Veer Savarkar

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar(28 May 1883 – 26 February 1966), commonly known as Veer Savarkar was an Indian independence activist, politician, lawyer, writer and the Hindutva activist. 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. He and his brother founded a secret society called Abhinav Bharat Society. He went to the United Kingdom for his law studies, where he involved himself with radical organizations, such as - India House and the Free India Society. He also published books advocating complete Indian independence by revolutionary means.One of the books he published called The Indian War of Independence about the Indian rebellion of 1857 which was banned by the British authorities. In 1910, Savarkar was arrested and ordered to be extradited to India for his connections with the revolutionary group India House. On return to India, Savarkar staged an attempt to escape and s ought asylum in France while the ship was docked in the port of Marseilles. The French port officials however handed him back to the British, in contravention of international law. Savarkar was sentenced to two life terms of imprisonment totalling fifty years and was moved to the Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. Savarkar served ten years of his prison sentence before being released in 1921 after signing a plea for clemency that required him to renounce revolutionary activities. After release, he was eventually moved to Ratnagiri in the present day state of Maharashtra, where he stayed until 1937. While in prison, Savarkar wrote the work describing Hindutva, espousing what it means to be a Hindu, and Hindu pride, i n which he defined as all the people descended of Hindu culture as being part of Hindutva, including Buddhists, Jains and Sikhs. Veer Savarkar endorsed the idea of India as a Hindu Rashtra and opposed to the Quit India struggle in 1942, calling it a "Quit India but keep your army" movement. He became a fierce critic of the Indian National Congress and its acceptance of India's partition. In 1948 Savarkar was cha rged as a co-conspirator in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, however he was acquitted by the court for lack of evidence. The airport at Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar's capital was renamed Veer Savarkar International Airport in 2002.