The currently serving Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao stirred up a lot of controversy after making comments about Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who was an important national figure, saying the latter did not campaign against cow slaughtering because he was a non-vegetarian. During a speech at the launch of the Kannada edition of “Gandhi’s Assassin: The Making of Nathuram Godse and His Idea of India,” a book written by the journalist Dhirendra K Jha, Rao said, “Savarkar was a non-veg eater, and he was not against cow slaughter. Another notch against this historical stereotype is the fact that Karn conferred with the Brahmins as his advisor, and as a Brahmin, he ate meat and encouraged others to eat meat as well.
Karnataka health minister, Rao then compared Savarkar’s political thinking with Mahatma Gandhi’s, saying that Savarkar was a fundamentalist while Gandhi was a democrat, at least after 1920. This is sensitive to a fundamentalist, as he pointed out the fact that Gandhi was intolerant of intolerance, that for him, all are welcome, the message of a moderate. This book is a documented description of the mental makeup of Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Gandhi, and the events that led to the tragic event. It also explains how, taking inspiration from Savarkar, his ideology prevailed in Godse’s mind,“ pointed Rao. He urged a critical view over the increasing presence of Savarkar in today’s society.
In response, BJP MP Anurag Thakur denounced Rao’s statements, saying that Congress is a factory of lying and that India would not allow any insult towards Savarkar. Thakur claimed that Rahul Gandhi, a member of the Congress party, has been spewing fake news about India on the international front, and now Congress is falsely tarnishing freedom fighters. He said, “ Veer Savarkar ka apmaan nahi sahega Hindustan,” meaning India will not let the disrespect of the freedom fighter happen.
Also, Ranjit Savarkar, the grandson of VD Savarkar, cleared his stand that history is a lie and that Savarkar was very much a supporter of cow protection. He said that any Congress leader who goes on to insult Savarkar would suffer the consequences under the law.
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