New Delhi: Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, also known as Veer Savarkar, filed a mercy petition with the British rule during his imprisonment in the Andaman jail on the suggestion of Mahatma Gandhi, but those who follow Marxist and Leninist ideology accuse them of being one. Fascist, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said on Tuesday.
Speaking at the launch of a book on Savarkar, Singh described him as a “national symbol” and said he gave the country a “strong defense and diplomatic principle”.
The defense minister said, “Repeated lies were spread about Savarkar. It was spread that he filed many mercy petitions for his release from jails. Mahatma Gandhi had asked him to file mercy petition.”
“He was and will be an icon of Indian history. There may be differences of opinion about him, but it is not fair and just to demean him. He was a freedom fighter and a staunch nationalist, but people who follow Marxist and Leninist ideology They accuse Savarkar of being a fascist,” Singh said, adding that the hatred towards Savarkar is illogical and unwarranted.
Singh further praised the Hindutva icon and said that Savarkar was a freedom fighter and his commitment to freedom was so strong that the British sentenced him to life imprisonment twice.
Discussing Savarkar’s concept of Hindutva, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said that the word ‘Hindu’ for him was not associated with any religion and was linked to India’s geographical and political identity. He said that for Savarkar, Hindutva was associated with cultural nationalism.
Singh also said that Savarkar categorically stated that India’s relations with other countries should depend on how conducive those relations are to India’s security and its interests, irrespective of the extent to which those countries may be involved. be the government.
The book – Veer Savarkar: The Man Who Can Prevent Partition – is written by Uday Mahurkar and Chirayu Pandit and published by Roopa Publications.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, who was present at the event, also echoed similar sentiments about Savarkar.
Bhagwat said that his ideology of Hindutva never suggested to differentiate between people on the basis of their culture and method of worshiping God.
Underlining that Savarkar was not an enemy of Muslims, Bhagwat said that he had written many ghazals in Urdu.
(With inputs from PTI.)
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