There have been several attempts in the past to tarnish Maharaj’s image, when certain elements of the society tried to misuse his name for their personal benefits. The extremists portrayed him as a Hindu saviour and used his name for their Hindutva agenda, even though the term Hindutva was coined posthumously. On the other hand Muslim extremists portrayed him as a Muslim mass killer, which he was not. Despite being such an important part of India’s history, he is mentioned just once in CBSE syllabus, because of his “not-so-secular” image.

This is a story that we came across on web, we don’t know how authentic it is, but even if it’s fiction, it does give a real image of the great Maratha king, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

“There was a Hindu-Muslim riot in Mumbai after the demolition of the disputed land in Ayodhya. Few people from Muslim community started rioting; they attacked and burned Hindu houses. Outraged Hindus in retaliation wanted to take revenge so they started killing Muslim families by entering their houses. During the riots, few men tried raping a young Muslim girl but by God’s grace she managed to escape from their clutches, so the goons started chasing her. She was very scared and ran for her life when she saw a house and entered it. It belonged to a young Hindu guy who saw her entering his house and questioned her. The girl explained him the whole situation. The young Hindu guy asked her to stay calm and relax. The goons were searching her and somehow happened to reach near the house, they asked the Hindu guy if he had seen any Muslim girl around. The guy denied.

The next morning when the situation became a bit calm, she planned on leaving when the guy asked her “When you entered my house did you know that this house belongs to a Hindu?” She said “Yes, i saw some God’s photos on your wall from the window.” He furthered exclaimed “and you still dared to enter thinking that I won’t harm you!” She replied, “At first I wasn’t sure, but later when I saw the photo of Shivaji Maharaj hanging on your wall, I became sure that there is no place for injustice when Shivaji is there.”

To eradicate the misconception of Shivaji being anti-muslim, few facts that prove Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was one of the most secular king ever are mentioned below:

• He fought against the Mughal Empire for the welfare of his people. It is very important to note that any King will fight against an invader, especially a foreign invader. The invaders just happened to be Muslims, if they had been of any other religion even then Shivaji would had fought against them for the protection of his people which also included Muslims.
• He was kind towards people of all religions and supported their religious beliefs. This is a very extraordinary fact as all his opposing thrones were of other religion and they were harassing Hindus. He still persisted that all religions are good.
• His portrayal as a Hindu king who fought against the Muslims is far from the truth. There were several Muslim soldiers and generals in his army, and many of his rivals were Hindus. Also, he was on friendly terms with few Bijapuri generals.Shivaji was a staunch Hindu. Most of his empire’s neighbouring states were ruled by Mughal leaders.  Shivaji had to fight with all of them  for survival of his state.  But all the conflicts and battles were political in nature and not religious.  Muslims actively participated Shivaji Maharaj’s army.  In fact, the highest chief of his Navy was a Muslim.  On the other hand, a large part of his opposition armies were Hindus.  In the battles between Shivaji and Mughals, Hindus and Muslims fought against other Hindus and Muslims, however it was never a religious war.  They were purely political wars fought only for the expansion of their respective territories.
• On the other hand, Shivaji had fought many battles against many of the Hindu Maratha Zamindars. Chandrarao More of Javli, himself a Maratha, was one of the very first enemies that Shivaji defeated.
• Renowned historian, Jadunath Sarkar mentions in his notes “Shivaji and His Times”: Shivaji’s religious policy was very liberal. He respected the holy places of all creeds in his raids and made endowments for Hindu temples and Muslim saints’ tombs and mosques alike.  He not only granted pensions to Brahman scholars versed in the Vedas, astronomers and anchorites, but also built hermitage and provided subsistence at his own cost for the holy men of Islam, notably Baba Yakut of Kelshi.”
• Khafi Khan, the historian from Aurangzeb’s time, mentions that he never invaded the mosques, and if he ever found a copy of the holy Quran during his raids, he would respectfully hand it over to some of his Muslim soldiers also he maintained the honour of Muslim women.
• He had all the might and power to convert people to the faith in which he believed but he never did that, but at the same time he was kind enough to welcome back all the converted people without any bias.
• French traveller, Francois Bernier wrote “The Marathas led by Shivaji chopped the hands of 24 prisoners during the first raid of Surat, after a murder attempt was made on his life. During the same raid, Shivaji ordered his men not to harm the Christian missionaries, saying that The Frankish Padres are good men“.

Today lots of people across every caste, creed, and religion still consider him as their king and so he is conferred with the title of “जाणता राजा” i.e. King of the people.  Happy Shivaji Jayanti!

#जयभवानीजयशिवाजी

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In an era when religious conversions, community fights, terrorism and mass killings especially between Hindus and Muslims are on the upsurge, it is time we remember the contributions towards nationalism and Hindutva by a pro-independence activist, a politician, revolutionary, writer, poet and playwright, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar or Veer Savarkar, as he is popularly known. Basically, his philosophy on Hindutva is based on Indianness or the cultural identity of an Indian.

