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Tag: Savarkar

  • Sharad Pawar should ask Rahul Gandhi to apologise: Veer Savarkar’s grandson

    By ANI

    NEW DELHI: Grandson of Veer Savarkar, Ranjit Savarkar on Tuesday said that he would file an FIR against Rahul Gandhi for his remarks over Veer Savarkar and added that NCP chief Sharad Pawar should ask the Congress leader to apologise.

    This comes days after Rahul Gandhi in a press conference said, “My name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi and Gandhi does not offer an apology to anyone”.

    Speaking to ANI, Ranjit Savarkar asked Uddhav Thackeray to take action against the Congress leader.

    “Uddhav Thackeray and Sanjay Raut have a lot of respect for Savarkar personally… but they should go ahead and ask Rahul Gandhi to apologise for his statements on Savarkar. It is common that you do not be with someone who insults your god. It is his political decision. If he respects Savarkar, he should not only say but take some action in this regard,” he said.

    He alleged that Thackeray while being a chief minister earlier did not take any action against a “Congress mouthpiece” which he claimed had insulted Savarkar.

    READ MORE | Rahul’s Savarkar jibe: MVA’s split inevitable if issue gets stretched, say experts

    “When Uddhav Thackeray was the Chief Minister, a Congress mouthpiece had used filthy language against Savarkar. I had then demanded from the Chief Minister to take some action against it. But I did not get any answer of my letter and no action was taken. I have filed cases in the past also for his remarks. I will file an FIR against Rahul Gandhi if he does not apologise for his statement on Savarkar,” he said.

    Earlier today, speaking to the media, Ranjit Savarkar said that Sharad Pawar should ask Rahul Gandhi, whose party is in alliance in Maharashtra, to apologise.

    “Sharad Pawar ji has a lot of respect for Savarkar, but he should go ahead and ask Rahul Gandhi to apologise for the statements he has given so far on Savarkar,” he said.

    Stating that Thackeray’s respect for Savarkar does not make sense unless they show their support for the freedom fighter.

    “Sanjay Raut and Uddhav Thackeray may have respect for Savarkar, but until and unless they show their support for Savarkar, it does not make sense. Even after giving an ultimatum, Congress did not stop, and they (Uddhav Thackeray faction) have not separated Congress yet,” he said.

    “It is really sad to see how Savarkar’s name is being defamed by Rahul Gandhi for politics. It seems they are polarizing Muslims also. In Maharashtra also, politics is being done in Savarkar’s name. I request not to use the name of Savarkar for their own benefit,” Ranjit Savarkar added.

    Earlier, Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said that he considers Savarkar his idol and warned that demeaning Savarkar would create “cracks” in the opposition alliance.

    Uddhav further asked the Congress leader to refrain from insulting him.

    “Savarkar suffered unimaginable torture in the Andaman cellular jail for 14 years. We can only read the sufferings. It is a form of sacrifice. We will not tolerate the insult of Savarkar,” Uddhav said.

    He further said that there would be ‘cracks’ in the opposition alliance if Gandhi continues to ‘demean’ Savarkar.

    “Veer Savarkar is our God, and any disrespect towards him will not be tolerated. We are prepared to fight, but insulting our Gods is not something we will tolerate,” the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief said.

    ALSO READ

    ‘My name is not Savarkar’: Rahul rules out apology, vows to continue fighting

    Savarkar nurtured freedom fighters, Rahul must learn from him, claims Uddhav Sena’s mouthpiece

    NEW DELHI: Grandson of Veer Savarkar, Ranjit Savarkar on Tuesday said that he would file an FIR against Rahul Gandhi for his remarks over Veer Savarkar and added that NCP chief Sharad Pawar should ask the Congress leader to apologise.

    This comes days after Rahul Gandhi in a press conference said, “My name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi and Gandhi does not offer an apology to anyone”.

    Speaking to ANI, Ranjit Savarkar asked Uddhav Thackeray to take action against the Congress leader.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    “Uddhav Thackeray and Sanjay Raut have a lot of respect for Savarkar personally… but they should go ahead and ask Rahul Gandhi to apologise for his statements on Savarkar. It is common that you do not be with someone who insults your god. It is his political decision. If he respects Savarkar, he should not only say but take some action in this regard,” he said.

