Shiv Sena rues ‘attempts’ to malign Savarkar, BJP accuses it of hypocrisy

In the backdrop of state energy minster and Congress leader Nitin Raut and Union defence minister Rajnath Singh's recent statements over Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Shiv Sena has contended that there has been a deliberate attempt to malign Savarkar’s name and portray him as a villain. The party has also stated that Savarkar’s mercy plea was a tactical move so that he could continue his freedom fight further.

Shiv Sena’s member of parliament (MP) in Rajya Sabha Sanjay Raut, contended in his weekly column ‘Rokthok’ in party mouthpiece Saamana on Sunday that the impression that Savarkar filed a mercy plea during the British rule to secure his freedom was totally wrong as he fought against the British rule his entire life.

During a book launch on Savarkar,Union minister Rajnath Singh had recently said that Mahatma Gandhi persuaded Savarkar to file a mercy plea.

“Lies are spread about Savarkar repeatedly. It was spread that he filed many mercy petitions seeking his release from jail. It was Mahatma Gandhi who asked him to file the mercy petitions...” the defence minister had said. More recently, Maharashtra’s energy minister Nitin Raut, a Congress leader, deleted his tweet on Savarkar that was considered offensive.

Raut said it was a conspiracy to focus on Savarkar’s clemency petition while overlooking his contribution in the freedom struggle and the long time he spent in prison for it. “A French intellectual told our delegation that had a person like Savarkar been born in France and struggled for their independence, they would have made him the Head of state of France after independence,” Raut said, recounting his visit to France as part of a delegation in the ‘80s .

Raut cited historian Y D Phadke’s research on Savarkar to say that the clemency plea was a tactical move by Savarkar to come out of the prison and continue with his revolutionary activities. “Y D Phadke has stated that we cannot take the language used in the clemency petition as true. The political conditions prevailing in India at that time along with the British ruler’s reaction to his plea all point to how Savarkar planned to get out of the prison. There was no point in rotting for 50 years in the Andaman jail (where Savarkar was kept between July 4, 1911 and May 2, 1921). Savarkar played the British till 1937 assuring them he was cooperating while continuing with his activities,” said Raut.

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Raut said that Savarkar had spent 10 years in jail and there was an overwhelming concern about his condition. Barrister Jamnadas Madhavji Mehta had formed an outfit to secure his release and the Congress party too had passed a resolution demanding his release. “The then Home Department official J A Shilidi was OK with Savarkar’s release but warned that Savarkar was a revolutionary and he was unlikely to cooperate with the British government. He will not change and will continue with his revolutionary activity,” Raut said about Shilidi’s opinion of Savarkar’s clemency.

Savarkar was linked to the murder of AMT Jackson, the district magistrate of Nashik. He was extradited from England to India and for his alleged role in the assassination of Jackson and for waging war against the King, sentenced to two terms of 50 years to the Andamans, infamous as Kala Pani. He arrived in Port Blair on July 4, 1911. Here he was subjected to horrific conditions like being yoked to the oil mill.

Raut rued that during the freedom struggle Savarkar was a hero but after independence, consistent attempts were made to malign him.

The BJP has criticised the Shiv Sena accusing it of having double standards on Savarkar. “When Congress leader Rahul Gandhi made objectionable remarks on Savarkar two years back, the Sena kept mum, and now with elections approaching, the Sena wakes up to Hindutva and [expresses] love for Savarkar,” said BJP legislator Ram Kadam.