भारतीय इतिहास के ६ स्वर्णिम पृष्ठ (वीर सावरकर - विदेशी आक्रान्ताओं पर विजय गाथा)

aggrandisement, and so far was I from being a party to violence, that actually kept opposing it tooth and nail whenever I saw it used by powerful combinations against their weaker but righteous rivals. I heartily abhorred violence resorted to in days gone by—by ambitious men and nations not only outside India but even in India herself. I felt as rebellious against the caste systems and the untouchability inside India as her being dominated by foreigners from outside. Thus, we were revolutionists under necessity and not by choice. We felt that the best interests of India as well as of England demanded that her ideals be progressively and peacefully realized by mutual help and co- operation. And if that be possible even now, I shall take the first opportunity to resort to peaceful means and rush in the first constitutional breach effected by revolution or otherwise, however narrow it be, and try to widen it so as to enable the forces of evolution to flow in an uninterrupted procession. If the reforms wholeheartedly effected and worked out by the Government would serve the purpose of such a constitutional breach as that then revolution ceases and evolution becomes a watchword and a rallying cry of us all. And I, as one humble soldier in Her rank, would honestly try my best to make the reform successful, that is, work them out so as to render them a stepping stone to the realization of the great mission of our generation of making India free and great and glorious, leading or marching hand-in-hand with others to the appointed destiny of man. Such were my views when I was working in the revolutionary camp. And such are my views after 12 long years of being pent up within the four walls of a solitary cell. True it is that we found it impossible to bear love and loyalty to laws that were dictated by the sword, and constitutions that serve as masks to conceal the hideousness of tyranny, yet it is equally true that we honestly felt and still feel ourselves in duty bound to stand by the side of Law—that is the expression of the righteous resolve of a free people and Constitution that holds together, harmonizes and fuses the efforts of free men and women towards the good of man and the glory of God. As to the question so often put to me and others by officers no less exalted than the members of the Indian Cabinet: ‘What if you had rebelled against the ancient kings of India? They used to trample rebels under the feet of Elephants.’ I answer that not only in India but even in England and all other parts of the world, such would have at times been the fate of rebels. But