On Immediate Problems
To
Shri N. C. Chatterji, Bar-at-Law
Dear Mahashaya,
Though I have since long been confined to sick-bed due to age debility
and protracted illness and had consequently been forced to retire from all
public activities, still I feel it my duty to congratulate you publicly on your
thumping electoral success, defeating the rival Congress candidate for the
Lok Sabha.
I strongly hope that now at any rate, our Bengali Hindus and Hindudom in
general, will find an able and indomitable advocate in you to defend the
Hindu cause in the Lok Sabha. Three demands above all and immediately
must be emphasised. First, all Hindus in East Bengal should be allowed to
come over to Western Bengal and at least an equal number of Moslems
from West Bengal should be sent to Eastern Bengal, if necessary, per force.
Second, for every aggressive step taken by Pakistan, whether military or
otherwise must be met by prompt reprisals, military or otherwise by the
Hindusthan Government kind for kind, measure for measure. Third, not an
inch of our land should be surrendered to Pakistan without the consent of
the Hindu Public either on the Eastern frontier or the Western.
Bombay,
Yours Sincerely,
28th December 1947
V. D. Savarkar

Co-operation with Other Parties

It is imperative that in the interest of Hindudom, it is absolutely necessary
that there should be an organisation manned by Hindus only to represent
Hindudom as a whole and to protect the interests political, social, cultural,
economical, etc., of the Hindu people as a whole. It was with this particular
mission that the Hindu Mahasabha was started by such eminent patriots like
Lala Lajapat Rai, Madan Mohan Malviya and others and led by Dr. Moonje,
Bhai Paramanandji and other great champions of the Hindu cause. Ever
since its start, the Hindu Mahasabha has been recognised by other political
organisations and even by the British Government also as the foremost, if
not the only, political representative of Hindudom.
Consequently, any question of a merger or a compromise for a common
front for elections or any other object, which demands first of all the
liquidation of the Hindu Mahasabha as a political body representing
Hindudom and seeks to reduce it to a social and cultural organisation only,
cannot but prove most detrimental to the Hindu cause and should never be
countenanced at all.
Inasmuch as the proposals made recently for such a compromise to one
and all seek to deprive the Hindu Mahasabha of this, its main mission of
representing and defending the political interests of the Hindus and
inasmuch as seek to compel it to merge as a Hindu political body into any
old or new organisations, which are open to non-Hindus as well, the
acceptance of any such proposal cannot but constitute the betrayal of the
two most fundamental bedrocks, on which the Hindu Mahasabha was
founded and has been solidly and devotedly taking its stand, namely its
mission of representing Hindudom alone and being manned by Hindus
alone. Consequently, none of these proposals or any new one of the same
nature should ever be even entertained, much less accepted.
Nevertheless, a common front for elections or for any issues commonly
accepted can be formed with the Hindutwanishtha bodies in particular, and
with any political body in general, if that co-operation with those bodies
does, in no way, affect the existence and freedom of the Hindu Mahasabha
as a Hindu organisation representing Hindudom politically and in all other
spheres of national life.
In short, co-operation and no amalgamation or merger is the formula that
should guide all activities of the Hindu Mahasabha.
□□□

Notes
[←1]
Sakharam Gorhe—he was one of those accused persons in the Nasik revolutionary conspiracy
trial who stated in the High Court to have been subjected to police tortures and morpolurs
starvatonary to wring out confessions from them so as to implicate other persons as well. The
High Court held that the story was an exaggeration and partly a fabrication! History in the long
end may record who was right and spoke the truth. All that can be said now is that Sakharam
did not implicate anyone else, was sentenced to 5 years’ imprisonment and died while in a jail,
a martyr’s death.

[←2]
This petition expressing the political views of the revolutionaries in general and Mr. V.
D. Sawarkar in particular was written to the Government chiefly with the intention of
pressing no sooner than the passage of the Reforms through the Parliament. For, Mr.
Savarkar had several reasons to believe that the Government was then anxious to
know what effect the bill would have on the revolutionist attitude. He was several
times approached by the authorities there and invited to express his views. He was
convinced that the Reforms were chiefly addressed to the revolutionists.