Bharat Ratna: Resurrecting Savarkar from a forgotten past

Ahead of the Maharashtra elections, BJP attempts to invoke nationalism by proposing the name of VD Savarkar for Bharat Ratna, India's highest civilian award.

Mumbai:With the Maharashtra elections just around the corner, the Bharatiya Janata Party in its manifesto has promised to propose the name of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar for the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian award in the country.

The saffron party has, in its manifesto promised that it would ask the NDA led government in the Centre to confer the Bharat Ratna on Savarkar if they are re-elected in the upcoming elections. However, many parties and prominent leaders strongly oppose to Savarkar being conferred the highly regarded award.

The prefix given by the supporters of Sangh parivar, 'Veer' Savarkar is the figure behind the formulation of the Hindutva ideology in 1920s. He was also a member of the Hindu Mahasabha.

All Hindutva organizations and especially Shiv Sena is disgruntled about the fact that, despite the BJP government being at the Centre, demand for Bharat Ratna for Savarkar had not been fulfilled.

Shiv Sena party chief Uddhav Thackeray, while praising the work of Savarkar, strongly supported the demand for conferring Bharat Ratna, in a publication ceremony of a book named 'Savarkar: Echos From A Forgotten Past’.

Uddhav Thackeray, in a publication ceremony of the book 'Sawarkar: Echos From A Forgotten Past’ in Mumbai.

Some also question the contribution of Savarkar in the Indian freedom struggle. He is alleged of clemency from the British rulers to get concession in punishment.

Savarkar and the Controversy

On the sixth day of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination in 1948, Savarkar was arrested on the charge of conspiring Gandhi’s murder.

Bharat Ratna conundrum

In February 1949, he was released. Savarkar’s name is taken in Sangh Pariwar with the utmost respect, who had never been a member of RSS or Bhartiya Jan Sangh.

In 1910, he was arrested in London, in the case of the assassination of a Nasik collector.

His brother, Babarao Savarkar was also arrested for assassinating collector Jackson with the charges that said, the pistol was sent by Savarkar from London.

After the famous jump in the sea, Savarkar had always been a prisoner to Britishers.

It is said that, in Andaman jail, every month three to four prisoners were hanged which affected Savarkar mentally. He also wrote a letter of clemency to the British rulers.

Some historians say, Savarkar was getting a monthly pension from the Britishers.

In 2000, the Vajpayee government had sent a proposal to then President K R Narayanan for Bharat Ratna to Savarkar, which was not accepted.

On Savarkar's birth anniversary, two days after Narendra Modi was sworn in as prime minister, he bowed down to the portrait of Savarkar at Sansad Bhawan.

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