Ban booklet defaming Veer Savarkar, demands BJP

Mumbai: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has asked Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to ban the book titled “Veer Savarkar Kitne ‘Veer’?”, which was distributed among Seva Dal workers in Madhya Pradesh.

The Shiv Sena and Bharatiya Janata Party also attacked the Congress over an insinuation by Seva Dal about Veer Savarkar’s relationship with Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse. The BJP demanded an apology from the Congress

Senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis sought to know from the Shiv Sena if it will repeatedly entertain insults to its “deity” Savarkar for the sake of power.

In a series of tweets, Mr Fadnavis said, “Swatan-tryaVeer Savarkar ji is undoubtedly one of the greatest freedom fighters & inspiration for all of us! Congress party has shown its distorted mentality by distributing a book, which uses extremely cheap, insulting words for Veer Savarkar ji. Congress shows its mental bankruptcy (sic).”

Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut also reacted strongly against the booklet. He said that the party will not allow “Bhopal’s filth” to enter Maharashtra. “Veer Savarkar was a great man and will remain a great man. A section keeps talking against him. This shows the dirt in their mind,” Mr Raut said.

The BJP Maharashtra president Chandrakant Patil alleged that the Congress-affiliated Seva Dal has distributed the book, which mentions false and distorted facts about Veer Savarkar. His party condemned this exercise and asked the Congress to take back the booklet immediately.    

On Wednesday, the Seva Dal distributed a controversial literature, which questions Vinayak Damodar Savarkar’s credentials as a patriot. The book alleged that Savarkar, after his release from Andaman’s Cellular Jail, received pension from the British. It also claimed that Savarkar and Mahatma Gandhi’s killer Nathuram Godse were in a physical relationship.

“The BJP strongly condemns the booklet. Venerable Hinduhriday-samrat Shiv Sena chief Balasaheb Thackeray would have been the first to react in his archetypal style (to the booklet) had he been around,” Mr Fadnavis said, using the popular epithet of ‘king of Hindu hearts’ for the Sena founder.

In December 2019, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s jibe that his name was not “Rahul Savarkar” and hence he would not seek apology (about his remark on rape) had riled the Sena.