Union home minister Amit Shah hailed freedom fighter Veer Savarkar, after whom the sports complex in Naranpura is named. “Veer Savarkar is credited with the longest swim ever. He was handcuffed and had his feet in shackles. He jumped off the ship and swam to France to escape the British,” he said. The minister said Savarkar was the only freedom fighter to be awarded two life sentences of 120 years during British Raj. “When he reached Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the jailor told Savarkar that he would never be able to leave the jail. Savarkar told him that India would be independent very soon. I offer my tribute to this great freedom fighter,” Shah said.
