BENGALURU/NEW DELHI: Karnataka health minister Dinesh Gundu Rao's remarks on Hindutva ideologue and freedom fighter Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, claiming that Savarkar consumed meat and was not opposed to cow slaughter have sparked outrage across political circles.
The controversy erupted on Thursday, a day after Rao's comments during the launch of the Kannada version of 'Gandhi's Assassin: The Making of Nathuram Godse and His Idea of India'.
Rao's statements drew sharp criticism from BJP and Shiv Sena functionaries, besides family and followers of Savarkar, who viewed the remarks as an attack on the Hindutva icon and his contributions to India's freedom struggle.
"Some people said he (Savarkar), being a Chitpavan Brahmin, used to eat meat. He was a non-veg eater, and he was not against cow slaughter. He was modern in a way," Rao, a Brahmin himself, said, further stating that Savarkar's "fundamentalist ideology" stood in contrast to Indian culture.
Rao also criticised Pakistan's founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, calling him "a hardcore Islamist believer" but distinguished between Jinnah and Savarkar.
"Jinnah was not a fundamentalist like Savarkar. He used to drink wine and, it is said, ate pork as well, but he became a Muslim icon after the two-nation theory and politics. Jinnah was not a fundamentalist, but Savarkar was a fundamentalist," Rao added.
Savarkar's grandson Ranjit Savarkar said it was Congress's strategy to defame Savarkar, especially when elections were at hand. "Congress wants to divide Hindu society into different castes in order to win elections. This was also the British policy of 'divide and rule'," he said, adding that he would file a defamation suit against Rao.
BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said Congress should know that Savarkar was the only freedom fighter in India's history who was sentenced to two life imprisonments but the opposition party, which was used to insulting sanatan tradition, had not done it for the first time.
BJP MP Anurag Thakur accused Rahul Gandhi of promoting a "tukde tukde" ideology, saying the Congress MP was a "modern Jinnah". "India will not tolerate the disrespect of Veer Savarkar, who dedicated his life to the country," he said.
Shiv Sena's Sanjay Nirupam too criticised Congress for repeatedly maligning Savarkar, who is revered in Maharashtra.
In response to the backlash, Rao issued a clarification on Thursday, saying his comments were based on statements made by Savarkar himself.
"Savarkar, on many occasions, had stated that he was an atheist and ate meat. I did not say anything new," Rao said in a statement.
He clarified that his remarks were not personal attacks on Savarkar but were meant to draw a comparison between the lifestyles of Mahatma Gandhi and Savarkar.
"I mentioned Savarkar being non-vegetarian while comparing the lifestyles of Gandhiji, who strongly believed in the Hindu religion yet remained democratic, and Savarkar, who had an ambition of building a Hindu nation despite being an atheist. Unfortunately, the media picked up only the non-vegetarian part and created controversy," he added.
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