About Veer Savarkar International Airport:
- Veer Savarkar International Airport, also known as Port Blair Airport, is a customs airport located 2 km (1.2 mi) south of Port Blair.
- It is the main airport of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands of India.
- It is named after the Indian freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.
- It is a civil airport, and its facilities are shared with the Indian Navy.
- The terminal is managed by the Airports Authority of India, while the traffic is handled by the Indian Navy.
Key facts about Veer Savarkar:
- Born in 1883 near Nasik in Maharashtra, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was popularly called Veer Savarkar.
- He was the first to acknowledge the mutiny of 1857 as the first struggle for Independence and wrote the book 'The History of the War of Indian Independence'.
- He was a passionate promoter of Hindutva since childhood.
- He was sentenced to 50 years in the cellular jail of Andamans, also known as Kala Pani, for revolting against the Morley-Minto reforms(Indian Councils Act 1909) in 1911.
- After his release from jail, he worked on the abolishment of untouchability in Ratnagiri.
- Serving as the president of the Hindu Mahasabha political party, he opposed the Quit India movement in 1942.
- He founded the organizations Abhinav Bharat Society and Free India Society.
- He was a critic of the Indian National Congressand its acceptance of India's partition.
- He was also a critic of Mahatma Gandhi and called him a 'hypocrite'.
