Remembering Vinayak Damodar Savarkar on his birth anniversary on Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed him as a ‘great freedom fighter’, and said that stories related to his sacrifice, courage and resolve inspire all of us even today. “I cannot forget the day when I went to the cell in Andaman where he underwent the sentence of ‘kaala paani’. Savarkar’s personality comprised firmness and magnanimity. His fearless and self-respecting nature did not appreciate the mentality of slavery at all. Not only the freedom movement, whatever he did for social equality and social justice is remembered even today,” the PM said during the 101th episode of ‘Mann Ki Baat’ on Sunday morning. The opposition parties had criticised the government for inaugurating the new Parliament on Savarkar’s birth anniversary. Earlier on Sunday, PM Modi, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, several Union ministers and MPs paid floral tributes to Savarkar in the Central Hall of the old Parliament. Modi also paid floral tributes to Savarkar in front of his portrait in the Central Hall after inaugurating the new Parliament building, where he was also joined by several Union ministers and MPs. Home Minister Amit Shah paid homage to Savarkar in a tweet, saying “he ignited the lamp of patriotism in the hearts of innumerable Indians with his thoughts”. The monthly radio show also had Modi recalling the contribution of several other personalities, whose anniversaries fall in the coming week. “The path shown by Kabirdas ji is equally relevant even today,” Modi said, ahead of the poet-reformer’s anniversary on June 4. He recalled Kabir’s couplet: ‘Kabira kuan ek hai, paani bhare anek. bartan mein hi bhed hai, paani sab mein ek’ (there could be different kinds of people who come to the well to draw water.but the well does not differentiate.) Lately, the Prime Minister has been making an extra effort to reach out to the southern states, be it through establishing Sengol in the new Parliament, or organising cross-state sangamams – such as the Kashi-Tamil Sangamam, Saurashtra-Tamil Sangamam and the Kashi-Telugu Sangamam. During his radio address, the PM spoke about Telugu icon N T Rama Rao, whose 100th birth anniversary was marked on Sunday. “On the strength of his versatility of talent, he not only became the superstar of Telugu cinema, but also won the hearts of crores of people,” Modi said, adding, “He revived many historical characters on the basis of his acting. People liked NTR's acting in the roles of Bhagwan Krishna, Ram and many others.” The first half of the 30-minute show was devoted to the recent spree of Yuva Sangamam, being organised by the Education Ministry, to build bridges between youngsters of diverse states. The PM spoke to two participants – Gyamar Nyokum from Arunachal Pradesh and Vishakha Singh from Bihar – who had recently travelled to Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu, respectively, as part of the university exchange programmes. While extolling them to write blogs on their experiences, he said that the first round of Yuva Sangamam had about 1,200 youths touring 22 states. He also spoke about his experience of visiting the Hiroshima Peace Memorial museum, and spoke at length about the range of museums in India, urging people to visit museums whenever they find time.
