Rajnath Singh calls Savarkar a “national icon” at a book event in Delhi
New Delhi:
Describing Veer Savarkar as a staunch nationalist and India’s first military strategist in the 20th century, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said he wrote mercy petitions to the British on Mahatma Gandhi’s request and was wrongly accused by Marxist and Leninist ideologues. . a fascist.
He described Savarkar as a “national symbol” at an event to release a book on him and said he gave the country a “strong defense and diplomatic principle”.
“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 , it is they who accuse Savarkar of being a fascist…,” Mr Singh said, adding that the hatred towards Savarkar is illogical and unjustified.
Talking about Savarkar as a freedom fighter, he said that his commitment to freedom was so strong that the British sentenced him to life imprisonment twice.
The defense minister said, “Repeated lies were spread about Savarkar. It was spread that he filed many mercy petitions for his release from jails. It was Mahatma Gandhi who asked him to file mercy petition.”
#Watch | Lies were spread about Savarkar. Time and again, it was said that he filed a mercy petition before the British government seeking his release from prison… Mahatma Gandhi asked him to file a mercy petition: on the occasion of the release of a book on Savarkar Day Defense Minister Rajnath Singh pic.twitter.com/Pov4mI0Ieg
— ANI (@ANI) 13 October 2021
He said Savarkar clearly 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 form of government in those countries.
“Savarkar was India’s first military strategic affairs expert in the 20th century, giving the country a strong defense and diplomatic doctrine,” Singh said.
Discussing Savarkar’s concept of Hindutva, he said that for him the word “Hindu” was not associated with any religion and it was related to the geographical and political identity of India. He said that for Savarkar, Hindutva was associated with cultural nationalism.
The senior BJP leader said, “An ideal state for Savarkar was one where citizens were not discriminated against on the basis of their culture and religion and hence there is a need to understand their Hindutva deeply.”
Echoing similar sentiments about Savarkar, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said that his ideology of Hindutva never suggested to differentiate people on the basis of their culture and method of worshiping God.
Bhagwat said, “Savarkar used to say, why do we differentiate? We are sons of the same motherland, we are brothers. Different systems of worship have been the tradition of our country. We have been fighting for the country together.”
Underlining that Savarkar was not an enemy of Muslims, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief said that he had written several ghazals in Urdu.
Many people in Indian society talked about Hindutva and unity, just Savarkar spoke loudly about it and now, after so many years, it is felt that if everyone had spoken louder, then There is no division (of the country), he added.
“… Muslims who migrated to Pakistan after partition have no prestige in that country, because they belong to India and this cannot be changed. Our ancestors are the same, only our method of worship is different and we all have Proud of it. Our liberal culture of Sanatan Dharma. That heritage takes us forward, so we all are living here together,” Mr. Bhagwat said.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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