Veer Savarkar Jayanti

In News

Recently, the Prime Minister paid tribute to Vinayak Damodar Savarkar on his 138th  birth anniversary.

About Vinayak Damodar Savarkar 

• Early Life 
  • He was born in a Hindu Marathi family in Nashik, Maharashtra on May 28, 1883. 
  • He was nicknamed ‘Veer’ for his courage from an early age .
  • He , popularly known as Swatantryaveer Savarkar,
  • He  was a freedom fighter, politician, lawyer, writer, social reformer, and institutor of Hindutva ideology. 
  • He was heavily influenced by his older brother Ganesh Savarkar. 

                                                                                          Image Courtesy:Cultural India

• Contribution in Freedom Struggle 
  • Association with  Abhinav Bharat Society and Free India Society
    • He established a secret organization called Abhinav Bharat Society in 1904 with his brother, Ganesh Damodar Savarkar.
    • He was associated with India House and founded student societies like Free India Society.
  • Propagated the idea of Swadeshi
    • Savarkar was against foreign goods and propagated the idea of Swadeshi. In 1905, he burnt all the foreign goods in a bonfire on Dussehra.
  • Armed revolt against British 
    • He was arrested in 1909 on charges of plotting an armed revolt against the Morley-Minto reform. In 1910, he was arrested over his associations with revolutionary group India House. 
    • He was sentenced to two life sentences i.e. 50 years in the cellular jail of Andamans, also known as Kala Pani, in 1911.
    • He was released in 1924 under strict conditions of not participating in politics for 5 years.
  • As the President of the Hindu Mahasabha. 
    • He was a nationalist and one of the most important figures of the Hindu Mahasabha (“Great Society of Hindus”), a Hindu nationalist organization and political party.
    • He also served as the President of the Hindu Mahasabha for seven years.He endorsed the idea of a Hindu Rashtra (Hindu nation).

•  Formation of Mitra Mela
  • In his teenage years, Savarkar formed a youth organization. Known as Mitra Mela (Group of Friends), this organization was put into place to bring in national and revolutionary ideas.
• Untouchability 
  • He started one of the most powerful social reform movements against untouchability in India”,He  built the Patit Pavan Mandir in the Ratnagiri district to allow entry to all Hindus, including Dalits.

• Writing 
  • He wrote ‘The Indian War of Independence, 1857‘ during his jail time.
    •  In the book, he indicated the view that the Indian Mutiny of 1857 was the first expression of Indian mass rebellion against British colonial rule.
  • He also wrote Hindutva: Who Is a Hindu? coining the term Hindutva (“Hinduness’ ‘), which sought to define Indian culture as a manifestation of Hindu values; this concept grew to become a major tenet of Hindu nationalist ideology.
  • He also founded the two-nation theory in his book ‘Hindutva’ calling Hindus and Muslims two separate nations. In 1937, Hindu Mahasabha passed it as a resolution.

• Ideology 
  • He was instrumental in forming the idea of a Hindu nation before Independence. 
  • He also championed atheism and rationality and also disapproved orthodox Hindu belief. He even dismissed cow worship as superstitious.
• Views on Quit India Movement of 1942
  • He opposed the Quit India Movement of 1942. 
  • He was accused of having a role in the conspiracy to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi, but was later acquitted by the court. 
• Death
  • It was in 1964, when Savarkar declared his wish to attain Samadhi and started hunger-strike on February 1, 1966 and passed away on February 26, 1966. 
  • He believed that his purpose of life was solved as India gained Independence.
  • In 2002, Port Blair airport at Andaman and Nicobar Islands was renamed Veer Savarkar International Airport.

• Book on him 

• Historian Vikram Sampath’s concluding volume on the life and works of Veer Savarkar will hit the stands on July 26.
• The book, titled “Savarkar: A contested Legacy (1924-1966).

Source :PIB