A political storm erupted on Thursday after Karnataka health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao’s controversial remarks about Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, where he suggested that Savarkar, a Chitpavan Brahmin, consumed meat and possibly beef. Both the Shiv Sena and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) condemned the remarks, calling them an insult to the freedom fighter.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nirupam strongly condemned Rao’s statement, warning the Congress party against repeatedly maligning Savarkar, revered by many in Maharashtra for his role in India’s freedom struggle.
“Once again, the Congress party has made a very low-level comment against Swatantra Veer Savarkar. The statement made by the Karnataka Health Minister is completely condemnable; it is an insult to him,” Nirupam said in a video statement.
“I want to tell the Congress and threaten them that the people of Maharashtra love Savarkar ji very much and if they keep insulting him like this again and again, then the people of Maharashtra will bury the Congress party in the ground, so the Congress party should stop insulting Savarkar,” he said.
Rao had made his controversial comments while addressing an event in Bengaluru on Wednesday, claiming that Savarkar, despite being a Brahmin, ate meat and was not opposed to cow slaughter.
“Savarkar, a ‘Chitpavan Brahmin’, used to eat meat. He was a non-veg eater and he was not against cow slaughter. He was modern in a way,” Rao said.
“Some say that he used to eat beef as well. As a Brahmin, he used to eat meat and was openly propagating eating meat. So he had that thinking,” the minister claimed.
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Rao made these comments at the release of the Kannada version of Gandhi’s Assassin: The Making of Nathuram Godse and His Idea of India by journalist Dhirendra K. Jha.
BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh criticised the Congress for targeting Savarkar, stating that the party’s leaders never endured the hardships Savarkar faced during his imprisonment by the British.
“The party whose none of the leaders ever suffered ‘kala pani ki saja’ (life imprisonment in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands) is insulting the person who was handed down double life imprisonment at the cellular jail,” Chugh said.
Chugh described Rao’s comments as “unfortunate, insulting, and highly condemnable.”
“Insulting Veer Savarkar, who was an inspiration to revolutionaries in the country, is akin to spitting on the moon,” Chugh added.
BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi challenged the Congress to name any of its leaders who had faced the same harsh punishment as Savarkar during British rule. “William Wedderburn, a British civil servant, was the president of the Indian National Congress when Savarkar was handed down life imprisonment. They were sitting under the feet of the British rulers,” Trivedi charged.
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Savarkar, who is considered a hero by many in Maharashtra for his role in the freedom struggle, remains a controversial figure due to his advocacy for Hindutva and his polarising views on India’s independence movement.
Savarkar’s family threatens defamation suit
Ranjit Savarkar, the grandson of Veer Savarkar, accused Congress of trying to defame his grandfather ahead of upcoming elections. He claimed that the Congress was attempting to divide Hindu society along caste lines, a strategy reminiscent of British colonial-era policies.
“This is a strategy of Congress to defame Savarkar time and again, particularly when elections are coming. Earlier, Rahul Gandhi was doing it, and now his leaders are making statements… Congress has shown its real face,” Ranjit Savarkar said.
He also dismissed Rao’s claims about Savarkar’s alleged beef consumption, describing them as “false” and threatening to file a defamation suit against the minister.
