Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday paid tributes to Veer Savarkar on his birth anniversary.
I bow to the great Veer Savarkar on his birth anniversary. We remember his indomitable spirit and invaluable contribution to Indias history. Veer Savarkars undying love for India made him fight injustice against our Motherland. He inspired many others to join freedom struggle, Modi said.
We salute Veer Savarkar for his emphasis on social reform and remember his writing and poetry that ignites the spark of patriotism among people, the Prime Minister said.
Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was an Indian pro-independence activist, politician as well as a poet, writer and playwright.
He advocated dismantling the system of caste in Hindu culture, and reconversion of the converted Hindus back to Hindu religion.
Savarkar created the term Hindutva, and emphasised its distinctiveness from Hinduism which he associated with social and political communalism. The stated aim of Savarkars Hindutva was to create a collective Hindu identity as an imagined nation.