By Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The national memorial and museum set up in memory of Mahatma Gandhi has come out with a special edition of its monthly magazine Antim Jan, dedicated to Hindutva leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, with the forward hailing him as a ‘great patriot’ whose place in history in ‘no less than that of Gandhi’.
The development has evoked sharp reactions from the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Tushar Gandhi.
He said that the ‘development’ shouldn’t be seen in isolation because it is part of a large design to appropriate an ideology.
“It is not surprising because this kind of thing will happen more often. The ideology behind the murder of (Mahatma) Gandhi is in power and they will try and whitewash as much as they can,” he said.
The June issue of the magazine brought out in Hindi by Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti (GSDS), a hallowed institution under the Culture Ministry with the Prime Minister as its chairperson, features Savarkar on the cover in an illustration format, and also old articles reproduced from the works of Gandhi on religious tolerance, Savarkar on Hindutva and late prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Savarkar.
The Samiti overseas Gandhi Smriti located in Birla House on Tees January Marg where he was assassinated by Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948, and which was later converted into a museum.
The GSDS also oversees the Gandhi Darshan, a solemn memorial to the Mahatma at Rajghat.
Vajpayee’s piece is called ‘Ek Chingari thhey Savarakar’.
The June issue of Antim Jan, also includes articles by other contributors, such as Veer Savarkar Mahatma Gandhi Hatya Abhiyog by Dr Shreerang Godbole; Gandhi Evam Savarkar ka Sambandh by Dr (Maj) Madhusudan Cherekar; Veer Savarkar ko Etihasik Nyay Kab by Umesh Chaturvedi: “Swatanra ki Vedi ke Do Phool: Gandhi aur Savarkar” by Mritunjay Kumar, among others.
Vijay Goel, vice-chairperson of GSDS, who wrote the forward titled — ‘Mahan Deshbhakt Veer Savarkar’ (great patriot Veer Savarkar) — for the issue, in his write-up said, “Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was a great patriot, freedom fighter, carrier of indomitable courage, wonderful writer and a fabulous orator”.
“Whenever one will talk of making supreme sacrifices during the freedom struggle, Veer Savarkar’s name shall be taken with due respect and stature,” writes Goel.
The GSDS vice-chairperson hailed Savarkar as a person endowed with “multi-faceted talents” and a “writer of high quality” and a “nationalist thinker”.
Savarkar is a controversial Hindutava leader whose legacy has both admirers and critics.
During British rule, he was also lodged in the Celular Jail on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and he had also authored many books, including, ‘The Indian War of Independence 1857’, ‘My Transportation for Life’ and ‘Hindu Rashtra Darshan’.
In October 2019, Tushar Gandhi, great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, had said that Savarkar was the patron of Mahatma’s assassination.
Savarkar, who faced trial in the Gandhi assassination case but was acquitted, had not been pronounced innocent by the court, he had claimed.
Goel in the forward, further says: “It pains that those who have not been lodged in jail for a day, did not suffer for the nation, did not do anything for the country and the nation, they criticise patriots like Savarkar who have made sacrifices. Even though, Savarkar’s place in history and his honour when it comes to the freedom struggle is no less than that of Gandhi”.
Inspired by the Prime Minister, the country is celebrating the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
“And, we should recall the memories of Veer Savarkar and other great soldiers,” he said.
The June issue also carries a black and white portrait of Savarkar, who was born on May 28 in 1883.
An article by the editor of the magazine, Praveen Dutt Sharma, titled Gandhi ka Gussa has been included as well in the issue.
On May 28 this year, the special officer and commissioner of the recently reunified Municipal Corporation of Delhi had garlanded Savarkar’s statue located at Lajpat Nagar in south Delhi.
They had paid tribute to the “great patriot and freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar on his 139th birth anniversary, ” the MCD had said in a statement.
(With PTI Inputs)
NEW DELHI: The national memorial and museum set up in memory of Mahatma Gandhi has come out with a special edition of its monthly magazine Antim Jan, dedicated to Hindutva leader Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, with the forward hailing him as a ‘great patriot’ whose place in history in ‘no less than that of Gandhi’.
The development has evoked sharp reactions from the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, Tushar Gandhi.
He said that the ‘development’ shouldn’t be seen in isolation because it is part of a large design to appropriate an ideology.
“It is not surprising because this kind of thing will happen more often. The ideology behind the murder of (Mahatma) Gandhi is in power and they will try and whitewash as much as they can,” he said.
The June issue of the magazine brought out in Hindi by Gandhi Smriti and Darshan Samiti (GSDS), a hallowed institution under the Culture Ministry with the Prime Minister as its chairperson, features Savarkar on the cover in an illustration format, and also old articles reproduced from the works of Gandhi on religious tolerance, Savarkar on Hindutva and late prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Savarkar.
The Samiti overseas Gandhi Smriti located in Birla House on Tees January Marg where he was assassinated by Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948, and which was later converted into a museum.
The GSDS also oversees the Gandhi Darshan, a solemn memorial to the Mahatma at Rajghat.
Vajpayee’s piece is called ‘Ek Chingari thhey Savarakar’.
The June issue of Antim Jan, also includes articles by other contributors, such as Veer Savarkar Mahatma Gandhi Hatya Abhiyog by Dr Shreerang Godbole; Gandhi Evam Savarkar ka Sambandh by Dr (Maj) Madhusudan Cherekar; Veer Savarkar ko Etihasik Nyay Kab by Umesh Chaturvedi: “Swatanra ki Vedi ke Do Phool: Gandhi aur Savarkar” by Mritunjay Kumar, among others.
Vijay Goel, vice-chairperson of GSDS, who wrote the forward titled — ‘Mahan Deshbhakt Veer Savarkar’ (great patriot Veer Savarkar) — for the issue, in his write-up said, “Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was a great patriot, freedom fighter, carrier of indomitable courage, wonderful writer and a fabulous orator”.
“Whenever one will talk of making supreme sacrifices during the freedom struggle, Veer Savarkar’s name shall be taken with due respect and stature,” writes Goel.
The GSDS vice-chairperson hailed Savarkar as a person endowed with “multi-faceted talents” and a “writer of high quality” and a “nationalist thinker”.
Savarkar is a controversial Hindutava leader whose legacy has both admirers and critics.
During British rule, he was also lodged in the Celular Jail on the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and he had also authored many books, including, ‘The Indian War of Independence 1857’, ‘My Transportation for Life’ and ‘Hindu Rashtra Darshan’.
In October 2019, Tushar Gandhi, great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, had said that Savarkar was the patron of Mahatma’s assassination.
Savarkar, who faced trial in the Gandhi assassination case but was acquitted, had not been pronounced innocent by the court, he had claimed.
Goel in the forward, further says: “It pains that those who have not been lodged in jail for a day, did not suffer for the nation, did not do anything for the country and the nation, they criticise patriots like Savarkar who have made sacrifices. Even though, Savarkar’s place in history and his honour when it comes to the freedom struggle is no less than that of Gandhi”.
Inspired by the Prime Minister, the country is celebrating the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav.
“And, we should recall the memories of Veer Savarkar and other great soldiers,” he said.
The June issue also carries a black and white portrait of Savarkar, who was born on May 28 in 1883.
An article by the editor of the magazine, Praveen Dutt Sharma, titled Gandhi ka Gussa has been included as well in the issue.
On May 28 this year, the special officer and commissioner of the recently reunified Municipal Corporation of Delhi had garlanded Savarkar’s statue located at Lajpat Nagar in south Delhi.
They had paid tribute to the “great patriot and freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar on his 139th birth anniversary, ” the MCD had said in a statement.
(With PTI Inputs)