When people say “Shiva was the first Paigambar” or “all hindus are born muslims” and vice-a-versa then this is probably the correct time to define a Hindu and who can be a better person then Swatantra Veer Savarkar, the man who coined the term Hindutva for explaining the true meaning of being a Hindu.

Veer Savarkar

On his 49^th death anniversary today, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has paid tribute to him, tweeting that “he ignited the spark of nationalism in several lives.” Savarkar was the person who had coined the term ‘Hindutva’, as different from Hinduism that has more or less become related to social as well as political communalism. He was actively involved in reconverting converted Hindus back to Hindu religion and also made significant contributions towards eradicating and deconstructing caste system that had then gripped Indians like a strong wave ready to clamp them tight.

Hindutva – The Definition of a Hindu

Savarkar’s Hindutva was based more on creating a collective identity that is all inclusive of being pragmatic and rationalistic, humane, positive, realistic – philosophies of utilitarianism and universalism. Who is a Hindu in reality? Well, according to him, a Hindu is an Indian who considers India, from the peaks of Himalaya to the shores of Kanyakumari and from the ports of Gujarat to the tea estates of Assam, as his motherland, birth-land, work-land and spiritual-land (matrubhoomi, janmbhoomi, karmabhoomi and dharmabhoomi). In his words, “everyone who regards and claims this Bharatbhoomi from the Indus to the Seas as his Fatherland and Holyland is a Hindu.

Savarkar’s works on Hindu Nationalism

He was the first to start writing poems on the walls of jail and recite them, when he was imprisoned for fifty years in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in 1910 because of his connections with the revolutionary group called, India House. His book, The Indian War of Independence on the Indian rebellion of 1857, the Mutiny war had been banned by the British officials. In 1921, at his release from jail, he was asked to follow the condition that he will not be attached with any revolutionary activities. However, he did advocate political and social unity as an orator and writer forcefully voicing out his opinions and philosophies across the country, particularly working as the President of the Akhil Bharati Hindu Mahasabha and making India a ‘Hindu Rashtra’, even going to the extent of opposing the ‘Quit India Movement’ in 1942, advocating for ‘Quit India Keep Your Army’ movement.

Difference between Savarkar’s Hindutva and Divisive religious ideologies

Even in jail Savarkar worked towards describing Hindutva and enthusiastically embraced the Hindu nationalism. His ideological treatise, Hindutva: Who is a Hindu? while in Ratnagiri jail is a testimony to his dedication towards bringing positive religious and spiritual changes in the country, much related to throwing light on the true scrupulous character of the human race. His vision of Hindutva defines social and political consciousness of a Hindu saying that he is a ‘patriotic inhabitant of Bharatvarsha’, much beyond a mere religious identity. He even went ahead to claim that Hinduism, Sikhism, Jainism and Buddhism are all one and even focussed on social and patriotic unity among all these Hindu communities.  For him, the Hindu community or race is not restricted to Aryans or Dravidians but of “people who live as children of a common motherland, adoring a common holyland.”

He is even the founder of Ratnagiri Hindu Sabha, working towards the social and cultural preservation of Hindu heritage and civilization. He aggressively promoted the use of Hindi as a national language and even voiced out his opinion against untouchability.

How Savarkar is Being Perceived and His Philosophy on Hindu-Muslim Unity/Division

However, it is unfortunate that people have claimed his philosophies to be divisive and preaching Hindu nationalism as being uniquely Indian, stating that he preached “militant Hindu nationalist speeches.” This is so, even though the airport at Andaman and Nicobar Islands is dedicated to Savarkar as it has

been named Veer Savarkar International Airport. Many scholars, historians and even politicians (especially from the Indian National Congress) have even proclaimed that Savarkar has implicitly criticised and discriminated against minority communities such as those of Muslims and Christians. Savarkar argued that the unity and political loyalty of Muslims have been under the scanner for a long time. He rather was against the partition of countries for Hindus and Muslims: “the two nations shall dwell in one country and shall live under the mantle of one single constitution.” He proclaims one man one vote concept for Hindus and Muslims where “a Muslim has no advantage which a Hindu does not have. Minority is to be no justification for privilege and majority is to be no ground for penalty.”

People who have similar beliefs like Savarkar

In 2014, Goa’s Deputy Chief Minister, Francis D’Souza had to apologize for his statement where he proclaimed that “he is a Christian Hindu.” He, being a Christian had stated that India will become a Hindu nation and will remain so under the leadership of Narendra Modi. While referring to Hindu, he however claimed that by Hindu he did not mean religion but his culture, his values and nationalism and Christianity, being only 2000 years old is his religion only.

All said and done, the fact remains that both the Constitution and the Supreme Court have accepted Savarkar’s ideologies and principles on Hindutva as the true meaning and definition of a Hindu.

All those who consider India as there motherland are Hindu – Veer Savarkar! On your 49^th death anniversary, we bow to you and salute you for your immense and unparalleled contribution to Indian Independence movement and towards changing people’s stringent mind-sets.

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