New Delhi: Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said that there had been "deliberate attempts to defame" Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. "The truth is Savarkar did not file petitions for his release. It was on Mahatma Gandhi's request that he wrote mercy petitions to the British and people from the Marxist and Leninist ideology wrongly accuse him as a fascist," Singh said at the launch of the book 'Veer Savarkar: The Man Who Could Have Prevented Partition' on Tuesday.
"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," the minister said.
Describing Savarkar as a "national icon", Singh said he gave the country a "robust defence and diplomatic doctrine". "He was an icon of the Indian history and will remain so. There can be a difference of opinion about him, but to look down on him as inferior is not appropriate and justifiable. He was a freedom fighter and a staunch nationalist, " Singh said.
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"Savarkar was forthright in saying that India's relations with other countries should depend on how conducive those ties are to India's security and its interests, irrespective of the kind of government in those countries," he said.
Singh further said, "Savarkar was India's first military strategic affairs expert in the 20th century, who gave the country a robust defence and diplomatic doctrine."
Discussing Savarkar's concept of Hindutva, Singh said the word "Hindu" for him was not associated with any religion and it was linked to India's geographical and political identity. "For Savarkar, an ideal state was the one where its citizens were not differentiated on the basis of their culture and religion and therefore, there is a need to deeply understand his Hindutva. For him, Hindutva was associated with cultural nationalism," the veteran BJP leader said.
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Union Ministers Gen VK Singh (retd), Jitendra Singh, Parshottam Rupala and Arjun Ram Meghwal were among those present at the event.
