Put in a Tight Spot over Savarkar Criticism by Rahul Gandhi, Uddhav Thackeray Counter-Attacks RSS, BJP
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Nov 17: Put in a tight corner by Rahul Gandhi’s criticism of Veer Savarkar on the soil of Maharashtra even as his son Aaditya Thackeray joined the Congress leader’s “Bharat Jodo Yatra,” the former chief minister and Shiv Sena faction leader Uddhav Thackeray has tried to wriggle out of it by launching a counter-attack on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) while expressing his disagreement over belittling Savarkar.
In a bid to strike a balance between his faction’s continued tie-up with the Congress and maintaining respect for Veer Savarkar in keeping with the sentiments of the people of Maharashtra, Thackeray lashed out at the BJP remarking that its expressions of love and respect for Savarkar were “laughable” given that the BJP’s parent body, the RSS had no contribution towards the Indian freedom struggle.
Mr. Thackeray, whose party is in alliance with the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the State, bluntly said he and his party “disagree” with Mr. Gandhi’s comments on Savarkar’s mercy petitions during the British Raj even as the latter said he stood by his remarks on the Hindutva ideologue. “We [the Shiv Sena (UBT)] have great love, respect and affection in our hearts for Veer Savarkar which no one can erase even if they try to do so.
But Thackeray said though Shiv Sena disagree with his comment on Savarkar, it supports Gandhi’s yatra “for the sake of freedom in the country.” He also indicated that he may not join the rally at Sheraton organised by the Congress as a part of the yatra. The Congress had invited Thackeray as well as Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar.
“While we disagree with Rahul Gandhi’s comments on Savarkar, it is laughable that the offspring [the BJP] of those [RSS] who had no connection with the freedom movement, are claiming to love Savarkar. They have no right to speak on Veer Savarkar,” said Mr. Thackeray, speaking at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on the occasion of the tenth death anniversary of his father, Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray.
Mr. Thackeray was responding to the criticism of BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, after the latter censured Mr. Gandhi’s comments on V. D. Savarkar made during the course of the Yatra. The BJP and its ruling ally, the Eknath Shinde-led Balasahebanchi Shiv Sena, are using Mr. Gandhi’s criticism of Savarkar as a pestle to bludgeon Mr. Thackeray’s faction – given that his Aaditya had joined the Maharashtra leg of the Yatra.
Justifying his decision to stay allied to the Congress, Mr. Thackeray said his party, the Congress and others had come together “only to preserve this hard-won freedom that had been secured by Veer Savarkar’s sacrifices and to oppose the prevailing ‘dictatorship’ of the BJP. “They [Mr. Fadnavis and BJP] should first question the contribution of the RSS to the freedom struggle. How many times did RSS leaders go to jail during Independence? We [Shiv Sena (UBT), Congress and other parties] have come together to precisely to preserve this freedom and oppose the ‘dictatorship’ that we are heading towards…the BJP should stop asking us such questions,” Mr. Thackeray said.
“We don’t agree with what Rahul Gandhi has said. We respect Veer Savarkar. But, at the same time, when you are questioning us, the BJP should also have to say why they were they in power with PDP (in Jammu and Kashmir),” said Mr Thackeray, who’s been accused of “ditching his father Bal Thackeray’s Hindutva legacy” by allying with the Congress and NCP. “The PDP would never say ‘Bharat mata ki jai’,” he claimed.
In a bid to separate BJP from Savarkar, Thackeray also put up a counter question why the party had not yet able to award “Bharat Ratna” to Savarkar despite being in power at the centre for over eight years. The PM has all the rights to award Bharat Ratna, when you speak so much about Savarkar, why have you not given Bharat Ratna to Savarkar yet?” Thackeray asked.
Rahul Gandhi sparked of a fresh controversy while speaking in Akola earlier this week he said he remained firm on his remarks that Savarkar helped the British while furnishing a copy of V. D. Savarkar’s mercy petition. “He [Savarkar] wrote in it [petition] to the British authorities: ‘I beg to remain, sir, your most obedient servant.’ I am clear that Savarkar ji helped the British. If Mr. Fadnavis wants to see this, he is welcome,” said the Congress leader. Mr. Gandhi further dared the Shinde-Fadnavis government to try and stop the Bharat Jodo Yatra if it wanted to.
Protests by the BJP and Shinde-faction workers against Mr. Gandhi erupted across Pune, Kolhapur, Mumbai and other places in Maharashtra following his comments against V. D. Savarkar. “I strongly doubt whether Balasaheb would have approved of his grandson hugging Rahul Gandhi during the Bharat Jodo Yatra given the latter’s insulting remarks against Veer Savarkar,” said Maharashtra Minister and Shinde camp spokesperson Deepak Kesarkar.
Criticising Mr. Gandhi’s poor study of history, BJP MLA Ram Kadam alleged the Congressman was trying to make headlines by slandering V. D. Savarkar. “Unfortunately, while the late Balasaheb Thackeray never tolerated any insult on Savarkar ji, his grandson Aaditya Thackeray is hugging Rahul Gandhi who insulted the revolutionary. What kind of ideology does Uddhav Thackeray espouse?” said Mr. Kadam
Savarkar’s grandson, Ranjit Savarkar said he would be filing a police complaint against Mr. Gandhi for repeatedly defaming his grandfather during the Bharat Jodo Yatra. “Rahul Gandhi first ought to study history before making such false and misleading statements about Veer Savarkar. The usage of ‘your obedient servant’ was commonplace at the time when one gentleman wrote to another. Even Mahatma Gandhi wrote this after his letters. By that measure, I too can say that he was beholden to the British. In fact, in one of his letters to the British authorities, Gandhiji says that no Indian has cooperated with you for 29 years as I have…based on what Rahul Gandhi is saying, does this mean the Mahatma was close to the British?” said Mr. Savarkar, calling the Congress MP’s criticisms of V. D. Savarkar “utterly pointless.”
Rahul Gandhi had said at a function in memory of tribal leader Birsa Munda in Washim: “Despite the British offering him land, [Birsa Munda] refused to bow down; he chose death. We, the Congress party, consider him our idol. For the BJP and RSS, Savarkar ji, who wrote mercy petitions to the British and accepted pension, is an idol.”
The Congress has stood by Rahul Gandhi’s comments. “It is a fact: Savarkar was the one who apologised to the British, and sold out the country to the British. I will also say this,” senior leader Digvijaya Singh said in Gujarat on Thursday.
