The second session of Two Sides on day 2 of Mangaluru Lit Fest 2019 was a talk by Vikram Sampath on the life and legacy of V.D. Sarvarkar. Vikram Sampath is the author of “Sarvarkar: Echoes from a Forgotten Past” which details Sarvarkars life and ideology before and after independence.
Sampath started the talk by describing Sarvarkar’s idea of Hindutva as an inclusive social order based on geography rather than religion. In his version of Hindutva, past inhibitions and injustices of society are subverted for equality and harmony in society. According to Sampath, Sarvarkar’s ideology of Hindutva came as a response to the politicisation of Islam by Gandhi and his allies during the Khilafat movement. There was further discussion on the differing ideologies of Gandhi and Sarvarkar ranging from the caste system to satyagraha.
Sarvarkar’s role in the independence movement was discussed at length with emphasis on his passivity during the movement itself. Sarvarkar’s party, Hindu Mahasabha, couldn’t ally with the Muslim League and he himself believed that the Congress’ pandering to the minorities was unsustainable for the formation of an equal society. Sampath argued that Sarvarkar’s role during the independence movement was to give an ideological and intellectual basis to the movement. Sarvarkar’s support for the British and his recruiting actions for the Colonial Army didn’t get a mention.
Sampath concluded that many aspects of Sarvarkar’s Hindutva ideology differ from the mainstream Hindutva ideologies prevalent today and that his broad vision for India has come to fruition in spite of his tainted reputation. The talk was followed by an interactive session with the audience during which Vikram Sampath revealed that he will detail Sarvarkar’s role in the assassination of M.K. Gandhi in his next book.
Written by Utsav Dash