Category: Savarkar: Defining Moments
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On 9 June 1906, Vinayak Damodar (Veer) Savarkar embarked from Bombay aboard the steamer S.S. Persia. While the immediate purpose of this journey was formally described as pursuing higher studies in England, its deeper significance lay elsewhere. For Savarkar, this was not merely a student’s sojourn abroad but a deliberate and strategic entry into the…
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In the closing years of the 19th century, when the Indian National Congress (INC) still placed its hopes in petitions and polite appeals, a young man from Chinchwad near Pune took a radically different path. Damodar Hari Chapekar became one of the first Indians in modern history to take up arms against British colonial authority…
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On the night of June 22, 1897, two British officials — Walter Charles (W.C.) Rand, Plague Commissioner of Pune, and Lieutenant Charles Egerton Ayerst, his military escort — were assassinated by Indian revolutionaries Damodar and Balkrishna Chapekar.The attack, carried out on Ganeshkhind Road (now Senapati Bapat Road), became one of the earliest and most symbolic…
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One night, in the town of Bhagur, a boy stood before a statue of the armed Goddess Durga. This boy was Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, and the vow he took that night would ignite a revolutionary desire to stand up against British colonial rule in India. The immediate spark was the execution of the Chapekar brothers…
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In 1897, Poona reeled under a brutal bubonic plague and even harsher British repression. To control the outbreak, British officials led by Collector Walter Rand enforced draconian measures – homes were raided, women harassed, and dignity trampled. While most of society watched in helpless silence, the Chapekar brothers – Damodar, Balakrishna, and Vasudev – chose…
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In 1905, being in his early twenties, Vinayak Damodar (Veer) Savarkar emerged as a fiery student leader in Poona, galvanizing youth against British imperialism. A staunch proponent of Swadeshi, Savarkar saw the boycott of foreign goods as the moral counterpart to the political opposition to the Partition of Bengal by Viceroy Lord Curzon planned to…
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On 24 January 1902, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar enrolled at the prestigious Fergusson College in Poona, undertaking a major in the arts with the aim of securing a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree. At the turn of the century, Fergusson College had become a vibrant hub of nationalist thought and reformist energy. It attracted some of…
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In June 1906, a young Vinayak Damodar Savarkar stepped aboard the S.S. Persia, setting sail for England. At first glance, it may have appeared to be a student’s voyage in pursuit of a legal education. But this journey would prove far more consequential—not just for Savarkar, but for the future of India’s freedom struggle. Funded…