India, March 3 -- When Vinayak Damodar Savarkar passed away on February 26, 1966, at the ripe age of 82, despite his health wracked by the dehumanising conditions at Cellular Jail, Andaman and Nicobar Islands (July 1911-May 1921), and further imprisonment in Alipore, Ratnagiri and Yerawada jails (till January 1924), some stalwarts remembered his contribution to the freedom movement. Prof Hiren Mukherjee, a Communist Party of India (CPI) MP, had urged the Lok Sabha to pass a resolution condoling his death. After his demise, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had praised him and said that his name was a "byword for patriotism and courage" and in 1970, the then Government issued a commemorative stamp.

When Pandit Bakhle, secretary, Swatant...