Vinayak Damodar Savarkar's Birth Anniversary: Little-known facts about the father of Hindutva

Vinayak Savarkar is popularly known as ‘Veer Savarkar’ and ‘Svatantryaveer Savarkar’ and today we are celebrating Savarkar’s 136 birth anniversary. A poet, philosopher, playwright, and a well-admired political leader, he was a brave freedom fighter and social reformer.

On his birthday today, we bring to you some little-known facts about the aggressive freedom fighter:

• Veer Savarkar was born on May 28, 1883 in a village, Bhagur (Nashik) Maharashtra; he had 3 other siblings namely Ganesh, Narayan and Maina (sister).
• While pursuing his BA from Fergusson College in Pune, he was inspired by Lokamanya Tilak’s announcement to boycott British clothes. He went a step ahead and on October 7, 1905, during Dusshera, he set up a bonfire (holi) and burnt all his foreign clothes and goods.
• Veer Savarkar created the term Hindutva. He emphasised its distinctiveness from Hinduism; which he associated with political communalism.
• Veer Savarkar was the first poet in the world who was deprived of pen and paper in a jail. He improvised and used thorns and nails to compose his writings on prison walls.
• Not one but eight works of Savarkar were banned by British government. The list includes: Mazzini –his biography in Marathi, Indian War of Independence 1857, drama Usshaap, Shraddhanand –magazine by his brother that carried his articles and his biography by GP Parchure, among others.
• Veer Savarkar practised ‘dining of all Hindus together’ irrelevant of the castes in 1930. He was the first revolutionary-cum-politician who within 10 years eradicated the evil practises of untouchability in Ratnagiri, where he was interned.
• Veer Savarkar pioneered the ‘Shuddhi’ movement. The movement was against the Muslims who were forcing their religion on Hindus using prison authorities. The movement was to re-convert those people back to Hindu dharma.
• According to Veer Savarkar, the Hindu society was bound by seven bandis (prohibitions); viz. (sparshabandi)– prohibition of touch of certain castes, (rotibandi)prohibition of inter-dining with certain castes, (betibandi)-prohibition of inter-caste marriages, (vyavasayabandi)-prohibition of pursuing certain occupations, (sindhubandi)– prohibition of seafaring, (vedoktabandi)– prohibition of rites sanctioned by the Vedas, (shuddhibandi)– prohibition of reconversion  to the Hindu fold.
• On July 1911, Savarkar was sentenced to two life sentences i.e. 50 years in the cellular jail of Andamans, also known as Kala Pani. After mercy petitions and pressure from Indian National Congress he was shifted to Yerwada Jail in 1923 and was released in 1924 under strict conditions of not participating in politics for 5 years and barring to leave Ratnagiri district.
• In 1964, Savarkar felt his goal of Independence India is achieved and it was time to leave. So he declared his wish to attain Samadhi and started hunger-strike on February 1, 1966 and passed away on February 26, 1966.
• In 1970, Indira Gandhi’s government issued a postal stamp in honour of Veer Savarkar. Andaman and Nicobar Island’s Port Blair airport has been named as ‘Veer Savarkar International Airport’.
• History has not been kind to Savarkar, as his name was soiled with Mahatma Gandhi’s murder. Known for his famous escape from a ship and swimming across the ocean only to be captured again, he became a cause celebre in France. Veer Sarvarkar is one of those freedom fighters who couldn’t claim much credit of their deeds because of the false propaganda against them.