Miraculously, the manuscript was saved and sent back to Savarkar in Paris. His fellow-revolutionaries translated it into English but no printer in England or France was willing to print it. Finally it was printed in Holland in 1909 and copies of it were smuggled into India. But the author was arrested in London in 1910 on charges of sedition, brought to India, convicted for two life imprisonments, and transported to “Kala Pani”, the dreaded Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It was the same place where the British had deported thousands of patriots who had participated in the uprising of 1857. Savarkar spent 11 years in near-solitary confinement in a dark, dingy cell that overlooked the gallows where prisoners were routinely executed.

Hindu, Muslim together

Though banned, the book went into several reprints. Madame Cama brought out the second edition in Europe. Lala Hardayal, a leader of the revolutionary Ghadar Party, brought out an edition in the US. It was printed for the first time in India in 1928 by Bhagat Singh and his comrades. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Ras Behari Bose got it published in Japan in 1944, and the book became almost a textbook for the soldiers of the Indian National Army. Before the ban was lifted in 1947, Savarkar’s book was available in several Indian languages in the underground network. Thus, this was not a book written by an ordinary historian enjoying his comfort, safety and academic support structure, all of which he takes for granted. Rather, it was penned by a revolutionary who suffered unimaginable hardships for his activities and which in turn motivated countless other revolutionaries in their common goal of liberating India.

... contd.