BENGALURU: At the same event where he said Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar used to eat beef and was not against cow slaughter, health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao pointed out that Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, was at another extreme.
"Jinnah was not a fundamentalist like Savarkar," said Rao at the launch of a book on Nathuram Godse, the Mahatma's assassin, on Wednesday. "He used to drink wine, and it is said that he used to eat pork as well, but he became a Muslim icon after the two-nation theory and politics. However, Jinnah was not a fundamentalist while Savarkar was one."
Draws contrast between Gandhi and SavarkarRao also drew a contrast between Gandhi and Savarkar to show "how to counter fundamentalism in India, how fundamentalism leads to violence and how it can be tackled using Mahatma Gandhi's philosophy".
Rao said Savarkar's fundamentalist ideology was very different from Indian culture, despite being a nationalist and that it should not be Savarkar's argument but Mahatma Gandhi's that should win in the country.
"If we can say with a discussion that Savarkar wins, that's not right," Rao said. "Savarkar was a non-vegetarian eater, and he wasn't against cow slaughter; he was a Chitpavan Brahmin. He was a modernist in that way, but his fundamental thinking was different."
On the other hand, he said, Gandhi was a vegetarian and had firm faith in Hinduism "but his actions were different. He was a democratic person".
On Thursday, explaining the context in which he made the remarks, Rao said it was at the launch of book where there was a "very healthy discussion" on Nathuram Godse, Gandhi's assassin.
Plaques removed, BJP miffedKarnataka BJP, meanwhile, heavily criticised the govt for allegedly removing plaques carrying names of great achievers and historical figures from the Dasara exhibition ground at Mysuru.
"Congress demonstrates its ‘culture of Ghazni' on the first day of Dasara festivities itself," said BY Vijayendra, BJP state president. "The plaques should be immediately reinstalled in their original locations, and the state govt must apologise to the people of the state."
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