahadur D Cooper agreed with the help of Jamanadas Mehta to form an interim govt on one condition, that S would be released precedent to accepting the office. The Governor agreed subject to S’s good behavior. S was released unconditionally on 10/05/1937. The tiger was free.

Several functions were held at Ratnagiri in honor of S’s release. A purse was presented to him too. Shri Mehta by securing the release of S had done yeoman’s service to the nation.