Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu, and others paid tributes to Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, popularly known as Veer Savarkar, on his 137th birth anniversary on Thursday.
Taking to Twitter, PM Modi wrote: "On his Jayanti, I bow to the courageous Veer Savarkar. We remember him for his bravery, motivating several others to join the freedom struggle and emphasis on social reform."
Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu paid tributes to Veer Savarkar and said he was a multidimensional personality. "Savarkar envisioned a casteless India and started one of the most powerful social reform movements against untouchability," the Vice President said.
Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri while paying tributes to Veer Savarkar said a leading figure of Hindu Mahasabha, he propagated the nationalist philosophy of Hindutva.
Here's what other leaders said:
Savarkar, was an independence activist, politician, lawyer, writer, and the formulator of the Hindutva philosophy. He was born on this day in 1883. Veer Savarkar earned "Veer" nickname at the age of 12 when he led students against a group of Muslims, who had attacked his village.