    He alleged that Thackeray while being a chief minister earlier did not take any action against a “Congress mouthpiece” which he claimed had insulted Savarkar.

    READ MORE | Rahul’s Savarkar jibe: MVA’s split inevitable if issue gets stretched, say experts

    “When Uddhav Thackeray was the Chief Minister, a Congress mouthpiece had used filthy language against Savarkar. I had then demanded from the Chief Minister to take some action against it. But I did not get any answer of my letter and no action was taken. I have filed cases in the past also for his remarks. I will file an FIR against Rahul Gandhi if he does not apologise for his statement on Savarkar,” he said.

    Earlier today, speaking to the media, Ranjit Savarkar said that Sharad Pawar should ask Rahul Gandhi, whose party is in alliance in Maharashtra, to apologise.

    “Sharad Pawar ji has a lot of respect for Savarkar, but he should go ahead and ask Rahul Gandhi to apologise for the statements he has given so far on Savarkar,” he said.

    Stating that Thackeray’s respect for Savarkar does not make sense unless they show their support for the freedom fighter.

    “Sanjay Raut and Uddhav Thackeray may have respect for Savarkar, but until and unless they show their support for Savarkar, it does not make sense. Even after giving an ultimatum, Congress did not stop, and they (Uddhav Thackeray faction) have not separated Congress yet,” he said.

    “It is really sad to see how Savarkar’s name is being defamed by Rahul Gandhi for politics. It seems they are polarizing Muslims also. In Maharashtra also, politics is being done in Savarkar’s name. I request not to use the name of Savarkar for their own benefit,” Ranjit Savarkar added.

    Earlier, Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said that he considers Savarkar his idol and warned that demeaning Savarkar would create “cracks” in the opposition alliance.

    Uddhav further asked the Congress leader to refrain from insulting him.

    “Savarkar suffered unimaginable torture in the Andaman cellular jail for 14 years. We can only read the sufferings. It is a form of sacrifice. We will not tolerate the insult of Savarkar,” Uddhav said.

    He further said that there would be ‘cracks’ in the opposition alliance if Gandhi continues to ‘demean’ Savarkar.

    “Veer Savarkar is our God, and any disrespect towards him will not be tolerated. We are prepared to fight, but insulting our Gods is not something we will tolerate,” the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief said.

    ALSO READ

    ‘My name is not Savarkar’: Rahul rules out apology, vows to continue fighting

    Savarkar nurtured freedom fighters, Rahul must learn from him, claims Uddhav Sena’s mouthpiece

  • Rahul didn’t target Savarkar, only mentioned fact; remarks won’t affect MVA: Congress

    Gandhi, during a press conference at Wadegaon in Akola district on Thursday, had alleged that Savarkar had helped the British and written a mercy petition to them out of fear.

  • I don’t approve of Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on Savarkar: Uddhav

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who heads a faction of the Shiv Sena, on Thursday said his party has immense respect for V D Savarkar and he does not approve of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on the freedom fighter.

    Talking to reporters here, Thackeray also asked why the Centre has not conferred the Bharat Ratna on Savarkar.

    “We do not approve of Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on Savarkar. We have immense respect and faith for Swatyantra Veer Savarkar and it cannot be erased,” he said.

    The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction has an alliance with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. His son and former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray participated in the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra last week.

    During a rally in Washim district on Tuesday organised as part of his yatra, Rahul said Savarkar is a symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

    “He was jailed in Andaman for two, three years. He started writing mercy petitions,” the Congress MP had said.

    The former Congress president had claimed Savarkar wrote a book on himself with a different name and highlighted how brave he was.

    “He used to take pensions from the British, work for them, and work against the Congress,” Gandhi had said.

    Following this, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde targeted the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction.

    Responding to it, Uddhav Thackeray said, “It is laughable when parents or their progeny (apparently referring to the RSS and BJP) who have no connection with the freedom struggle express love for Savarkar.”

