It doesn’t look like Rahul Gandhi is in for some relief anytime soon. The Congress party president has now invited legal trouble this time. In one of his rallies at Chhattisgarh, he tried to prove that venerable revolutionary Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was never a patriot and prostrated before the British for mercy.
Following this, the clan of Savarkar has made it clear that they’re taking legal action against him for the same. In an interview with the Republic, Ranjit Savarkar, grandson of Vinayak Savarkar, said the following:-
“This is an absolutely false information. He had written various applications for his various demands…….Even the British home secretary at that time that there was no trace of regret. This means that Congress is doing nothing but deliberately politicizing the issue.”
He also added, “…..This is a very unfortunate issue. I would like to say that either Rahul Gandhi is a fool or he hasn’t read history properly. If he had read history, he wouldn’t have made such allegations….. I give him an open challenge to prove if Jawahar Lal Nehru completed any of his sentences…” The lawyer for Savarkar family, Vishwas Jain, confirmed about the legal action.
This is not the first time that Rahul Gandhi has been accused of insulting the right wing revolutionary. On umpteen occasions, he has accused him of being complicit in the assassination of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. He has even accused him of orchestrating riots post partition, apart from his web of lies on the mercy petition.
It is the time that one should come clean on the so called mercy petition. Savarkar was not the only one who was acquitted. In 1921 the then British Emperor, George V, had issued an amnesty order, under which prisoners of Andaman jails would be released on the following conditions :-
- No participation in political activities for at least the next 10 years
- Release on Medical Grounds
- Probationary internment for a while when inside Indian peninsula etc.
Under this very order, Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and his elder brother, Ganesh Babarao Savarkar both were released, along with Bhai Parmanand and Ram Saran Days, who were members of the Ghadar faction. Who lobbied for the release? This must have given massive burns to left liberals as Mohandas K Gandhi and Madan Mohan Malviya lobbied for their release. Were they British stooges as well?
Also, if Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was a British stooge, he would’ve been treated the same way as Hans Raj Vohra or Phanindra Nath Ghosh, though it’s another matter altogether that they could never enjoy their riches completely. Instead, Savarkar was interned without any communication at Ratnagiri in 1924, and it took 13 more years for the political restrictions to be lifted. How did he prostrate before the British for mercy then? What if the petitions weren’t real at all? What if they were planted?
Under the Congress ministries formed by Govt. Of India Act 1935, many people, including prisoners associated with the Lahore Conspiracy Case and Chittagong uprising etc., such as Batukeshwar Dutt, Yogendra Shukla, Subodh Roy, Ambika Chakraborty etc. were released on exactly the same grounds.
They were interned in the same way as Savarkar was. But their intentions were never doubted, nor were they ostracised by the political high command. Was Savarkar’s ideology the reason he was unnecessarily hounded and demonised for years? Maybe, since most of the detenues under the 2nd order either joined Congress or became Communists.
As such, a legal case against Rahul Gandhi is more than a welcome step. It is rather the time that his web of lies must stop. He should apologize for the muck thrown for years on a leader, who never bowed before the British, even if he switched the gears of his approach.