G Kishore Babu
cnfnewdelhi@gmail.com
In the grand chronicle of India’s march toward freedom, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar stands as a colossus a revolutionary by temperament, a scholar by training, and a visionary by instinct. Yet amid the tumult of his political and philosophical legacy lies a tale less spoken but deeply evocative the story that, during his student years in London (1906-1910), Savarkar envisioned a constitutional path to India’s freedom through the framework of the Balfour Declaration, the same principle which later extended Dominion Status to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the Irish Free State.
Savarkar, ever foresighted and politically astute, persuaded Arthur James Balfour, former Prime Minister and later Foreign Secretary, to include India among the self-governing dominions of the British Commonwealth. Had this diplomatic endeavour borne fruit, India might well have attained Dominion Status by 1931 the very year when the Statute of Westminster enshrined legislative independence for the white settler dominions. But fate, ever fickle, had other plans. Before this vision could blossom into reality, just like New Zealand secured inclusion through advocacy, Savarkar also was lobbying Balfour to secure India inclusion by advocacy, British intelligence got a tip off, that with Savarkar successful lobbing, Balfour may include India in the list of countries to be granted Domain status, Savarkar was arrested in 1910 and confined to prison and with his captivity, India lost an early dawn of independence in 1931.
But this dream was passed on to others and carried forward ,by the freedom fighters and their children who were with Savarkar in London at that time and they along with the others kept Savarkar’s vision alive, many a time freedom fighters demanded domain status like Savarkar wanted, but the British policymakers resisted-citing instability, racial hierarchy, and above all, the economic and strategic indispensability of India but today his vision of early freedom is a part of Indian freedom’s struggle folklore.
Balfour and the Idea of Dominion Status
Arthur James Balfour (1848-1930), a man of intellect and diplomacy, is chiefly remembered for his 1917 declaration supporting a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Yet, another historic document bears his name the Balfour Declaration of 1926, issued at the Imperial Conference, which proclaimed the British dominions as “autonomous communities within the British Empire, equal in status.” This paved the way for the Statute of Westminster (1931), the legislative cornerstone that conferred near-complete independence upon Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and the Irish Free State, but left out India.
India, however, was conspicuously absent from this constellation of nations. Despite her vast contributions in wealth, manpower, and intellect, the British establishment refused to bestow upon India the same dignity of self-rule. Cloaked in excuses of “racial difference” and “political unreadiness,” the real motive lay in the Empire’s reluctance to part with what it deemed its golden goose the jewel in the imperial crown and a fountainhead of its revenue.
It was against this backdrop that Savarkar, with a vision far ahead of his time, dreamt of India’s rightful inclusion among the dominions an inclusion that could have altered the trajectory of history itself.
Savarkar’s London years (1906-1910) were a crucible of intellect and courage. Enrolled at Gray’s Inn to study law, he soon became the soul and spirit of India House, that vibrant nucleus of nationalist awakening. There, he founded the Free India Society, inspired young patriots, and articulated the first clear call for Purna Swaraj complete independence.
While British intelligence kept a watchful eye upon him, Savarkar was not merely a firebrand revolutionary. He possessed the mind of a statesman and the eloquence of a philosopher. Oral accounts preserved by the descendants of his London associates recall that Arthur Balfour, whom he had impressed by his intellect and oratory, to advocate India’s inclusion among the dominions. Balfour, it is said, regarded the young Indian’s vision with interest but before the idea could be given political shape, the iron hand of imperial suspicion fell upon Savarkar .
In January 1910, under charges steeped in fabrication, he was arrested and later transported to the Andaman Cellular Jail. Thus, what might have been a constitutional turning point in India’s destiny was nipped in the bud a flower, Akhand Bharat was crushed before it could bloom.
Savarkar, once imprisoned, spoke no more of his London lobbying, nor left any written trace of it. His silence was not of forgetfulness but of circumstance. By the time the dominion discussions gained prominence in the 1920s, he was long confined in Jail. Hence, only the oral traditions of those who knew him kept this vision alive.
It was, without question, a moment lost to history a fleeting chance when India could have joined the ranks of self-governing nations alongside Canada and Australia. Yet, as wisdom reminds us, “not all truths dwell in parchment; some live in memory.” The faith of those who stood by Savarkar, and the continuity of their recollections, offer a powerful testimony to a dream too profound to die with mere silence.
Few revolutionaries have wielded the pen as deftly as the pistol. Savarkar was both a warrior and a wordsmith a man whose intellect flowed as freely as his courage. His literary output, spread across half a century, spans over 2,000 pages of prose, poetry, plays, and political essays (Sampath, 2021). Through these, he sought to awaken a nation lulled by colonial narratives and to rekindle pride in its civilizational soul.
His Mazzini Charitra (1906) translated and reinterpreted the ideals of Giuseppe Mazzini, showing how nationalism and sacrifice were intertwined. The Indian War of Independence, 1857 (1908), written in London, recast the so-called “Mutiny” as a sacred struggle for Swaraj, where Hindus and Muslims fought shoulder to shoulder for Akhand Bharat. The book was so incendiary in its patriotic fervour that the British banned it even before publication. Yet, like wildfire, it spread through Europe, inspired by Madam Cama’s press, and found its way into the hearts of Indian revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh and Subhas Chandra Bose.
Later works such as Essentials of Hindutva (1923) and Hindu Pad-Padashahi (1925) laid down philosophical foundations for national unity and cultural pride. His My Transportation for Life and Kale Pani bear the scars of his imprisonment, transforming personal suffering into timeless testimony. In Saha SoneriPaane (Six Glorious Epochs of Indian History), he challenged colonial distortions of Indian history, asserting that India’s past was not one of perpetual defeat but of undaunted resurgence.
Ever the linguistic reformer, Savarkar coined new Hindi words chhayachitra (photograph), sansad (parliament), and vyangya chitra (cartoon) to cultivate a self-reliant national vocabulary. His prolific output crowned him not merely as a revolutionary but as a rashtra-kavi and rashtra-chintak the poet-philosopher of Indian nationalism.
History often walks a fine line between evidence and faith. Some truths are carved in stone, others whispered across generations. Just as Shivaji Maharaj dreamt of Swarajya before it took tangible form, Savarkar too dreamt of India as an equal among the self-governing nations of the world. Even if the archives are silent, the echoes of his vision linger in oral memory an intangible heritage of India’s freedom movement.
Indeed, belief itself has often shaped history as profoundly as fact. The story of Savarkar’s successful appeal to Balfour, which was not allowed to happen, reflects the depth of his patriotism that even amidst exile and adversity, his heart beat for India’s rightful dignity among nations.
Conclusion
Savarkar’s London years were a symphony of thought and action a chapter where a young man’s fire met a philosopher’s foresight. While the British records chose to remember him as a revolutionary conspirator, the oral traditions remind us of his broader vision: a constitutional, dignified path to India’s freedom within the comity of nations.
That his dream was thwarted by imprisonment does not diminish its grandeur. History has often delayed justice but seldom denied it. When India finally attained independence in 1947, it fulfilled, albeit belatedly, the prophecy of Savarkar’s mind that India would one day stand “equal among equals.” which Prime Minister Narendra Modi has fulfilled. His pen, his prison, and his patriotism remain eternal symbols of a man who, like Prometheus, stole fire from the heavens to light his nation’s soul. In the end, Savarkar’s life reminds us of a timeless truth: “Ideas once born do not perish them only await their appointed hour.”In honour of this great son of India, Noida International Airport in Jewar should be named after him as Savarkar International Airport. (CNF)
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