Tushar Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's Great Grandson, Says Court Didn't Pronounce Savarkar Innocent

Tushar Gandhi, Great Grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, on Friday slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh over the former’s proposal to confer Bharat Ratna to Veer Savarkar saying that he was not acquitted by the court. “Savarkar may have been acquitted in the case, but the Court did not pronounce him innocent. The court only said that we've not had enough evidence presented to us to prove his guilt beyond doubt. We must remember this while Sanghis contemplate giving him Bharat Ratna,” he said.

Tushar said that it is important to understand the real objective and conspiracy behind Mahatma Gandhi. “I think it is important that we understand the real objective and conspiracy behind Bapu's murder, at a time when the patron of Bapu's murder is considered to be given Bharat Ratna,” he added.

Earlier, the CPI(M) attacked the BJP-RSS for its proposal to confer Bharat Ratna to Veer Savarkar and also hit out at the Congress over its response to it, accusing the grand old party of "wilting" under pressure from the ruling party.

The latest editorial of the party mouthpiece, People's Democracy accused the BJP-RSS of creating myths about Savarkar being a great freedom fighter and nationalist.

"The BJP's election manifesto for the Maharashtra Assembly election proposed that Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the father of the Hindutva concept, be conferred the title of Bharat Ratna. This is part of the ongoing strategy of the BJP-RSS combine to legitimise the Hindutva ideology and to create icons out of rabid communal figures such as Savarkar," it said.

It pointed out that it was necessary to debunk this myth-making and expose the designs of the Hindutva forces.

Highlighting Savarkar's petitions for clemency to the British authorities, the editorial claimed that this was a display of "cowardice" which "stood in stark contrast to the sacrifices made by hundreds of other freedom fighters" lodged in the Andaman jail which included later-to-be Communist leaders like Ganesh Ghosh, Satish Pakrashi, Harekrishna Konar and Subodh Roy. 

"None of them could even dream of pleading for mercy and abandoning the struggle...To project Savarkar as a great freedom fighter, when actually he surrendered to the British and spent rest of his life in fomenting Hindu-Muslim discord, is to say the least, a travesty of truth," it said.

The editorial has also hit out at the Congress and accused it of "wilting under this offensive". Commenting on former prime minister Manmohan Singh's statement that "we are not against Savarkarji, but we are not in favour of the Hindutva ideology", the editorial called the response "weak".

It further said that comments made by the Congess' official spokesman Abhishek Singhvi calling Savarkar "an accomplished man who played a part in the freedom struggle" and "went to jail for the country" -- was a "mealy-mouthed attitude" to a communal ideologue which will embolden the Hindutva forces to further conquer the secular-nationalist space.