On March 28, Veer Savarkar’s grandson Ranjit Savarkar threatened to file an FIR against former Congress MP Rahul Gandhi if he does not apologise for his statements against Savarkar.
Ranjit Savarkar said, “I will file an FIR against Rahul Gandhi if he does not apologise for his statement about Savarkar. This is not the first time that Rahul Gandhi or the Congress party has disrespected Veer Savarkar. It is unfortunate that instead of apologising, he continues to repeat this.”
“I had also asked Uddhav Thackeray to ask his alliance partner, especially Rahul Gandhi, to apologise for disrespecting Savarkar. When Uddhav Thackeray was the CM, a Congress mouthpiece made derogatory remarks against Veer Savarkar but he did nothing,” he added.
Furthermore, he said, “I have already filed two complaints against Rahul Gandhi in Dadar police station. Five years back, he had called VD Savarkar’ deshdrohi’. The court has asked the police station to send a notice to Rahul Gandhi over that and I am following it up. The second case was after his statements against Savarkar in the Bharat Jodo Yatra. This time also, I will file a complaint. We have to settle this issue so that Savarkar’s name is not maligned again and again. We have to do it through courts. Historically, there’s no proof that Savarkar had apologised before the British Raj.”
On March 25, Rahul Gandhi said “My name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi. Gandhi does not apologise to anyone,” while answering a question during his press conference after being disqualified from Lok Sabha following his conviction in ‘Modi’ surname defamation case.
On March 27, Ranjit Savarkar challenged Rahul Gandhi to provide proof of Veer Savarkar’s apology to British authorities and claimed whatever Rahul Gandhi is doing is ‘childish.’ He told ANI, “Rahul Gandhi is saying he won’t apologise as he isn’t Savarkar. I challenge him to show documents that show Savarkar apologised. On the contrary, he [Rahul Gandhi] has apologised twice to the Supreme Court. Whatever Rahul Gandhi is doing is childish. Using names of patriots to promote politics is deplorable.”
It is pertinent to note that this is not the first time Rahul Gandhi or the Congress party has disrespected Veer Savarkar. In November 2022, a complaint was filed against Rahul Gandhi for making “derogatory remarks” against Savarkar as he alleged that Savarkar “helped the British” and “betrayed leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel.”
Rahul Gandhi said “Veer Savarkar, in a letter written to the British, said “Sir, I beg to remain your most obedient servant” and signed on it. Savarkar helped the British. He betrayed leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel by signing the letter out of fear,” during his press conference in Maharashtra. He continued, “While he was lodged in Andaman jail, Savarkar wrote a letter to the British pleading with them that he be pardoned and released. He took a pension from the British and worked against Congress.”
Last month, Congress MLC & Leader of Opposition for Karnataka’s Legislative Council B K Hariprasad, calls Veer Savarkar the “biggest coward the country has ever seen.” The Congress MLC continued to state that “what else should we call Savarkar who wrote mercy petitions and sought British pension.”
