Veer Savarkar has many ‘firsts’ to his credit. Here are a few of them:
* The first political leader to daringly set Absolute Political Independence as India’s goal (1900).
* The first Indian political leader to daringly perform a bonfire of foreign (Britlish) clothes (1905).
* The first Indian to organize a revolutionary movement for India’s Independence on an international level (1906).
* The first graduate whose degree was withdrawn by an Indian University for striving for India’s freedom (1911).
* The first Indian historian whose book on the 1857 War of Independence was proscribed by British Authorities in India even before its publication. The Governor General had asked the Postmaster General to confiscate copies of the book six months before the book was officially banned (1909).
* The first Indian law student who was not called to the English Bar despite having passed his examination and observed the necessary formalities, for his activities to seek India’s freedom from the British (1909).
* The first political prisoner in the world who was sentenced to Transportation for Life twice, a sentence unparalled in the history of the British Empire.
* The first Indian leader who successfully started -
A Ganeshotsava open to all Hindus including ex-untouchables (1930); Inter-dining ceremonies of all Hindus of all castes (1931); “Patitpavan Mandir”, open to all Hindus including ex-untouchables (22 February 1931); A cafe open to all Hindus including ex-untouchables (01 May 1933).
* The first political leader to embrace death voluntarily by way of Atma Samarpan in the highest tradition of Yoga (1966).
Read more at http://www.savarkar.org/