Savarkar (book)
| |
| Author | Vikram Sampath |
|---|---|
| Country | India |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Biography |
| Publisher | Penguin (India Viking) |
| Published |
|
| Media type | Print/Digital |
| No. of books | 2 |
| Website | Part 1 Part 2 |
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Savarkar is a two-part biography about Indian politician and ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar,[1][2] written by Indian popular historian and columnist Vikram Sampath and published by Penguin Viking.[3] The book met with a critical reception from scholars as well as accusation of plagiarism.
About
The series contains two books, the first volume talks about the life of Savarkar from the year 1883 to 1924. Whereas the concluding volume is focused on the year 1924 to 1966.[4][better source needed] Sampath's research included Savarkar Samagra, interviewing Savarkar's family, visiting memorials, reading newspapers from the time and conducting research at associated libraries and institutions.[5]
The first book covers Savarkar’s life from birth to his release in 1924.[6] There are details about other Indian independence activists like Shyamji Krishna Verma and Virendranath Chattopadhyay.[6][7] The book narrates Savarkar's atheism and rationalism, and his strong opposition to orthodox Hindu beliefs.[6] Bal Gangadhar Tilak's recommendation helped get him a scholarship to London where he spent five years; in London he built a network of revolutionaries across Europe and helped provide the intellectual basis for the movement.[6] Sampath reveals how revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and Subhash Chandra Bose" considered Savarkar as a "figurehead of the revolution."[7]
The second book covers the later years of Savarkar, starting from 1924 to 1966. The book talks about events such as his social reform works in Ratnagiri after his release; his work with the Hindu Sangathans such as Hindu Mahasabha and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) during the freedom movement, his desire for Hindu unity, his opposition to Gandhi’s non-violence, his implication and acquittal in Gandhi’s assassination and its overall impact on his contentious legacy.[8]
Sampath has said that a motivation to write the book was that no comprehensive biography of Savarkar had been written since the 1960s, yet Savarkar was used in political discourse often, where the demand to give Savarkar a Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award, had even been brought up recently.[9][10][11]
Reception and Criticism
The book was critiqued by several academics.[12][13][14] In February 2022, three historians accused works by Sampath—including parts of his two-volume Savarkar biography—of plagiarism in a letter addressed to the president of the RHS following Sampath's election as a fellow of the RHS.[15][16]
Janaki Bakhle, an associate professor of Indian history at University of California, Berkeley who reviewed the volumes for India Today, noted despite meticulous and thorough research, Sampath's contribution is wholly uncritical, and he accepts every primary source at face value; Bakhle criticised Sampath's interpretation of concurrent historical events as non-objective and lacking in updates from relevant scholarship.[17] Vikram Visana, a Lecturer in Political Theory at the University of Leicester criticises him for failing to put Savarkar's "rhetorical historywriting" that makes use of "epic heroism and myth-making" to incite "revolutionary violence" into context with his narrative. He also criticises him for taking Savarkar's allegations of abuse by Muslim prison wardens in Savarkar's My transportation for life at face value.[18] Reviewing for Open, popular historian Manu S. Pillai voiced similar concerns; he praised Sampath's meticulous research and his persuasive case of Savarkar as a martyr who had sacrificed his youth for the cause of nation but criticised his methodologies, especially the uncritical acceptance of Savarkar's self-laudatory memoirs, and Sampath was held to be an unobjective biographer.[19]
Madhav Khosla, professor of Political Science at Columbia Law School who reviewed the work for Hindustan Times, commended the detailed narrative but found Sampath's treatment of Savarkar's extremist views and his relationship with the British government less "thoughtful" when compared to another contemporary biography by Vaibhav Purandare.[20][21] Salil Tripathi, reviewing for Mint, found Sampath's choice of language and analyses to "give away" his obvious bias despite the façade of neutrality; particular attention was drawn to the cavalier descriptions of any massacre perpetrated by Muslims as "genocides".[22]
In contrast, Swati Parashar, a professor at the University of Gothenburg who reviewed the volumes for The Hindu, called the comprehensive treatment of Savarkar a "must-read", admiring how he brought out "the contradictions, complexities and complicities" that made Savarkar.[23] Reviewing for The Telegraph, TCA Raghavan described the book as "a straightforward, no-fuss narrative without hyperbole and hero worship".[24]
Plagiarism Allegations
In a letter to the president of the Royal Historical Society dated 11 February 2022, professors Audrey Truschke, Rohit Chopra, and Ananya Chakravarti accused Sampath of plagiarism and requested Sampath's membership be reviewed and his scholarship be thoroughly examined.[25][26] The letter includes as examples sections from a 2017 article by Sampath published in India Foundation Journal and an example from his biography of Savarkar, in which a paragraph was nearly identical to one in an undergraduate student thesis. It was later supplemented with more examples of identical reproduction from the works of Chaturvedi and R. C. Majumdar.[27] Sampath rejected the allegations and filed a defamation suit in Delhi High Court seeking costs of ₹two crore (Template:Convert currency USD).[28]
References
- ↑ "Book review | 'Savarkar: Echoes from a forgotten past' by historian Vikram Sampath". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
- ↑ Joseph, Manu (2019-08-25). "Opinion | What Savarkar could yet do for the future of Hindutva". Livemint. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
- ↑ TCA Srinivasa Raghavan (30 September 2019). "The Savarkar revival". Telegraph India. Retrieved 2020-01-05.
