Veer Savarkar Jayanti | 29 May 2020

Why In News

On 28th May, India paid tribute to the freedom fighter, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (Veer Savarkar) on his birth anniversary.

  • He was an Indian independence activist, politician, lawyer and writer.
  • He is also known as Swatantryaveer Savarkar.

Key Points

  • Birth: VD Savarkar was born on 28th May, 1883 in Bhagur, a village near Nashik in Maharashtra.
  • Related Organisations and Work:
    • Founded a secret society called Abhinav Bharat Society.
    • Went to the United Kingdom and was involved with organizations such as India House and the Free India Society.
    • Involved in the formation of Hindu Mahasabha.
      • He was the president of Hindu Mahasabha from 1937 to 1943.
    • Savarkar wrote a book titled ‘The History of the War of Indian Independence’ in which he wrote about the guerilla warfare tricks used in 1857 Sepoy Mutiny.
    • He also wrote the book ‘Hindutva: who is hindu?’.
  • Trial and Sentences:
    • Arrested in 1909 on charges of plotting an armed revolt against the Morley-Minto reform (Indian Councils Act 1909).
    • Arrested in 1910 for his connections with the revolutionary group India House.
    • One of the charges on Savarkar was abetment to murder of Nashik Collector Jackson and the second was waging a conspiracy under Indian penal code 121-A against the King emperor.
    • Following the two trials, Savarkar was convicted and sentenced to 50-years imprisonment also known as Kala Pani and transported in 1911 to the Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
    • He was not considered by the British government as a political prisoner.
  • Death: He died on 26th February 1966 due to fasting on his own wish of death.

Abhinav Bharat Society (Young India Society)

  • It was a secret society founded by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and his brother Ganesh Damodar Savarkar in 1904.
  • Initially founded at Nasik as Mitra Mela, the society was associated with several revolutionaries and political activists with branches in various parts of India and London.

India House

  • It was founded by Shyamji Kishan Verma in 1905 in London.
  • It was opened to promote nationalist views among Indian students in London.

Free India Society

  • It was a political organization of Indian students in England, committed to obtaining the independence of India from British rule.
  • Initially an intellectual group, it became a revolutionary outfit under its founding leader, Madam Bhikaji Cama.

Hindu Mahasabha

  • It was a political party formed in 1933.
  • It was founded by Veer Damodar Savarkar, Lala Lajpat Rai, Madan Mohan Malviya.
  • The organisation was formed to protect the rights of the Hindu community, after the formation of the All India Muslim League in 1906 and the British India government's creation of separate Muslim electorate under the Morley-Minto reforms of 1909.

Source: PIB