Did Veer Savarkar support Nazis? I've seen quotes from him where he said "the very fact that Germany or Italy has so wonderfully recovered and grown so powerful as never before at the touch of Nazi or Fascist magical wand is enough to prove that those political 'isms' were the most congenial tonics their health demanded." Tbh he has praised Hitler/Nazism many times in his speeches.
And people say he based Hindutva on Nazism and all that. Is this really true? I respect Hindutva but I'm feeling uncomfortable with this now that I just learned about it and I'd like to clarify with someone who knows more than I do. I hope this is not rude. I genuinely want to learn about it and you always have good analysis so I just wanted to ask.
I'm not well versed on the specific words of Savarkar. I need to read the HMS Madurai logs to confirm if whatever Shamsul Islam (whose book I got an access to) wrote aligns with the records. He's written that Savarkar betrayed Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose by encouraging Hindus to join British armed forces against the Nazi Germany so that Muslims of India alone wouldn't wield military supremacy at the time. Bose had also kept it cordial with the Axis powers as they were against Britain. Jinnah too compared the "struggle" of Muslims of British India with that of the Sudeten Germans, drawing inspiration from Nazi Germany, yet he also made a deal with the British to fight for them if they'd concede with Muslim demands. Author Shamsul Islam has also claimed that Savarkar was "caste purist" in the book "Savarkar Unmasked", when, as far as I've read, Savarkar fought against the practice of untouchability through actions like building the Patit Pavan Mandir (1931) open to all. Savarkar also wrote "Seven Shackles" in which he criticised caste rigidity. B.R Ambedkar even praised his reforms while also noting limitations. Again, I need to read more because so far I've mostly focused on Bengal history. I'll correct you on one thing though, Savarkar did not invent "Hindutva". Honestly, you don't have to like Savarkar's opinions or any other bygone leader's. You can fully believe in the human rights of Hindu minorities, oppose Congressi politics etc. without subscribing to Savarkar's or others opinions. I wish I could answer better but I promise that I'll try to find out more when I get free time. Meanwhile, I recommend you read the books written by Shamsul Islam, Vikram Sampath and Koenraad Elst yourself and get diverse views on this topic if you wish.

















