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26 February 1966: Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Indian politician, passed away

YB WEB DESK. Dated: 2/26/2021 1:04:00 PM

Vinayak Savarkar, popularly known as Swatantryaveer Savarkar, was a highly respected freedom fighter, political leader, social reformer, historian as well as philosopher. He is credited with the origin of the term 'Hindutva', and was arguably the first freedom fighter to raise the demand for complete independence from the British rule. Savarkar's philosophy, while based on universalism and pragmatism, has been nevertheless criticised by many as exclusionistic and biased towards Hindus. Early life Savarkar was born on 28 May 1883 in a jagirdaar (landlord) family in Nashik, Maharashtra, to Damodar Savarkar and RadhaBai. He was sent to the Shivaji School with his elder brother Ganesh (Babarao). After both his parents died, the responsibility of the family came on to the shoulders of Babarao. Vinayak was drawn to nationalistic sentiment from an early age, being engaged in organising a youth organisation called Milan Mela. It comprised of young men like him, whose main motive was to motivate people for an independent India. Mitra Mela was also involved in several social activities, including helping people to cremate the dead bodies during the deadly Plague of the late 1890s. College life and activities Savarkar was very active in his college and took several initiatives to instill patriotic feelings inside the young. His university education was supported by his father in law, Ramchandra Chiplunkar, and he got admitted in the Fergusson College in Pune in 1902. During this time he dominated the campus and took several initiatives to discard foreign goods to the extent possible. In 1905, he arranged for a huge bonfire during Dussera and dumped all foreign goods into it as a symbol of protest against Bengal's partition. In 1906 he went to London to study law. Stay in India house and Arrest Savarakar used to stay in the India House of London established by Pandit Krishna Verma Shyamji, and it was considered to be the hub of Indian students. Here he founded the Free India Society and organised several functions for the Indian community, such as Indian festivals, anniversaries of eminent personalities, etc. Apart from this, his other anti-British activities like writing a book named The History of the War of Indian Independence, distributing leaflets on how to make a bomb, his association with Madanlal Dhingra (who assassinated Sir Wyllie), etc., brought him to limelight amidst mixed extreme.