    He said the RSS is completing 100 years, but it was not a part of the freedom struggle. They don’t have the right to talk about Savarkar, he added.

    “Savarkar who made sacrifices for freedom – the same freedom needs to be protected today,” the former CM said.

    “You ask us questions when Rahul Gandhi says something about Savarkar,” he commented.

    “I had asked this in the Vidhan Sabha that is this patriotism when you sit next to the PDP (People’s Democratic Party led by Mehbooba Mufti in Jammu and Kashmir) that does not even give a call of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ or sing ‘Vande Mataram’,” Uddhav Thackeray said, referring to the alliance between the BJP and PDP in 2015.

    MUMBAI: Former Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray, who heads a faction of the Shiv Sena, on Thursday said his party has immense respect for V D Savarkar and he does not approve of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on the freedom fighter.

    Talking to reporters here, Thackeray also asked why the Centre has not conferred the Bharat Ratna on Savarkar.

    “We do not approve of Rahul Gandhi’s remarks on Savarkar. We have immense respect and faith for Swatyantra Veer Savarkar and it cannot be erased,” he said.

    The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena faction has an alliance with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party, as part of the Maha Vikas Aghadi. His son and former Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray participated in the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Yatra last week.

    During a rally in Washim district on Tuesday organised as part of his yatra, Rahul said Savarkar is a symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

    “He was jailed in Andaman for two, three years. He started writing mercy petitions,” the Congress MP had said.

    The former Congress president had claimed Savarkar wrote a book on himself with a different name and highlighted how brave he was.

    “He used to take pensions from the British, work for them, and work against the Congress,” Gandhi had said.

    Following this, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde targeted the Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena faction.

    Responding to it, Uddhav Thackeray said, “It is laughable when parents or their progeny (apparently referring to the RSS and BJP) who have no connection with the freedom struggle express love for Savarkar.”

    He said the RSS is completing 100 years, but it was not a part of the freedom struggle. They don’t have the right to talk about Savarkar, he added.

    “Savarkar who made sacrifices for freedom – the same freedom needs to be protected today,” the former CM said.

    “You ask us questions when Rahul Gandhi says something about Savarkar,” he commented.

    “I had asked this in the Vidhan Sabha that is this patriotism when you sit next to the PDP (People’s Democratic Party led by Mehbooba Mufti in Jammu and Kashmir) that does not even give a call of ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’ or sing ‘Vande Mataram’,” Uddhav Thackeray said, referring to the alliance between the BJP and PDP in 2015.

  • Savarkar worked to enrich Hindi: Amit Shah

    By PTI

    VARANASI: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday stressed the need for making Hindi flexible for its wider acceptance and cited the work done by V D Savarkar for enriching the language.

    Addressing the All-India Rajbhasha conference here, Shah said a number of Hindi words may not have existed if Savarkar was not there and “we would have had to use the English words”.

    “Veer Savarkar worked for ‘swabhasha’ (indigenous language) and ‘rajbhasha’ (official language). He made the ‘shabdkosh’ (glossary) of Hindi,” he said.

    “There was no (Hindi) word for director, he coined the word ‘nirdeshak’. Similarly, he coined ‘kala nirdeshan’ for art direction. He worked to enrich Hindi,” Shah said.

    “We have to make Hindi flexible if we have to make it acceptable,” he said, adding there should be no hesitation if words from languages of different states are included in Hindi.

    “Once the medium of speaking, writing and thinking, becomes Hindi, then it will carve its own way. But, Hindi has to be made flexible,” Shah said.

    He said English was imposed upon Indians as it was a foreign language.

    “Hindi and indigenous languages have not to be imposed, but have to be made acceptable by our efforts,” he said.

  • AG declines consent for contempt proceedings against Owaisi for remarks on Savarkar

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Attorney General K K Venugopal has declined to give his consent for initiation of criminal contempt proceedings against AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi for his remarks that an inquiry commission had observed V D Savarkar was complicit in Mahatma Gandhi’s murder.

