M. P. T. Acharya - Europe - End of India House

End of India House

By 1909, India House was under strong surveillance from Scotland Yard. Savarkar's elder brother Ganesh Savarkar was arrested in India in June that year, and was subsequently tried and transported for life for publication of seditious literature. Savarkar's speeches grew increasingly virulent and called for revolution, widespread violence, and murder of all Englishmen in India. The culmination of these events was the assassination of William Hutt Curzon Wyllie, the political ADC to the Secretary of State for India, by Madanlal Dhingra on the evening of 1 July 1909 at a meeting of Indian students in the Imperial Institute in London. Dhingra was arrested and later tried and executed. In the aftermath of the assassination, the India House was rapidly liquidated. The investigations in the aftermath of the assassination were expanded to look for broader conspiracies originating from the India house, and Scotland Yard brought pressure on the inmates to leave England. While some of its leaders, like Krishna Varma, fled to Europe, others like Chattopadhyaya, moved to Germany and many others moved to Paris. It was suggested to Acharya at this time by one Syed Hyder Reza, probably on instructions from Scotland Yard, that Acharya move to the United States.

However, Acharya remained in London for sometime, lodging at Bipin Pal's boarding house. He attended along with Savarkar, Iyer and other ex-residents of the house a meeting of Indians called by the Aga Khan to demonstrate their loyalty to the empire and offer condolences to the Wyllie family, where they opposed the unanimous acceptance of a resolution of condemnation against Dhingra. In a scuffle that ensued between Savarkar and a London barrister by the name of Palmer, Acharya is known to have come to Savarkar's aid, hitting Palmer with a stick and apparently not shooting Palmer with his revolver only under indications from Savarkar not to do so.

Interviewed repeatedly in the investigations following the Wyillie murder, it became clear to Acharya that staying in Britain was not safe for him. Neither could he return to India, for he was sure to be picked up by Indian police. He did not wish to waste the experiences he had gained studying and training for revolution at the India House. He also wanted first-hand experiences of the battlefield. Indian revolutionaries in Europe at this time used to send recruits to work with Irish, Egyptian and Turkish groups for training and experience.