- ↑ "Savarkar (Part 2)". Penguin Random House India. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
- ↑ Bakhle, Janaki (26 September 2019). "The missing pieces | Books". India Today. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Madhukar, Jayanthi (2019-08-30). "In the shadows of time: The life of Veer Savarkar". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Singh, Veenu (2019-10-26). "Brunch bookmarks: Lending an ear to the echoes of the past". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
Sampath recalls:- 'Though there are hardly any references to him in our textbooks, Savarkar’s name is often used in contemporary political discourse...'
- ↑ Parashar, Swati (2021-08-28). "'Savarkar: A Contested Legacy, 1924-1966' review: Hindutva's biggest ideologue". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2021-10-23.
- ↑ Joseph, Krupa (24 November 2019). "Savarkar did not favour cow worship: Vikram Sampath". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 2020-01-04.
- ↑ "'The Cellular Jail should be a place of pilgrimage'". Hindustan Times. 2019-10-02. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
- ↑ "'VD Savarkar Has Suitable Advice For Gau Rakshaks': Vikram Sampath". The Quint. 2019-08-26. Retrieved 2020-01-09.
- ↑ Bakhle, Janaki (26 September 2019). "The missing pieces | Books". India Today. Archived from the original on 13 February 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Visana, Vikram (2023). "Glory and Humiliation in the Making of V. D. Savarkar's Hindu Nationalism" (PDF). The Historical Journal. 66 (1): 165–185. doi:10.1017/S0018246X22000255. ISSN 0018-246X. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
- ↑ Khosla, Madhav (29 November 2019). "Review: Books on VD Savarkar by Vikram Sampath and Vaibhav Purandare". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Savarkar Biographer Vikram Sampath Accused of Plagiarism, Historians Say Others' Work Not Cited Fairly". The Wire. 14 February 2022. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Vikram Sampath: The literary start of the right-wing". Deccan Herald. 27 February 2022. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Bakhle, Janaki (26 September 2019). "The missing pieces | Books". India Today. Archived from the original on 13 February 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Visana, Vikram (2023). "Glory and Humiliation in the Making of V. D. Savarkar's Hindu Nationalism" (PDF). The Historical Journal. 66 (1): 165–185. doi:10.1017/S0018246X22000255. ISSN 0018-246X. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
- ↑ Pillai, Manu S (27 September 2019). "In search of the real Savarkar". Open The Magazine. Archived from the original on 19 February 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Khosla, Madhav (29 November 2019). "Review: Books on VD Savarkar by Vikram Sampath and Vaibhav Purandare". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 11 May 2022. Retrieved 9 January 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ P. A. Krishnan, reviewing for Outlook, found the work to be an elaborate but sympathetic biography.Krishnan, P.A. (4 November 2019). "Pro Patria Mori Meets Fire-And-Brimstone". Outlook India. Archived from the original on 5 March 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2020. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)(subscription required) - ↑ "Savarkar, the patriot with tunnel vision". Mintlounge. 30 September 2021. Archived from the original on 6 March 2022. Retrieved 6 March 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Parashar, Swati (28 August 2021). "'Savarkar: A Contested Legacy, 1924-1966' review: Hindutva's biggest ideologue". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 18 September 2021. Retrieved 15 October 2021. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ Raghavan, TCA Srinivasa (30 September 2019). "The Savarkar revival". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022. Retrieved 29 April 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Savarkar Biographer Vikram Sampath Accused of Plagiarism, Historians Say Others' Work Not Cited Fairly". The Wire. 14 February 2022. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Vikram Sampath: The literary start of the right-wing". Deccan Herald. 27 February 2022. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Vikram Sampath: The literary start of the right-wing". Deccan Herald. 27 February 2022. Archived from the original on 26 February 2022. Retrieved 27 February 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help) - ↑ "Savarkar Biographer Vikram Sampath Accused of Plagiarism, Historians Say Others' Work Not Cited Fairly". The Wire. 14 February 2022. Archived from the original on 18 February 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2022. Unknown parameter
|url-status=ignored (help)
Further reading
- Syed Firdaus Ashraf (21 October 2019). Is BJP serious about Bharat Ratna for Savarkar? Rediff.
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