Sacred
thread ceremony of ex-untouchables
at Malvan, 1929, under the leadership of Veer
Savarkar
|
Since
childhood, Savarkar believed that all strata of Hindu society should treat each
other with equality and respect. He had advocated widow (and not only
child-widows) remarriage to members of his society. Now for the first time in
his life he could focus on these social issues. In Ratnagiri he went on a
warpath for a social revolution:
·
toured towns in the
District and made speeches decrying the practice of caste-based segregation;
particularly ensured that schools in these places stopped this practice; roped
in the Government to help his cause.
Savarkar in Ratnagiri (with the inevitable umbrella!) |
In
1932 in his presentation to Officer Lamington, Savarkar said, “Once the
children are educated together, they will not observe caste hierarchy in later
life. They will not feel the need to
observe caste division. Therefore the
Government regulation of 1923 must be strictly followed. In addition, the Government should abandon
the title ‘special schools for low caste children’. This very title
creates a feeling of inferiority among children attending the school.”
·
insisted that
children of the so-called low castes compulsorily attended school and
distributed chalk and slates and giving monetary incentives to their parents;
brought up an ex-untouchable girl in his own house despite having a very meager
income.
·
organized
inter-community dining, mass haldi-kumkums,
and distributed sweets to all strata of society on festival days.
·
started the Akhil
Hindu Restaurant open to all and employed ex-untouchables to run it.
·
had the Patit Pawan
temple built—the trustees of which had to belong to all four ‘varnas’ and
ex-untouchables, and it was accessible to all Hindus. Any Hindu who took a
bath and wore clean clothes would have the right to perform puja here, provided
he had knowledge of the priestly duties. Everyone
visiting Savarkar was first required to eat at this restaurant and visit the
temple.
·
had an ex-untouchable
perform padya-pooja of the
Shankaracharya; something unthinkable even today.
·
personally taught
ex-untouchables to read and write and recite the Gayatri mantra, hitherto the
preserve of ‘upper’ castes.
He had an ex-untouchable perform
‘keertan’ and being accorded respect by Brahmins.
·
brought back into the
Hindu fold several individuals and families who had been converted and personally
arranged for their marriage and other rituals.
·
organized public
lectures of women, something unprecedented.
·
composed poems and
other literature advocating social reform and rationalism and wrote the Hindu Padpadshahi, one of the first books
on history of Marathas to be written in English.
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