    A think tank had written to the AG seeking his consent to initiate contempt proceedings against Owaisi for his remarks.

    Venugopal said it is true that the judgment of the top court also notes the fact that Savarkar has been found not guilty of Gandhiji’s murder in the criminal trial.

    However, if one reads the judgement as a whole, it is clear that the court was disinclined to go into the findings of the Justice Kapoor Commission of Inquiry, the AG said.

    “I may also point out that Justice Kapoor has retired as a judge of the Supreme Court in the year 1962, and hence was a retired judge when he was appointed as Commission of Inquiry in 1966.

    The statement made by Owaisi is relatable, therefore, to the finding of Justice Kapoor Commission and not the Supreme Court.

    “It would therefore be difficult to hold that he has committed contempt of the Supreme Court by suggesting and/or implying that a sitting judge of the Supreme Court had held that Savarkar was complicit in the murder of Mahatma Gandhi, which is completely contrary to factual reality. I am therefore constrained to decline consent for initiation of contempt proceedings against Owaisi,” the AG in his reply dated October 26 said.

    In a letter to Owaisi, the Abhinav Bharat Congress and its founder Pankaj Phadnis had referred to a Supreme Court judgement dated March 28, 2018 which stated, “The submission of the petitioner that Shri Savarkar has been held guilty for the murder of Gandhiji is misplaced.”

    “After this categorical assertion by the highest court of the country, where is the scope to suggest that Savarkar ‘murdered’ Gandhi ji, as you are reported to have said?” the think tank had said in its October 15 letter to Owaisi.

    In a letter to the AG on October 23, the think tank had said, “This has reference to our letter of October 15, 2021 addressed to Owaisi. You will notice that the said letter was a polite request to cease and desist from suggesting and/or imputing in any manner that Savarkar was held guilty of murder of Gandhi ji.”

    “It was expected that he would issue a clarification to set the record straight. Unfortunately, the said letter has not even been acknowledged by him. As such we seek your kind consent to initiate contempt of Supreme Court proceedings against Owaisi for his remarks on the subject,” the think tank had said.

    Slamming the RSS and BJP’s appreciation of Savarkar, Owaisi had recently claimed that by installing Savarkar’s portrait in Parliament, they were sending out a message that Mahatma Gandhi is not going to remain the Father of the Nation and that Savarkar would take his place.

    “What pinches me the most as a parliamentarian is that in the Central Hall of Parliament, on one side there is a photo of Mahatma Gandhi and right opposite to it, there is a photo of Savarkar, who was mentioned by Justice Jeevan Lal Kapur Commission,” he had told mediapersons.

    Savarkar was acquitted due to lack of corroborative evidence during the trial in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, he had said.

    Asked about RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s reported comments that Savarkar was not an enemy of Muslims and that he wrote ghazals in Urdu, Owaisi claimed that it is a recorded fact that Savarkar was against Urdu.

    He also demanded to know if Bhagwat would refuse the observations of the Justice Kapur Commission of Inquiry in its report that Savarkar was complicit in Mahatma Gandhi’s murder and part of the conspiracy.

  • Amit Shah attacks Savarkar’s critics, says they should have some shame

    By PTI

    PORT BLAIR: “Veer” Savarkar’s patriotism and valour cannot be questioned, Union Home Minister Amit Shah asserted on Friday, as he hit back at those doubting the freedom fighter’s commitment to India and its freedom struggle, and asked them to have “some shame”.

    Shah’s comments came against the backdrop of a massive row over Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s recent remark that V D Savarkar, a venerated Hindutva ideologue, had filed mercy petitions before the British at the advice of Mahatma Gandhi.

    “How can you doubt the life, the credentials of a man who was sentenced to two life imprisonments, made to sweat like a plodder bullock (kolhu ka bail) to extract oil at this prison.

    Have some shame,” he told a gathering after garlanding the portrait of Savarkar at the cellular prison here where hundreds of freedom fighters were incarcerated during India’s long freedom struggle.

    Shah said Savarkar had everything that he needed for a good life, but he chose the tough path, which indicated his unwavering commitment to the motherland.

