The Indira Gandhi - Savarkar connection that has come back to haunt Congress

Veer Savarkar and his ideas have become the most contentious political issue of our age. In the current times, the major dividing line of the country’s political spectrum is Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. On one side there is a huge community who respect Savarkar, adore him and accept him as a public icon. On the other side of the spectrum, are the ones who oppose ideologue.

How India forgot its hero?

But who has drawn the line? Well, ideology can be held responsible for it, but the one who inscribed the line by denying the contributions of Veer Savarkar is none other than the grand old party of India, Congress.

What happened after independence, the China dove Jawaharlal Nehru who imbibed socialism and communalism allowed the imposition of left ideology in the intellectual spaces, like universities, media. He even injected a dose of socialism into Congress. The main hit was targeted at maligning the nationalist freedom fighters and erasing their contribution and their legacy. The one affected most was freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

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Congress and its hatred for Savarakar

Congress has done multiple attempts to put a blot on the legacy of Veer Savarkar by fake allegations like, he apologised several times from the Britishers and wrote mercy petitions, he was in a homosexual relationship with Nathuram Godse. Congress even suspended the principals and professors who tried to propagate the actual history.

Under the various regimes of ‘secular’ Congress, the contribution of Savarkar was severely undermined, as the Congress did not like the Hindutva icon. A party inventing the concept of Bhagwa-Aatankwad could not afford to do more than this.

Vikram Sampath schools Congress

Savarkar was the one who envisioned the idea of complete freedom and liberation from the chains of British slavery. In fact, the unconventional poet/writer was a trendsetter – man of many firsts, such as being the first one to give a detailed description of the 1857 Freedom Struggle, which irked the British into banning it even before its publication.

The man daring to make public the historical facts is Vikram Sampath. As the Savarkar-Tipu Sultan row escalated in Karnataka, Vikram Sampath with just one question has put Congress in a tight spot. The question was, “Why did Indira Gandhi honour Savarkar if he was vile?” And this led to digging up the connection between Veer Savarkar and Indira Gandhi. Sampath slammed the Congress and said that the Congress leaders need to go back and refer to Indira Gandhi who said Savarkar’s role in India’s freedom struggle is unique.

The Indira Gandhi-Savarkar connection

Indira Gandhi worshipped Savarkar, and this was quite evident with Indira Gandhi’s letter that she wrote during her prime ministerial term. Responding to a letter written by Pandit Bakhle, secretary of the Swatantra veer Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak making plans for celebrating the birth centenary of Savarkar. Indira Gandhi responded by writing, “Veer Savarkar’s daring defiance of the British Government has its own importance in the annals of our Freedom movement. I wish success to the plans to celebrate the birth centenary of the remarkable son of India.”

To add on, Indira Gandhi got a stamp issued in his honour after his death in 1966. She even got a documentary film on Savarkar made through the government’s Information and Broadcasting ministry. Also, to the surprise of Congress, so that the nation remembers the national hero, Indira Gandhi even gave a personal grant to the Savarkar memorial in Mumbai. We want to reiterate Savarkar’s question that the “Congress needs to ask itself why did Indira Gandhi, as the PM, do all these things.”