There is an allusion that Gandhi had Savarkar in mind while writing Hind Swaraj, while Savarkar’s 1923 treatise Essentials of Hindutva was undoubtedly his first major salvo against Gandhi whose pacifist philosophy he was totally opposed to. Though swaraj was the goal of both their works of 1909, for Gandhi, the means was intrinsically linked with the ends and non-violence was the guiding mantra. Savarkar however believed in self-assertion of the nation, which many a times could have no other outlet than a violent, armed one. He derided the pusillanimity of ahimsa and all his life believed that
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