Even as the mainstream CPM leaders including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan have been going hammer and tongs against the move of BJP to confer Veer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar with Bharat Ratna, it has come out in the open that party ideologue and former general secretary E M S Namboodirpad had held the Hindutva icon in high respect.
In his latest book, ‘Hindutva: For the Changing Times’, RSS leader J Nandakumar, who is also the national convenor of Prajna Pravah, says that EMS had high respect for Savarkar.
Nandakumar cites that Namboodirpad, in his book titled ‘A History of Indian Freedom Struggle’ (1986, Page 213), had said, “Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the leader of movement, subsequently shifted his activities to England and tried to start a revolution in India with whatever help he could get there. This group (Abhinav Bharath) with branches all over Maharashtra played a prominent role in developing a revolutionary movement not merely in Maharashtra but all over India. Savarkar was arrested in England. While he was being brought to India with police escort, he tried to escape but was again caught by the police. The incident had become a legend.”
This clearly shows that Namboodiripad, former General Secretary of CPM and one of the most influential Marxist ideologues of the country, had held Savarkar in high esteem and stated that he was one of the top leaders who had played a major role in developing a revolutionary movement across the country.
Recently speaking in the assembly Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan said Savarkar should not be bestowed with Bharat Ratna, which can be viewed as contradictory to the position taken by EMS Namboodripad.“The neo-communists are up in arms against the legacy of Savarkar and the man himself. However as I have mentioned, stalwarts of the communist movement including EMS Namboodiripad, MN Roy, Hirendrantath Mukherjee and SA Dange had always held him in high esteem. The statement of Pinarayi Vijayan is diametrically opposite to what was held by Namboodirpad which in itself is a contradiction in the ideological standing of that party,” J Nandakumar told Organiser.
It may be noted that the CPM has always portrayed Savarkar as a person who was not in the forefront of any revolutionary movement and that he had pleaded for clemency for freedom from the cellular jail in Andamans.
Quoting earlier articles and notes of Mahatma Gandhi, Shri J Nandakumar writes, Mahatma Gandhi called Savarkar ‘A faithful son of Bharat, brave, clever and…frankly a revolutionary…’ The author also claimed that, in an article published in Young India, Mahatma Gandhi fiercely argued why ‘Royal Clemency’ should be given to Veer Savarkar and his ‘talent should be utilised for public welfare’
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