In a glaring testament to the legacy of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and Sushma Swaraj, Delhi University has decided to name their two new colleges after them.
DU recognises the legends’ legacy
In an executive committee (EC) meeting held on 31st October, Delhi University put an official stamp on the final name of their upcoming institutions. At least, two of the several upcoming colleges and centres will be named after both these nation builders. According to Shri Yogesh Singh, Vice-chancellor of the University, both these names had already been shortlisted in its academic council meeting in August. However, due to some other names in the competition, a final decision could not be taken back then.
In the Academic council meetings, various names like Sushma Swaraj, Swami Vivekananda, Veer Savarkar, Sardar Patel, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Savitri Bai Phule, Arun Jaitley, Choudhary Brahm Prakash, and CD Deshmukh were proposed. However, the council had authorised the Vice-Chancellor to finalise the names, who chose the legacy of Veer Savarkar and Sushma Swaraj.
Decision gets mixed reactions
The decision was not swift and VC had to face dissent from three members namely Seema Das, Rajpal Singh Pawar, and advocate Ashok Aggarwal. Ms Das accused VC of not discussing with her before finalising the decision, while Mr Pawar told that he was one of the few to raise an objection to the proposal. Mr Pawar objected to their names as according to him both of them were political ideologues.
Meanwhile, the decision has been welcomed by AK Bhagi, former EC member and president of the National Democratic Teachers’ Front (NDTF). He confirmed the finalisation of colleges’ names after Swaraj and Savarkar and told them that they were waiting for final approval. Additionally, he also informed about the finalisation of the land for the upcoming institutions.
Veer Savarkar- Fighter in a true sense
Recently, there has been a resurgence of interest in the minds of the people of India about the legacy of Veer Savarkar. He is considered one of the foremost freedom fighters. While other congress leaders like Jawahar Lal Nehru were getting VIP treatment in Jail, most of Savarkar’s Jail terms were spent in Kala Pani, the 20th-century version of Guantanamo Bay. He is also given credit for the resurgence of Hindu dharma in the 20th century.
Recently, the Modi government decided to honour him by preferring him over Nehru in the posters of ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsava’. Celebrated personalities like Lata Mangeshkar have confessed their support for the legend.
Sushma Swaraj- A politician with grace
Sushma Swaraj can easily be called the female face of BJP. Swaraj began her political career with the ABVP in the 70s and after the Emergency, she joined the BJP. At just 25 years of age, she became the youngest cabinet minister of Haryana. She was also elected as 5th Chief Minister of Delhi in 1998. Even though her stupendous performance as the External Affairs Minister during the first tenure of the Modi government is bound to stand out as the highlight of her career, one cannot ignore the role she played when the BJP was still consolidating itself on a national level.
Read more: With the retirement of Sushma Swaraj, we take a look at her glorious career
India is at one of the most historical moments in its post-independent history. For the first time, two legends who contributed towards the uplifting of the thousands of years old civilisational values are being given their due place in history. Delhi University’s decision to shed light on the legacy of Savarkar and Swaraj is a commendable one. Still, as a country we have a very long way to go as hundreds of real heroes have been systematically erased from our history in order to establish the Gandhi-Nehru family on the nation’s political horizon.