Belagavi: Karnataka Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai participated in the unveiling of a portrait of Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Savarkar inside the legislative assembly Monday at the start of the last winter session of his government before the next year’s state election.
“The unveiling of the photographs inside the Assembly is the prerogative of the (assembly) speaker,” Bommai said, handing off the issue that led to angry exchanges between the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the opposition Congress MLAs inside the Suvarna Vidhana Soudha in what is being seen as an attempt to deflect attention away from the border row with Maharashtra.
Savarkar’s portrait shares space with those of philosopher Basavanna, and national icons Mahatma Gandhi, Swami Vivekananda, Subhash Chandra Bose, B. R. Ambedkar and Vallabhbhai Patel.
Leader of the opposition and former chief minister Siddaramaiah shot off a letter to Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri, demanding the addition of portraits of prominent leaders like Maharshi Valmiki, Kanaka Dasa, Shishunala Sharifa, Narayana Guru, Jawaharlal Nehru, Babu Jagjivan Ram among others but did not object overtly to Savarakar’s picture.
The session was adjourned by noon on account of the ensuing ruckus between the two sides. Siddaramaiah and other Congress MLAs protested outside the assembly against the installation of the Savarkar portrait.
“Savarkar has nothing to do with Karnataka. It is pointless to bring Savarkar’s photo inside the Vidhan Sauda, who plotted to assassinate Gandhi, wrote an apology letter to be released from jail for fear of the British… (sic),” Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar tweeted.
Later, the BJP came out with a series of tweets as well to denounce the opposition party for opposing the move. “In 1970, the Indira Gandhi government had released a stamp of Veer Savarkar. Indira Gandhi herself donated to the Savarkar Memorial Committee for making a documentary on Savarkar. Will the Congress’s sense of history change as the Prime Minister changes? (sic),” it said.
The unveiling comes days after Shivakumar was criticised for defending the Mangaluru pressure cooker bomber and attempts to paint the opposition as “pro-terrorist” to gain favour from minority votes.
On the other hand, the BJP has revived the Hindutva ideologue’s legacy through multiple platforms including school textbooks, renaming flyovers and installing statues to assert his prominence and emphasise his contributions to India’s freedom struggle.
In 1950, Savarkar was incarcerated for about four months at Belagavi’s Hindalga jail in preventive detention ahead of former Pakistan Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan’s visit to India.
Though Savarkar died over four decades ago, he continues to divide opinions with a section of people considering him as a nationalist leader and the other criticising his supposed pandering to the Britishers.
A chapter in a Kannada school text book had come under sharp criticism in August after it stated that Savarkar used to fly out of prison on the wings of a bulbul. Later, the textbook revision committee urged the people to see beyond the literal meaning of the lines.
(Edited by Tony Rai)
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