Savarkar’s legacy will inspire generations, says Amit Shah

Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday paid tributes to freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, describing him as a writer as well as a fighter who laid the foundation of Cultural Nationalism. Speaking at an event in Sri Vijayapuram, Andaman and Nicobar, on the completion of 115 years of a collection of Savarkar’s poems, ‘Sagara Prana Talamalla’, Shah said, the ideology of Savarkar should be propagated and shared by parents with their children. The event was attended by RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat and Andaman and Nicobar Islands Lieutenant Governor Admiral (Retd.) D. K. Joshi.

A life-size statue of Savarkar was unveiled during the programme. Shah said the moment held special significance with the unveiling performed by Bhagwat, describing the RSS as the organisation that has carried forward Savarkar’s ideology. He said the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have become a pilgrimage site for Indians, as Savarkar endured some of the toughest years of his life there, and recalled the archival link of the islands with Subhas Chandra Bose and the Azad Hind Fauj. He said Bose had proposed naming the islands ‘Shaheed’ and ‘Swaraj,’ a suggestion fulfilled when Narendra Modi became Prime Minister.

Shah said the new statue would stand as a reminder of Savarkar’s sacrifice and devotion to the country, inspiring future generations. He described Sagara Pran Talamalala as a defining expression of patriotism and recalled Savarkar’s belief that true courage is not the absence of fear but the ability to overcome it. The Home Minister also released a coffee table book on Savarkar and said many efforts over the years have helped present different facets of his life. He said Savarkar’s personality, shaped by patriotism, social reform, scholarship and his warrior spirit, was too vast to be fully captured in any single work. He added that Savarkar’s convictions were rooted in a form of cultural nationalism that continues to guide India’s direction today.