Vinayak Damodar Savarkar:

GS Paper 1:

Topics Covered: Modern Indian history from about the middle of the eighteenth century until the present- significant events, personalities, issues.

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar:

Context:

Veer Savarkar was born on May 28, 1883, at Bhagur village of Nashik district in Maharashtra and died on February 26, 1966, in Mumbai.

Things you should know about Veer Savarkar:

• Formed a youth organization- Mitra Mela. This organization was put into place to bring in national and revolutionary ideas.
• He was against foreign goods and propagated the idea of Swadeshi.
• 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. Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar also compared his work to Lord Buddha.

Organizations/institutions he was associated with:

• He was a president of Hindu Mahasabha from 1937 to 1943.
• When congress ministries offered resignation on 22nd oct 1939, Hindu mahaasabha 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 joined Tilak’s Swaraj Party.
• 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.

Important works:

1. Book- The History of the War of Indian Independence.
2. An armed revolt against the Morley-Minto reform.
3. Two-nation theory in his book ‘Hindutva’.

Insta Curious:

A quote attributed to Savarkar has been going around in academic circles which shows that Savarkar supported Jinnah’s two nation theory. Read this article to know if it’s true.

InstaLinks:

Prelims Link:

1. Who founded Mitra mela, Abhinav Bharat Society and Free India society, what are the objectives?
2. Books written by Savarkar?
3. Savarkar’s book which was published by Madam Bikaji Cama?
4. Morley- Minto reforms- key changes.
5. Savarkar’s views on use of arms to free India.
6. Hindu Mahasabha- key achievements.

Mains Link:

Discuss Veer Savarkar’s contributions to social reforms in the country.

Sources: Indian Express.