Nation pays tribute to Veer Savarkar on 137th birth anniversary

Guwahati: Indians on May 28 paid their tribute to Veer Savarkar, an Indian independence activist and politician who formulated the Hindu nationalist philosophy of Hindutva. He was a leading figure in the Hindu Mahasabha.

Taking to Twitter to pay his respects, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said, "On his Jayanti, I bow to the courageous Veer Savarkar. We remember him for his bravery, motivating several others to join the freedom struggle and emphasis on social reform."

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal also took to Twitter to pay his respects."The courage and patriotism of #VeerSavarkar has inspired millions to dedicate their life in service to the nation. My homage to the great freedom fighter and social reformer on his jayanti", Sonowal wrote.

Several other leaders including Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and MP Baijayant Jay Panda also tweeted giving tributes to Savarkar who is popularly known as Swatantryaveer Savarkar.

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was born in the Marathi Chitpavan Brahmin Hindu family[14] of Damodar and Radhabai Savarkar in the village of Bhagur, near the city of Nashik, Maharashtra on May 28, 1883.

As a response to the Muslim League, Savarkar joined the Hindu Mahasabha and popularized the term Hindutva (Hinduness), previously coined by Chandranath Basu, to create a collective "Hindu" identity as an essence of Bharat (India). Savarkar was an atheist and also a pragmatic practitioner of Hindu philosophy.

After Gandhi's assassination, Savarkar's home in Dadar, Bombay was stoned by angry mobs. After he was acquitted of the allegations related to Gandhi's assassination and released from jail, Savarkar was arrested by the government for making "Hindu nationalist speeches."

On 8 November 1963, Savarkar's wife, Yamuna, died. On 1 February 1966, Savarkar renounced medicines, food and water which he termed as atmaarpan (fast until death). Before his death, he had written an article titled "Atmahatya Nahi Atmaarpan" in which he argued that when one's life mission is over and ability to serve the society is left no more, it is better to end the life at will rather than waiting for death. His condition was described to have become as "extremely serious" before his death on 26 February 1966 at his residence in Bombay (now Mumbai), and that he faced difficulty in breathing; efforts to revive him failed and was declared dead.

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