    “There cannot be a greater pilgrimage than this cellular jail.

    This place is a ‘mahatirth’ where Savarkar experienced inhuman torture for 10 years but did not lose his courage, his bravery,” Shah said, addressing an event as part of 75 years of India’s Independence which the government is celebrating as “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”.

    The minister said the sobriquet “veer” was bestowed on Savarkar not by any government but by the people of the country in endorsement of his indomitable spirit and courage.

    “This title fondly given to him by 130 crore people of India cannot be snatched away,” he said.

    He said most people in today’s India were born after Independence and so did not get an opportunity to “die for the country”.

    “I urge the youth of today to live for this great nation,” he said.

    A big row had recently erupted after Rajnath Singh targeted the critics of Savarkar, saying the freedom fighter was being defamed over the mercy petitions.

    “Time and again, it was said that he filed mercy petitions before the British government seeking his release from jail. The truth is, he didn’t file mercy petitions to get himself released. It is a regular practice for a (jailed) person to file mercy petitions. It was Mahatma Gandhi who asked him to file mercy petitions,” Singh had said, drawing criticism from BJP’s opponents who called it an “attempt to rewrite history”.

    Shah, during his visit to the cellular jail, laid a wreath at a memorial to the martyrs of the freedom struggle.

    He appealed to people to visit the jail at least once and pay homage to the martyrs.

    He noted that West Bengal has made a “great and special contribution in the Independence struggle” as most of the freedom fighters that came to the cellular jail were from that state and Punjab.

    Enumerating the initiatives taken by the BJP-led government at the Centre for the development of the Union Territory, the home minister further said, “It is going to be 75 years of our Independence and under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has established itself in the world as a first-line democratic country.”

    The PM has created a “new culture where the foundation of a project is laid by his government and the inauguration is also done by his government,” he added.

  • Jairam Ramesh, Owaisi attack Rajnath Singh for his ‘Gandhi-Savarkar comment’, say minister trying to rewrite history 

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: A day after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s remark that it was on Mahatma Gandhi’s request that Savarkar wrote mercy petitions, some opposition leaders attacked the minister on Wednesday, alleging that he was “trying to rewrite history”.

    Congress leader Jairam Ramesh and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi shared on Twitter a letter by Gandhi on Jan 25,1920 to Savarkar’s brother regarding a case, and accused the Union minister of giving a “twist” to what Gandhi wrote.

    The AIMIM leader also said the first petition Savarkar wrote was in 1911, just six months after getting to prison and Gandhi was then in South Africa.

    Savarkar wrote again in 1913/14 and Gandhi’s advice is from 1920, he added.

    “Rajnath Singhji is amongst the few sober and dignified voices in Modi Sarkar. But he doesn’t seem to be free of the RSS habit of rewriting history. He has given a twist to what Gandhi actually wrote on Jan 25 1920. Here is that letter to Savarkar’s brother,” Ramesh said on Twitter while sharing the letter.

    “Rajnath Singh has clearly blown Gandhi’s letter of Jan 25 1920 out of context. Not surprising. This is par for the course for the BJP/RSS,” he said in another tweet.

    Defending Savarkar, BJP MP Rakesh Sinha tweeted “Congress opposes Savarkar ji who never integrated with British administration and exhibited the highest sacrifice for the Motherland. However, some people had regular dining at Mountbatten’s home.”

    BJP IT cell in-charge Amit Malviya in a tweet quoted Gandhi on Savarkar “he is clever. He is brave, he is a patriot. The evil, in its hidden form of the present system of Government, he saw much earlier than I did. He is in the Andamans for having loved India too well. Under a just government he would be occupying a high post’ – Gandhi on Savarkar.”

    Jairam Ramesh’s comments were in response to a historian and Savarkar’s biographer Vikram Sampath, who tweeted, “Some needless brouhaha about the statement by Rajnath Singh.”

    “In my Vol 1 and in countless interviews I had stated already that in 1920 Gandhiji advised Savarkar brothers to file a petition and even made a case for his release through an essay in Young India 26 May 1920.So what’s noise about,” Sampath said.

