Asaduddin Owaisi has quipped that the BJP will soon declare V.D. Savarkar as the father of the of nation, in response to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's earlier comment that Savarkar wrote mercy petitions to the British on Mahatma Gandhi's request.
“They (BJP) are presenting distorted history. If this continues, they will remove Mahatma Gandhi and make Savarkar, who was accused of the murder of Mahatma Gandhi and was pronounced complicit in the inquiry of Justice Jeevan Lal Kapur, as the father of the nation,” the president of the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) told ANI.
Rajnath Singh made the comment on Tuesday at the launch of the book Veer Savarkar: The Man Who Could Have Prevented Partition.
“Lies were spread about Savarkar,” said Singh at the event.
“Time and again, it was said that he filed mercy petitions before the British government seeking his release from jail. It was Mahatma Gandhi who asked him to file mercy petitions.”
Following Singh's comments, several historians on Twitter fact-checked the home minister's claim.
Some Historical Facts:
— Ravi Nair (@t_d_h_nair) October 13, 2021
Savarkar was lodged in the Cellular Jail on July 4, 1911. Within six months, he submitted a petition for mercy.
His second mercy petition was submitted on November 14, 1913.
Gandhi Ji returned to India from South Africa only on January 9, 1915. pic.twitter.com/lBdZz5z8PY
“Savarkar was lodged in the Cellular Jail on July 4, 1911. Within six months, he submitted a petition for mercy. His second mercy petition was submitted on November 14, 1913. Gandhi Ji returned to India from South Africa only on January 9, 1915,” wrote Ravi Nair.
Singh also hailed Savarkar as a staunch nationalist and India's first military strategist.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, who also spoke at the event, said that Savarkar's hindutva was about “a united India where no one is differentiated on the basis of their religion, caste and status and it was based on the idea of country first”.
(With inputs from PTI)
