VEER SAVARKAR

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Context

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi paid tribute to Veer Savarkar on his Jayanti.

About Veer Savarkar

• Savarkar was born to a Marathi Brahmin family in 1883. Since his early days, he was influenced by the radical side of the Indian freedom struggle.
• During his days as a law student in London, he began organising radical political activities.
• It was during his days in London that Savarkar wrote The First War of Independenceabout the 1857 revolt against British forces in India. 
• Savarkar was later arrested and tried for his protest against the 1909 Morley-Minto reforms. In 1911, he was sentenced to 50 years of imprisonment at the notorious Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which was infamously called Kala Pani.
• While in prison, Savarkar also wrote the pamphlet Hindutva: Who is a Hindu?The work promoted the idea of Hinduism as a political and cultural identity. The freedom fighter also coined the definition of Hindutva in this work.
• He was released in 1924 after several mercy petitions, he filed, wherein he promised to stay away from political activities if he was released. Political controversy surrounds Savarkar’s release to date, with parties like the Congress alleging that he was a “traitor” due to the mercy petitions he filed before the British.
• Savarkar was opposed to the caste system, superstitious rituals and cow worship. He was the president of the Hindu Mahasabha from 1937 to 1942. He also opposed the Quit India Movement launched by Mahatma Gandhi.
• Savarkar was accused of being a co-conspirator in Gandhi's assassination in 1948. He was later acquitted of all charges. He passed away on 26 February 1966 at the age of 82.

https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1828873