Thread by @meenakshisharan

#VinayakDamodarSavarkar was
orn in Nasik, lost his parents at young age due to plague,was very close to his two brothers and the wife of his older brother.
June 9,1906, 22 year old #VeerSavarkar , LLB from Bombay University, boarded the ship SS Persia from Bombay to London.

On board #VeerSavarkar started awakening young Indians to India’s politics.Whatever be topic of discussion,he turned & connected it to India’s freedom struggle.Some said they weren’t interested,for some it was a condition for their scholarship not to involve in political movement

3 main organisations were working in 🇮🇳 at that time.
1-British Commities of Indian National national Congress
2-Dadabhai Naoroji’s London Indian society
3-Shyamji Krishnavarma’s Indian Home Rule Society
Aim of 2 & 3 was, ‘Self rule under British Empire’.

#Congress & Dadabhai swore loyalty to the British Crown.
Moderates considered armchair politics to be honourable & appropriate & believed in goodness of Brits
Militants felt,passive resistance would help them achieve their goal
Neither considered British Military strength.

Since Moderates & militants were British loyals & wanted them to continue ruling 🇮🇳with some reforms
#VeerSavarkar wanted to proclaim British that Indians didn’t want reforms, they wanted Independence.
He started a secret society, Abhinav Bharat in 1899.

It had spread & extended upto Bengal,but had no branches in America, England & foreign countries
#VeerSavarkar wanted to make contacts with enemies of English with their help raise a revolt in🇮🇳coinciding with a war in Europe
get some cheap,effective instruments like hand bombs.

#VeerSavarkar was going to London to become a barrister to help the Indian society but his main aim was to persuade to their side, wealthy and influential Indian youth who were in London to reach positions by passing ICS, IMSBar-at-Law examinations.

British authorities kept a close vigil on revolutionaries.Secret Police was always present in #VeerSavarkar public meetings. Bombay C.I.D sent a detailed report of all his political activities before he reached London.Asecret file on him was maintained when he was 20 till 1947.

Though C.I.D was a widespread & resourceful organisation,the revolutionaries of Abhiav Bharat surpassed them in their skills & carried out many successful missions: Khudiram Bose 1908, Madanlal Dhingra 1909,Kanhere 1910, Bhagatsingh 1931, Udhamsing 1940.
#VinayakDamodarSavarkar

European branch of Abhinav Bharat became well known. In London #VeerSavarkar published revolutionary literature, organised its distribution,managed buying of arms
Consignments of his literature,books hidden in cloth & machinery were smartly sent to 10-15 centres in Punjab.

In Punjab #VeerSavarkar books were translated in Gurmukhi & Punjabi & distributed among soldiers.

Referring to the revolutionaries the Moderates & militants would openly comment, “You will go to the gallows, once you’re flogged, you will lick the boots of the British.”

India Office’,that controlled affairs of 🇮🇳from London had a library that contained extensive papers relating to the Indian war of Independence 1857
#VeerSavarkar convinced manager of India House,Mukharjee,married to English woman to get him reader’s pass to India Office library.

#VeerSavarkar studied the papers extensively. May 1908,he planned celebrations of 50 yrs of 1857 war.
This was reported in his news letter, British secret service had infiltrated Abhinav Bharat.
London, March 13,1910, Savarkar was arrested under fugitive offender’s attack 1881.

#VeerSavarkar was put on ship ss Morea to Bombay
July 8,ship anchored off Marseilles in France
Savarkar jumped off a pot hole & escaped.British & French police caught him & put him back on ship. For a full year he was in headlines throughout the world.