| Dr Hedgewar injected a new elixir of life in this Hindu society with his toil and sweat. —VD Savarkar |
Upon receiving the telegram about serious condition of Dr Hedgewar, Veer Savarkar was about to proceed to Nagpur. But that didn’t happened as he received the news of his passing away. He was greatly bereaved. He immediately flashed a condolence message the same night to Nagpur that said: “Hindu Mahasabha is deeply bereaved with the passing away of Doctor Hedgewar. Hedgewar is dead-Long live Hedgewar. Hedgewar is dead-Long live RSS”.
Immediately after this Savarkar intimated all the Hindu Mahasabha branches to pay tributes to Sarsanghachalak Dr Hedgewar on June 30 by organising special condolence meetings and send the report of these meetings to Central Office of the RSS.
Accordingly, addressing a condolence meeting at Mumbai on June 30, Savarkar said: “Organisers like Dr Hedgewar are badly needed today. The concept he brooded over in solitude is adopted by the entire Hindusthan. His slogan “Hindusthan belongs to Hindus” is reverberated throughout the country. When this concept was taking a concrete shape, his presence was very much warranted. Now it is the duty of today’s youth to accomplish this task and fulfill the mission of Dr Hedgewar. The missions of great men remains unfulfilled if they don’t reach to the height of an epoch-maker in their own lifetime. If their work gets continued and mission accomplished then only such great men are called the epoch-makers.”
This meeting was also addressed by Dr Narayanrao Savarkar, Solicitor Pandya, Dr Deshmukh and Barrister Jamnadas Mehta.
The unabridged condolence message of Veer Savarkar:
‘Hindu Rashtrapati’ Bar. Savarkar’s message:
“Dr Hedgewar is dead, Long live RSS Dr Hedgewar passed away at a very critical juncture when his presence was warranted today owing to its necessity of the time. Dr Hedgewar injected a new elixir of life in this Hindu society with his toil and sweat. His passing away resembled to that of a farmer who disappears when the crops are ripe and ready for harvesting. This Hindu nation finds itself in the similar situation today. He gave the message of Hindutva, and self-pride to this Hindu society with courage. We must remember these two concepts of him. He had envisioned a beautiful and just concept of Hindu Rashtra in his mind. He threw off the narrow Hindutva. Congress had tried its best to abolish caste feelings. But even though the Hindus have forgotten the caste feelings the other communities did not. When Swami Shraddhanand died, his death was not condoled only because it would offend the Muslims. Today the same is happening in case of Dr Hedgewar. Had any Muslaman been dead, every Congressman would have held a condolence meeting. We observe Turkey Day on account of an earthquake in Turkey but Congress cannot do anything for Dr Hedgewar. Because they want to appease the Muslims.”
Take advantage of Dr Hedgewar’s teachings
Congress is trying to pull our legs in the name of nationalism. You follow nationalism but Muslims follow their self-interests. Dr Hedgewar understood this and established this national organisation to consolidate Hindu society. To carry forward his mission is the duty of youth today. Opt for military training today, keep in mind that we are Hindus; then only you can carry forward his mission. The British who did not allow us rifle training are now offering compulsory military training. Take advantage of this to draw benefit of Dr Hedgewar’s teachings.”
