All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) chief Asaduddin Owaisi hits back at Indian Defence minister Rajnath Singh’s recent claim on Mahatma Gandhi. Tuesday, the Defence Minister said, “on Mahatma Gandhi’s request, Savarkar wrote mercy petitions to the British.”
On this note, the AIMIM chief accused BJP of distorting history as Mahatma Gandhi made no such request. He further alleged that the BJP will soon declare Vinayak Damodar Savarkar as ‘the father of the nation’.
Read more: Exploring the unholy nexus between RSS and Modi’s BJP
In a series of tweets, Owaisi posted a copy of a letter to Savarkar from Gandhi.
“They (BJP) are presenting distorted history. If this continues, they will remove Mahatma Gandhi and make Savarkar, who was accused of the murder of Mahatma Gandhi and was pronounced complicit in the inquiry of Justice Jeevan Lal Kapur, as the father of the nation,” Owaisi said.
Sir @rajnathsingh you said that Savarkar’s grovelling mercy petitions were on Gandhi’s advise.
1. Here’s the letter to Savarkar from Gandhi. No mention of petition to British begging for leniency, mercy & promising to be a faithful servant of the crown. 1/n pic.twitter.com/5asdmBVqss
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) October 13, 2021
Savarkar: Founder of Hindutva
Owaisi’s rebuttal comes as the Defence Minister recently spoke at an event to release a book on Savarkar.
To clarify, Vinayak Damodar “Veer” Savarkar was an Indian politician, activist, and writer. He developed the Hindu nationalist political ideology of Hindutva while imprisoned at Ratnagiri in 1922.
Read more: BJP-RSS’ ‘koota yuddha’ on Muslims and misinformed Islamophobia
The Defence Minister commemorated the Hindutva ideologue and called him an icon of Indian history. Furthermore, he stated that Savarkar’s legacy faced many lies.
“Lies were spread about Savarkar. Time and again, it was said that he filed mercy petitions before the British government seeking his release from jail. Mahatma Gandhi asked him to file mercy petitions,” Mr. Singh said.
However, Owaisi debunked the claims. He said Gandhi was in South Africa when Savarkar wrote the mercy petition. Additionally, Owaisi stated that Savarkar did not consider India as land for Muslims and Christians.
In his view, India was not the holy land for Muslims & Christians and so they couldn’t be fully loyal to India. What is your view on this as Defence Minister? Do you subscribe to this theory? 4/n
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) October 13, 2021
In conclusion, Savarkar’s Hindutva ideology is a major obstacle for minorities in India as they face hardships at the hands of Hindu extremists.
Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs continue to suffer a mass violation of human rights. On several occasions, BJP and Hindutva nationalists even kill minorities.
Read more: Muslim killed on New Year’s Day highlights violent Islamophobia in India