Shah, Bhagwat in Andamans, to unveil statue of Veer Savarkar on Friday

Sri Vijaya Puram: Union Home Minister Amit Shah and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat are scheduled to unveil a statue of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on Friday, officials said.

Shah arrived here around 12.30 am, while Bhagwat reached the archipelago on Thursday evening, they said.

Bhagwat and Shah are scheduled to unveil the statue of Savarkar at Beodnabad in South Andaman around 2.30 pm, the officials said.

They will also be present at an event to release a song on Savarkar at BR Ambedkar Institute of Technology here around 4 pm.

Savarkar was imprisoned in the Cellular Jail in Port Blair (now known as Sri Vijaya Puram) by the British in 1911.

In a post on X on Thursday evening, Shah had said: “Savarkar ji was among those rare revolutionaries who advanced the freedom struggle both physically and ideologically.

“I am eager to participate in the ceremony to be held tomorrow at Shri Vijaya Puram (Andaman & Nicobar) on the completion of 115 years of the immortal song 'Sagara Pran Talamala', written by him in remembrance of the motherland, and to pay tribute to his memory. The Sarsanghchalak of @RSSorg, the respected Shri Mohan Bhagwat ji, will grace the ceremony as the chief guest.” Bhagwat is likely to visit the Chinmaya Mission here for an interactive session with monks before the unveiling of Savarkar’s statue at Beodnabad.

Security has been beefed up in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in view of the high-profile visits, police said.

The Union home minister is likely to leave the islands on Friday evening.

Bhagwat is scheduled to address a public gathering on Saturday under the banner of 'Virat Hindu Sammelan' at Netaji Stadium around 3.30 pm in Sri Vijaya Puram, the officials said.

On Sunday, the RSS chief will attend another gathering at DBRAIT around 10 am, and depart from the archipelago at 1.50 pm, they added.