PM Modi pays homage to Veer Savarkar

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday paid homage to freedom fighter Veer Savarkar on his birth anniversary and said Savarkar 'epitomises' unflinching commitment for a strong India.

"We bow to Veer Savarkar on his Jayanti. Veer Savarkar epitomises courage, patriotism and unflinching commitment to a strong India," Mr Modi said in a tweet.

Prime Minister wrote that Veer Savarkar "inspired many people" to devote themselves towards nation building.Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was born on May 28, 1883 and breathed his last on February 26, 1966.

Historians say, he joined Hindu Mahasabha as a response to the right wing Muslim league and later popularized the term Hindutva giving a push for creation of a collective Hindu identity.

Savarkar was sentenced to two life terms of imprisonment totaling fifty years during the British period and was moved to the Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, but released in 1921.(UNI)