Savarkar: A Contested Legacy, 1924-1966

Emotionally engaging.
Just like the first book, this second part of the Savarkar series is an inspiring and insightful book that delves into the life and legacy of one of India’s most controversial figures – Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. The author has done a commendable job in presenting a balanced and objective view of Savarkar’s life and ideas, in a well-researched and well-written narrative.Sampath’s analysis of Savarkar’s political views, including his ideas of Hindu nationalism, is particularly illuminating. The author sheds light on how Savarkar’s ideas were shaped by the events and experiences of his life, including his years in prison and his advocacy for India’s independence from British rule. Through this analysis, the author provides a deeper understanding of the complexities of Savarkar’s views and the reasons behind his controversial reputation.The book is also emotionally engaging, as it portrays the personal struggles and triumphs of Savarkar, including his unbreakable spirit and unwavering commitment to his beliefs. The author’s writing style is engaging and easy to follow, making the book accessible to a wide audience.In conclusion, “Savarkar (Part 2): A Contested Legacy” is a must-read for anyone interested in Indian history, politics, and culture. It provides an insightful and inspiring look at the life and legacy of one of India’s most controversial figures, and offers a deeper understanding of the complexities of his ideas. This book is sure to leave a lasting impression on its readers and inspire them to continue exploring and learning about India’s rich and diverse history.

Research based truthful account of Swatantriya Veer Savarkar : A must read for people of Bharat
Here are my observations on this seminal work of Vikram Sampath on Swatantriya Veer Savarkar. To me, as a kid who grew up in the 80’s and 90’s, Sarvarkar was both intriguing and curiosity provoking, whenever there’s talk about freedom fighters. This is mainly because there wasn’t much in the journals discussing his contributions to the freedom struggle. Information on this personality was not common knowledge among people either. Now I understand that the then political parties had a role in preventing details from being published on Savarkar in the public domain.Savarkar – Echoes from a forgotten past (Part 1)This book is a gripping account of events surrounding the freedom struggle days of Veer Savarkar in late 1800s and early 1900s.After reading this book, which kept me deeply interested till the end, I felt so curious to read about those details of Savarkar after his release, India achieving its freedom and Savarkar’s life in his old age. I felt totally relieved after reading about how he survived those gruesome prison conditions especially after the British considered him as a ‘D’ category prisoner and treated him like a convict instead of a political prisoner whose treatment ought to be differentiated and more respectable. On the contrary, he hasn’t actually done anything that deserves a tag of ‘Dangerous’. Probably the Brits might have considered him a threat to them as he was far too influential than any other freedom fighter with the power of pen and his thoughts and messages that pierce through the hearts and minds of fellow countrymen who dreamed of ‘Swaraj’ every day and moment of their life.The so called mutiny referred to by the Brits in 1857 was coined as “India’s war of independence” by none other than Savarkar.The title ‘Veer’ is so apt as very few people like him existed during those times whose only thought was freedom for Bharat Maata by any means. It was quite a revelation to come to know that there were many people who were deeply influenced by his preaching and thoughts and are enormously respected by Indians today for their supreme sacrifice for the independence of their ‘Pitrubhu’ and ‘Punyabhu’.Savarkar – A Contested Legacy, 1924-1966 (Part 2):In the second book, the most interesting details that I came across were about:- Savarkar’s coversation with Shoukat Ali which strongly put forth the Hindu point of view in the political domain- The first success which Hindu Mahasabha had as a political force came from the Nizam dominion of Hyderabad- Savarkar’s interview before death detailing his reasons for freedom struggle and the Hindu causeThis made me realise that the political scenario of the newly independent Bharat was no different from the current one. I see numerous ideological products of the seeds of narrative sown by a few leaders of the old congress party in the very people living among us in the present day Bharat.Savarkar’s views were so diametrically opposite of a tall leader like Gandhi and their views rarely coincided. There’s deep logic behind Savarkars views on why Gandhi’s actions and ideas wont do any good to the Hindu community. Savarkar was also of the opinion that peaceful protests and spinning charka as means to achieve freedom from the British were useless.I feel that we as the people of Bharat were kept in the dark about so many things about freedom struggle for which Savarkar was the main influence and its is quite ironic.What’s invigorating is the vision of Savarkar for Bharat and its people. He was prophetic on numerous aspects governing the sovereignty of Bharat and the fundamental rights of its people. He was also prophetic about many actions of the prominent political party of that time and how its leaders’ actions could lead to many problems for people of Bharat. And Yes, he did demand that we must decolonise and call our nation ‘Bharat’ and not India as the colonisers did.I can’t thank Vikram Sampath enough for this meticulously researched account of a tall and important Leader such as Veer Savarkar. It was a very smooth read and it kept me interested to the last sentence of both the books (Part 1 & 2).There’s every reason why it is currently a ‘National Bestseller’.

Nice work
Deep research. Hats off. Nice writing.

To know about Savarkar struggle and sacrifices.His ideologies also.
I specifically thanksMr Rahul Gandhi ji to inspired me to know about Vir Damodar Savarkar.The day Rahulji started abusing him,I was very curious to know about Savarkar. THANKS Vikram Sampath

For ages we’ve been fed a one-sided almost Richard Attenborough version of how India attained her independence from colonial rule and the chief protagonists who helped achieve this. This book does an incredible job of shedding light on the fact that there were multiple movements across the country that eventually helped India attain independence and it wasn’t as simplistic as one man wearing round glasses walking around the country with a stick in his hand who managed to defeat the colonizers. Forget the politics, read this book for the simple reason of knowing more about a revolutionary, scholar and poet who dedicated his entire life to his country but has been reduced to a mere foot-note in our history text-books. Not anymore, thanks to Vikram Sampath.

Got both the parts together. Extremely interesting and very detailed biography of Veer Savarkar. The second part exposes the usually eclipsed side of MK Gandhi & the events leading to Indian independence. This book also helped me understand the pseudo-secular ideology of Congress & its origins in MK Gandhi (sorry, can’t call him a Mahatma anymore!)