Veer Savarkar- Champion of Democracy

Savarkar said: ‘The Hindu Sanghanists Party aims to base the future constitution of Hindusthan on the broad principle that all citizens should have equal rights and obligations irrespective of caste or creed, race or religion, provided they avow and owe exclusive and devoted allegiance to the Hindusthani state. The fundamental rights of liberty of speech, liberty of conscience, of worship, of association, etc., will be enjoyed by all citizens alike..... No attitude can be more national even in the territorial sense than this, and it is this attitude in general which is expressed in substance by the curt formula of One Man One Vote. This will make it clear that the conception of a Hindu nation is in no way inconsistent with the development of a common Indian nation, a united Hindusthani state in which all sects and sections, races and religions, castes and creeds, Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Anglo-Indians, etc., could be harmoniously welded together into a political state on terms of perfect equality.’ (Samagra Savarkar Vangmaya, ed. SR Date, Maharashtra Prantik Hindu Sabha, Pune, 1963-1965, Vol 6, p. 365-366; hereafter abbreviated as SSV 6: 365-366)

Speaking at Ajmer on May 20, 1938, Savarkar said, 'The Hindu Mahasabha says that all the people living in Hindustan should get equal rights. Hindu Mahasabha never says that Hindus should have maximum rights.' (SSV 4: 345-346) 'We, though we form the overwhelming majority in the land, do not want any special privileges for our Hindudom.' (Savarkar, V.D., Hindu Rashtra Darshan, Page 294) Despite Hindus being the majority, Savarkar did not seek any special privileges for them; Savarkar was offering the same rights to minorities as the ones he was demanding for majority Hindus; he wasn’t ready to give to anyone, nor to remove, any special privileges or rights as per population. It shows he was a proponent of equality too.

In 1950, Savarkar later printed a statement of his speech in Kolkata. He says in it, 'India has become independent. To maintain this freedom, the people should support the party which is democratically elected without taking the laws into their own hands. In my Hindu Mahasabha Presidential speeches made from 1937 to 1943, I have clearly stated that the constitution of the state should not be based on Manusmruti, Bible, or Quran, but should be based on up-to-date rationale. Since all have equal rights in the new constitution, we should treat Hindus, Muslims, and Christians who are loyal to our state with brotherhood. (Savarkar, S.S alias Balarao. SwatantryaVeer Savarkar- Sangata Parva- Vol 4, Veer Savarkar Prakashan, Mumbai, 1986, page 88) It's necessary to take into consideration the above democratic thoughts of Savarkar who is denounced as Manuvadi, orthodox, regressive, etc.

Savarkar wired on 5 August 1949, to the President of the Constituent Assembly in which he said: 'I congratulate you for proving the true national character of our Indian nation.' (Sangata Parva, page 88) further, he said, 'I am voicing the sense and sentiment of millions of our countrymen when I beseech the Constituent Assembly to adopt Bharat as the name of our nation, Hindi as the national language, and Nagari as the national script.' (Keer, Dhananjay. Veer Savarkar, Popular Prakashan, Mumbai, Second Edition, 1966, page 422) It is necessary to note that Savarkar who proclaims Hindutva, Hindu Sanghatan, Hindustan, and Hindu Rashtra requests to name his country 'Bharat' and not 'Hindustan'. Even while defining 'Who is Hindu?', Savarkar mentions 'Yasya Bharatbhumika' ('यस्य भारतभूमिका') and not 'Yasya Hindustanbhumika' ('यस्य हिंदुस्थानभूमिका').

Savarkar was very much delighted when he learned that India would become an independent republic state on 26 January 1950, and issued a pamphlet dated 24 January 1950, in which Savarkar says: 'Every citizen whose loyalty to our motherland is above suspicion, unconditional and whole-hearted cannot but join rejoicingly [sic] the national celebrations on that day to commemorate the emancipation of our motherland from the British bondage. Let us sink our petty squabbles over provincialities, personalities and party platforms on that day and present a trailed front on the only one and common platform—the platform of our motherland—to proclaim our national victory to the world.' (Savarkar, V.D., Historic Statements, pages 141-142)

Savarkar in his last interview given to the Organiser magazine in 1965, said, 'My India would be a democratic state in which people belonging to different religions, sects or races would be treated with perfect equality. None would be allowed to dominate others. None would be deprived of his just and equal rights of free citizenship, so long as everyone discharged the common obligations which he owed to the State as a whole.' (Organiser, Diwali 1965) Until the end of his life, Savarkar's faith in democracy, humanity, equality, and universal brotherhood was unshakable.

It should be noted that Hindutva-vadi Savarkar believed that nation-building should be based on scientific temper and not on any religious text. He never said that the nation should run on Hindus’ opinions. His only yardsticks to find out whether anything was good or bad were ‘human interest’ and ‘national interest’. In an article titled Don Shabdat, Don Sanskruti (Two Cultures in Two Words), he said, ‘Whether something is good or bad for the nation is easy to determine; we can prove it by actual experiment. However, to determine whether something is appropriate according to scriptures is not possible even for Brahmadev.’

Savarkar insisted that India would gain the reputation of being a modern, advanced, and powerful nation only if the basic guiding philosophy for the nation was "a scientific temper". Savarkar believed that scientific temper was not only important for the welfare of the nation, but also for social reforms, the human race, and moral development. And that is why we see that Savarkar’s social reforms stood on the strong foundations of humanity and scientific temper. The Constitution of India has also included the basic duty of Indian citizens in Article 51A (h) which states that 'to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform.' Therefore, Savarkar’s views were never contradictory to the Indian Constitution, on the contrary, consistent with it.

‘Untouchability is abolished and its practice in any form is forbidden. The enforcement of any disability arising out of untouchability shall be an offence punishable in accordance with law.’ (Constitution of India, Article 17). The day when this law was enforced, Savarkar called it a ‘Golden Day’. Additionally, he wrote two articles on this bearing the title, Janmjat Asprushyatecha Mrutyulekh (Obituary of Untouchability—Part One and Two). In this article, he says, ‘The great announcement is so important that it needs to be carved on an eternal column like the Ashok Stambha. All the efforts made by hundreds of monks, social reformers, and politicians over the past several centuries to demolish innate untouchability succeeded on the day this law was announced.’