Why in news?

The former Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa inaugurated the Savarkar Rath Yatra in Mysuru with a call to counter the “negative propaganda” against Hindutva ideologue V.D. Savarkar in the State by spreading his message.

About Veer Savarkar

• Birth: 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.
• 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.

• Death: He died on 26th February 1966 due to fasting on his own wish of death.