The Hindu Business Line : Unwarranted

ONE does not have to be a supporter of the so-called Hindu Right to feel thrilled at the very mention of the name of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, famously known as Veer Savarkar. His fierce resistance to British Rule and the great sacrifices in the early part of the 20th century were the stuff of legends. Actually, in common with millions of young students in the 1940s, I used to feel electrified to read accounts of his exploits while being transported in a ship to India from Britain as a prisoner. Hoodwinking his guards and under the pretext of going to the toilet, he broke open the window of the toilet, squeezed himself out and jumped into the sea to swim to the French coast.

Unfortunately, he fell into the hands of the French police who handed him over to the British. Thereafter, he suffered incarceration in the notorious cellular jail in Andamans for 16 years, most of it in solitary confinement and under inhuman conditions. (In those far-off days, jails were jails and not home from home, with luxurious facilities.) In memory of the harrowing years he spent there, a plaque inscribed with a quotation from his writing was embedded on the prison wall in a solemn ceremony some years ago.

Jawaharlal Nehru had paid moving tribute to his bravery and his daughter and former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, had praised him as a "by-word for daring and patriotism, who was cast in the mould of classic revolutionaries and countless people drew inspiration from him". He was also honoured in her time by the release a commemorative stamp. In 2002, on the recommendation of a committee of both Houses of Parliament comprising, among others, Messrs Pranab Mukherjee (now Defence Minister) and Shivraj Patil (now Home Minister), Savarkar's portrait was formally unveiled by the President in Parliament.

If at all there was a case of a historical figure whom it was wise not to drag into a controversy, it was Veer Savarkar. But the Petroleum Minister, Mr Mani Shankar Iyer, has thought it fit to order removal of the plaque and reportedly made some disparaging remarks about an authentic hero of pre-Gandhian vintage who is even today held in veneration. Neither the plaque nor the quotation offended the sentiment of any section of opinion in any manner. Will this action cost the Congress Maharashtra in the coming Assembly elections?

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