At a time when the Congress party in Karnataka is finding it in deep despair over misgovernance, corruption issues, it has harped back to its deflecting tactics. To appease its Muslim voter base and deflect people’s ire from its misgovernance, it has yet again taken a controversial decision to insult the legacy of great freedom fighter, VD Savarkar.
As per reports, the Karnataka government has announced plans to remove the portrait of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, better known as Veer Savarkar, from the Assembly Hall of Belagavi’s Suvarna Vidhana Soudha. Installed in 2022 during the BJP-led Basavaraj Bommai government’s tenure, the portrait had been placed alongside freedom fighters Mohan Das Karam Chand Gandhi, B.R. Ambedkar, and Subhas Chandra Bose.
To justify the removal of the portrait of Veer Savarkar, Congress cited an intellectually dishonest portrayal of history. The party stated that Savarkar’s ideology contributed to MK Gandhi’s assassination and questioned his relevance to Karnataka.
The State Minister Priyank Kharge, the son of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge opposed Veer Savarkar’s portrait. Launching a tirade against the visionary freedom fighter, Kharge brazenly dubbed Savarkar as a personality of inequality and parallel to constitutional values. Kharge raised questions about Savarkar’s ‘Veer’ title, citing the same old fake propaganda of clemency petitions to the British.
It must be noted that Veer Savarkar’s ties to Karnataka include his detention at Hindalga Jail in Belagavi in 1950 for protesting against the visit of Pakistan Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan to New Delhi.
Meanwhile, Congress’ decision to remove Savarkar’s portrait has sparked sharp criticism from the BJP. The saffron party accused Congress of disrespecting the national icon and playing appeasement politics. BJP leaders have called Congress anti-Hindu, alleging bias against Hindutva figures while glorifying Tipu Sultan.
Speaking with News18, the great grandson of Veer Savarkar, Ranjit Savarkar said, “The Congress has an agenda. This is a conspiracy to elevate some leaders while diminishing others. The Congress’s stand is that only Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru contributed to India’s freedom struggle. Savarkar spent 11 years in the Andamans and a total of 27 years in jail for the country. His contribution is immense, but they refuse to acknowledge it due to their obsession with appealing to the Gandhi family.”
In recent years, Veer Savarkar has been at the centre of state politics in Karnataka. On August 15, 2022, Shivamogga witnessed a violent clash over a Savarkar poster at Ameer Ahmed Circle. Tensions escalated when Islamists sought to display a Tipu Sultan poster at the same location, leading to violent clashes.
A Class 8 Kannada textbook where Veer Savarkar was shown flying on a bulbul bird during his Cellular Jail confinement sparked outrage from the Islamo-Leftist ecosystem.
The naming of a 400-meter flyover in Yelahanka, Bengaluru, after Veer Savarkar in 2020 became another flashpoint.
The Congress Government of Karnataka finds no objection in the glorification of Tipu Sultan who mercilessly slaughtered and forcefully converted thousands of Hindus and other non muslim communities but vehemently oppose giving due respect to a National Hero. Veer Savarkar was a brave son of mother India who gave up his entire life in order to serve his motherland and must be respected left, right, centre.