Veer Savarkar
Context:
- The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has paid tributes to freedom fighter Veer Savarkar on his Punya tithi.
- Born on May 28, 1883 in Bhagur, a city in Maharashtra’s Nashik.
- He was against foreign goods and propagated the idea of Swadeshi. In 1905, he burnt all the foreign goods in a bonfire on Dussehra.
Social reforms:
- He championed atheism and rationality and also disapproved orthodox Hindu belief. In fact, he even dismissed cow worship as superstitious.
- He also Worked on abolishment of untouchability in Ratnagiri.
His Associations:
- Vinayak Savarkar was a president of Hindu Mahasabha from 1937 to 1943.
- When congress ministries offered resignation on 22nd oct 1939, Hindu mahasabha under his leadership cooperated with Muslim league to form government in provinces like Sindh, Bengal and NWFP.
- In Pune, Savarkar founded the “Abhinav Bharat Society”.
- He was also involved in the Swadeshi movement and later joined Swaraj Party.
- His instigating patriotic speeches and activities incensed the British Government. As a result, the British Government withdrew his B.A. degree.
- He founded the Free India Society. The Society celebrated important dates on the Indian calendar including festivals, freedom movement landmarks, and was dedicated to furthering discussion about Indian freedom.
- Vinayak Savarkar and Ganesh Savarkar started Mitra Mela, a revolutionary secret society in Nasik in 1899.
Notable Works:
- In his book, The History of the war of Indian Independence, Savarkar wrote about the guerilla warfare tricks used in 1857 Sepoy Mutiny.
- The book was banned by Britishers, but Madam Bhikaji Cama published the book in Netherlands, Germany and France, which eventually reached many Indian revolutionaries.
- He 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.
Source: THE HINDU.