Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Dr. Pankaj Phadnis, a Savarkarite from Madhya Pradesh, has submitted a 164-page petition to the Supreme Court claiming that Vinayak Damodar Savarkar was wrongly implicated in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Alleging that this was a conspiracy to destroy Savarkar's political career, Dr. Phadnis has requested that the hearing be live-streamed so that the public can learn the truth. The petition is likely to be listed before the SC soon.
According to Dr. Phadnis, Savarkar was acquitted in the case due to lack of evidence, but it was never explained how he was falsely implicated. Dr. Phadnis argued that the law under which Savarkar was tried was illegal. "Through this petition, I demand that the Supreme Court must agree that implicating Savarkar solely on the evidence provided by the accused, Digambar Bagde, who was pardoned on June 21, 1948, was illegal. The law under which the trial was conducted did not have such provisions that an accused in the case could be made an approver," he said.
Dr. Phadnis further explained that Savarkar was committed to treating the majority and minority equally in India. "Savarkar was committed to India being a nation where the minority and the majority were treated with equality," he says. He adds that Savarkar also had a dream of sending 10,000 young men and women from India to the United States for higher studies, regardless of their religion or caste. "Savarkar is no more with us, but we can try to fulfill his dream of sending 10,000 students to America for higher studies, why would anyone have a problem with this?" Dr. Phadnis asked.
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Dr. Phadnis clarified that his petition has nothing to do with Nathuram Godse, who is widely known to have assassinated Gandhi. Instead, he focused on the mistrial of three individuals: Savarkar, Dr. Parchare, leader of Hindu Mahasabha Gwalior, and Dattatraya Narayan Apte, who was hanged in the trial held in the Red Fort. "Narayan Apte, Dr. Parchare, and Savarkar were victims of a mistrial in this case," he said.
Phadnis hopes that the Supreme Court will agree that Savarkar was wrongly implicated in Gandhi's assassination case and that justice will be served.
Veer Savarkar, also known as Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, was a well-known Indian politician, activist, and writer. He was instrumental in popularizing the term Hindutva, which refers to the essence of India as a collective identity of the Hindu community. Savarkar was a member of the Hindu Mahasabha and advocated for a pragmatic approach to Hindu philosophy, despite being an atheist.
Savarkar was implicated as a co-conspirator in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi by the Indian government in 1948. However, he was acquitted by the court due to lack of evidence. Despite his contributions to Indian politics and society, Savarkar did not receive any official mourning from the Congress party government of Maharashtra or at the center after his death in 1966. Even during his lifetime, he faced political indifference and opposition. It was only after the death of Nehru that the Congress government, under Prime Minister Shastri, started providing him with a monthly pension.
