Veer Savarkar on Women Empowerment: A Hindutva Version of Feminism

Veer Savarkar, as a stalwart of women empowerment

Getting emotional by the hanging of Chapekar brothers, a boy pledged in front of an idol of a goddess that he will contribute to liberate his motherland from British colonization. That same boy who composed a poem titled “Dete ka koni O” (meaning, “Can anyone answer these!”) about the miserable conditions of the young widows which got him the first prize at a poem-composing composing competition in 1902. This same boy is labelled as a misogynistic, anti-women figure by the Congress-left-jihadi ecosystem in current times. The boy was Veer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

But as living entities in an independent Bharat, it’s our duty to stop the maligning project. So, I have written this article and it’s your duty to mass-share it.

The most vulgar allegation against Savarkar is that he supported crimes against women in his book “Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History”. I will write a different article debunking this allegation in near future and I will focus about Savarkar’s thoughts about women empowerment. So, let’s discuss about this topic.

·         Take Care of Your Daughters: The most disastrous thing about our society is that, many people (including foremen) residing here think that daughters are burden from their birth. This stagnation is continued till now. To remove such social stagnation, so that our society as well as nation march straight toward progress, Veer Savarkar has some advice for the society. From Savarkar Samagra, volume-7, page-301 (the Prabhat Prakashan editions in Hindi), he said in a social speech:

It's a very usual concept that, sons are much needed but not daughters. A mother gives less attention towards her daughters. But this concept is totally wrong. Daughters must be cared properly. Because, that girl would be the mother of next generation.

·         The Evil of Child Marriage: The monster of child marriage snatches away from a girl her childhood and chance to be educated. So, from the above-mentioned speech, Savarkar roared against this monstrous social ill:

Girls should not be married until they reach a proper age.

·         Womanliness Is Not Equals to Weakness: How a social reformer can empower the women until they become self-confidant about what she can do? Savarkar advised women, especially young girls, in the above-mentioned speech:

Girls use to think that weakness means softness, so it’s a good quality to have. This concept is totally wrong. Making oneself strong is the real beauty. The God-given beauty can’t be achieved manually, but this type of beauty can be.

Now think, if every young-woman obeys this statement by Savarkar, they can crush the molesters and women-abusers by themselves. They can be like Maa Durga and Maa Kali.

·         The Real Aim of Women Education: When we educate a boy, we educate a person. But when we educate a girl, we educate a generation. This statement finds echoes from Savarkar’s above-mentioned speech:

The next generation should be more strong, more beautiful and more patriotic than us, this kind of education a woman should receive. This must be the real aim of women education.

·         Who Should Be Icons of Our Women: In Indian history, there is no dearth of brave women, who can be made icons of our women. Savarkar further adds:

Ram tried to scare Sita about the hermitage-life in the forest, but she went to the forest along with him. This type of patience is very important. The fierceness of the ‘Rani of Jhansi’ must be our ideal.

So, these were Veer Savarkar’s thoughts on women empowerment. If you respect him, take care of your daughters properly. Make them strong (both mentally and physically) and educated. Tell them stories of Rani of Jhansi, Rani Durgavati, Rani Tarabai, Begum Hazrat Mahal (she can be icons for the patriotic daughters of the Indian Muslim community). If possible, place a picture of any of these great women in your daughter’s room.

Soon, I will write and publish an article debunking the most vulgar allegation against Veer Savarkar. Till then,

Jai Maa Bhaarati!

Jai Shree Ram!

Note: This article is based on a speech in the social speeches section of Savarkar Samagra (Prabhat Prakashan Hindi Editions); volume-7; named 'Women, Be Like Vidula' (Page-301). This entire text was translated to English by the author of this article.

Book Recommendations:

1.Savarkar Samagra (Set of Ten Volumes) - Padhega India

2.Savarkar Boxset (Vols 1 & 2): Savarkar: Echoes From A Forgotten Past 1883–1924 + Savarkar: A Contest : Vikram Sampath: Amazon.in: Books