    Tweeting on the issue, another historian S Irfan Habib said, “Yes, monochromatic history writing is really changing, led by the minister who claims Gandhi asked Savarkar to write mercy petitions.

    At least it is accepted now that he did write. No documentary evidence needed when the minister makes a claim. New history for New India.”

    Owaisi attacked Singh and said,”Sir @rajnathsingh you said thatSavarkar’s grovelling mercy petitions were on Gandhi’s advice. Here’s the letter to Savarkar from Gandhi. No mention of petition to the British begging for leniency, mercy and promising to be a faithful servant of the crown.”

    BJP ally JD(U) too waded into the row over Rajnath Singh’s claim, with party spokesperson K C Tyagi demanding that letters exchanged between Gandhi and Savarkar should be made public to shed light on the matter.

    “While it is true that Savarkar spent many years in jail, it is also true that he tendered an apology and was freed with the consent of the British administration after he reached a pact with them”, Tyagi said, adding that he also decided to withdraw from politics following his release.

    The copy of Gandhi’s letter to S D Savarkar, shared by Ramesh and Owaisi, said, “I have your letter.

    It is difficult to advise you.

    I suggest, however, your framing a brief petition setting forth the facts of the case bringing out in clear relief the fact that the offence committed by your brother was purely political I suggest this in order that it would be possible to concentrate public attention on the case. Meanwhile, as I have said to you in an earlier letter I am moving in the matter in my own way.”

    Rajnath Singh at an event to release a book on Veer Savarkar on Tuesday had alleged that there was a deliberate conspiracy to defame Savarkar and that it was on Gandhi’s advice that he wrote his mercy petitions.

    “He was an icon of Indian history and will remain so.

    There can be a difference of opinion about him, but to look down on him as inferior is not appropriate and justifiable.

    He was a freedom fighter and a staunch nationalist, but people who follow the Marxist and Leninist ideology are the ones who accuse Savarkar of being a fascist…,” Singh said, adding that the hatred towards Savarkar is “illogical and unplaced”.

    Talking about Savarkar as a freedom fighter, he said his commitment for freedom was so strong that the British sentenced him to life imprisonment twice.

    “Lies are spread about Savarkar repeatedly. It was spread that he filed many mercy petitions seeking his release from jails….It was Mahatma Gandhi who asked him to file the mercy petitions…,” the defence minister said.

  • Savarkar never apologised to British: Sanjay Raut

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Wednesday said Veer Savarkar had never apologised to the British, a day after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh claimed that the freedom fighter had written mercy petitions to the British on Mahatma Gandhi’s request.

    Talking to reporters in Pune, Raut said freedom fighters who languish in jail for more than ten years can adopt a strategy thinking they can do something after coming out of jail instead of remaining inside.

    In politics or while serving imprisonment, a different strategy is adopted, Raut said.

    “If Savarkar had adopted any such strategy it cannot be called an apology. Savarkar might have done that (adopted a strategy). This cannot be called an apology. Savarkar never apologised to the British,” he said.

    Raut, who had demanded Bharat Ratna for V D Savarkar on many occasions, said the freedom fighter, a Hindutva icon, has always been an ideal for his party.

    When asked about Rajnath Singh’s statement on Savarkar, Raut said he was not aware of it.

    Rajnath Singh on Tuesday hailed Veer Savarkar as a staunch nationalist and India’s first military strategist in the 20th century and said it was on Mahatma Gandhi’s request that he wrote mercy petitions to the British and people from the Marxist and Leninist ideology wrongly accuse him as a fascist.

    Meanwhile, Raut said the Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government will ensure that votes are not divided in the local body elections, due early next year.

    “In Pimpri Chinchwad in Pune district, Shiv Sena will install its mayor. In Pune city also we aim to have our mayor,” he said.

    Pimpri Chinchwad is considered the stronghold of the Nationalist Congress Party headed by Sharad Pawar.

