[nukkad] Insight India 12C : Rejoinder

[zaverirm <>]

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Dear friends,
Here below I reply to certain querries raised by list members seeking
clarification, which you may find interesting.
1)  Savarkar was suspected of active involvement in the murder of Sir Curzon
     Wyllie in London at the hands of young revolutionary Madanlal Dingra,
who
     was subsequently hanged in London prison. Through out this trial
Savarkar
     remained under the watchful eyes of police and secret services, but
     intelligently avoided arrest. The origin of the pistol with which
Dhingra
    carried out the assassination was traced to Savarkar. However his more
    serious involvemrnt was found by the British in what became famous in
those
   days as ' Nasik Conspiracy.' Trial was conducted in Bombay to try  those
who murdered the British official named Mr. Jackson, stationed in Nasik,
Maharashtra. Savarkar was the prime accused, the kingpin instigator who
provided moral and material aid to 37 others who were implicated in the case
as co-conspirators. At the end of the trial Savarkar was found guilty on
various counts and sentenced to transportation for life in the Andaman
islands. I am contemplating two separate episodes, one each on Savarkar and
his disciple Madanlal Dhingra, both fiery nationalists.
2)   Dr. Dattatraya Parchure was the son of a high official in the education
   department in Gwalior and was brought up in considerable wealth. He was a
doctor of medicine and for some time served  in the medical service of the
  state of Gwalior, but resigned or was relieved in 1934 due to his
political
  activities. He then took to private practice and became virtually the
  dictator of the local Hindu Rashtriya Sena. He had bought for Godse a
  revolver and bullets for a consideration of Rs.500/-.
3)  The communal hatred was at its fever pitch, crowds gathered outside the
prison premises every day and there was every likely hood that some kind of
relic or memorial could have sprang up on the spot.
4) Many people in those turbulent days thought that Ghandhiji's principles
of non violence applied well while fighting the British rule. Since the
independence had already come, Gandhiji had done his job, and should now
retire in oblivion,
 leaving the state affairs in the hands of the government, more particularly
in the hands of Sardar Patel, who as home minister was trusted by the
people, especially the Hindus to handle the situation tactfully, i.e.
resorting to use of force as and when called for. Now this was the time when
India had attained independence under the dominion status and the British
crown was still the sovereign. Our entire freedom fight was largely on the
basis and thesis of the doctrine of passive resistance. Although depleted,
but still substantial British presence was still in India and Nehru would
not risk the reputation of the newly formed government, lest the meeting
between the two might get wide publicity and with increasing awareness among
the Hindus, the communal trouble which was until then restricted mostly to
the border states, might engulf the whole nation. The government did not
have the stomach, even to publish the correspondence between Godse and
Ramdas for the obvious fear that it would undoubtedly ignite the passion of
the majority community who would seek to avenge the mass murders of their
fellow men. If there was genuinly no substance in Godse's dying declaration,
if it was that of an ordinary crazy criminal with no head or tail in it,
then obviously the government would have willingly upheld the concept of
freedom of speech to its citizens.(One very strong and undisputable fact is
that at the prayer meetings of Gandhiji the attendance had greatly
diminished. The Muslims had long ago stopped coming to Birla House and
Gandhi too had, for sometime now, discontinued reciting from the Koran. The
attendence, mainly of the Hindus living in the nearby areas did not now
number beyond 100, sometimes even less, a very clear indicator of the shape
of things to come showing the general shift in the mindset of the people at
large. Thin crowds made Godse's task easier.)
5)  I can not say with cent percent authenticity, what was the last wish of
   both, Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte. However it seems more or less
certain to me that their dying wish was to die together at the same time,
chanting
slogans in praise of motherland, to which the government did not raise
objection. Apte was equally indoctrined in the act, and was ready to fire at
Gandhi, should in case Godse wavered in his resolve to press the trigger
while first offering his reverence to the Mahatma by touching his feet.
Between them it hardly mattered who triggered the revolver and Apte made
this point clear to the court at the beginning of the trial itself. The
court took him by the face value of his statement and found him no less
guilty than Godse.
Rohit Zaveri, Dubai.




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