  • Savarkar era has arrived: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat  

    By Express News Service

    NEW DELHI:  The era of Savarkar has arrived in the country after 2014, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh supremo Mohan Bhagwat said, asserting that the Hindu Mahasabha leader’s vision for the nation was now being realised. 

    At a book release on Tuesday, Bhagwat said Savarkar had envisaged national and strategic interests as same, which, he claimed, after 2014 is becoming visible. “Savarkar’s vision for Independence had envisaged all being equal, and convergence of the national and strategic interests. We can say that Savarkar era has arrived in the country,” he said after releasing a book on Savarkar by Uday Mahurkar and Charayu Pandit. 

    Bhagwat asserted Savarkar was a social reformer, and added that B R Ambedkar too had acknowledged his works for social amity in Ratnagiri district of Maharashtra. Defence Rajnath Singh exhorted the role of Savarkar in India’s freedom struggle and added that he was vilified by vested interests. Singh said the repeated claims that the Hindu Mahasabha leader had signed a mercy petition to the British government for release from life term were part of the motivated campaign orchestrated by the “Marxist and Leninist groups”. 

    “The fact is the mercy petition was submitted on the exhortation of Mahatma Gandhi,” Singh said, describing Savarkar as a social revolutionary as well as a hardcore nationalist. Savarkar had forewarned that the demand for the right to self-determination would lay the seeds of the partition of the country, he said. 

    “Savarkar had been portrayed as a Nazi and Fascist, which he wasn’t, by the vested interests after Independence. He believed in healthy democracy, while believing that the nation is a cultural entity, and all are equal in duties and rights,” the minister added.

  • Row as Rajasthan Congress chief accepts Savarkar as freedom fighter, BJP thrilled

    Express News Service

    JAIPUR: Unlike his party bosses, Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasara asserted that no one can deny that Veer Savarkar had participated in the freedom struggle and even went to jail for the sake of the motherland.

    The Congress leader’s acceptance of Savarkar as a freedom fighter is being seen as crossing the party line.

    Speaking at an event in Jaipur on the occasion of August Kranti Diwas on Monday, Dotasara said “we can’t deny that Savarkar did not play any role in country’s freedom struggle. He used to talk about Hindu Rashtra but it was not wrong at that time as our country was not independent and our Constitution was not formed.” 

    Dotasara’s remarks ignited a huge political row. Dotasara’s remarks have given the BJP an opportunity to embarrass the ruling Congress. 

    The BJP claimed that Dotasara’s statement directly implies that he recognizes the contribution of Savarkar in the freedom struggle and the truth about Savarkar is finally being accepted by Congress leaders such as Dotasara. 

    The Congress has attacked Savarkar for decades. In reality, the Hindutva ideologue played a major role in freeing the country and the truth cannot be hidden anymore – as Dotasara’s remarks reflect. 

    ALSO READ | Congress disagree with Shiv Sena’s demand for Bharat Ratna to Savarkar: Nana Patole

    Former state BJP president Ashok Parnami welcomed Dotasara’s comment and said: “The truth has finally came out from Dotasara’s tongue. Veer Savarkar was instrumental in liberating the country and such truth cannot be denied for long.” 

    For a long time, the Congress had been calling Veer Savarkar as an insider of the then British government. As he is now accused of crossing the party line, Dotasara has clarified that his remarks have been twisted by the BJP to suit its political aims.   

    Claiming that the country got independence because of people who believed in the ideology of the Congress, Dotasara said he had not said anything against the Congress’s view on Savarkar. He argued: “The kind of ideology, work, and thoughts that Savarkar had, if we read them in history books, then we find that he talked about a Hindu nation, which was not a sin before independence as at that time, our country was not free and the Constitution was not in force.

    “However, after our country became independent, the Constitution was adopted and people of every caste and religion accepted it, the BJP and the RSS conspired to use Savarkar’s ideology to create disharmony and make brothers fight against each other. We are against this ideology.” 

    The Rajasthan Congress chief also said, “we have to understand that Savarkar went to jail at that time and no one can deny this. But, after going to jail, he urged the British four times to set him free, explaining his usefulness to the British. It is recorded in history books.”