‘Maafi Man’ or ‘Veer’: Twitterati Divided Over Savarkar

While some hailed Savarkar for his “patriotism”, others talked of his multiple mercy petitions to the British.

Many leaders paid tribute to Savarkar on his 136th birth anniversary. 

(Photo: The Quint)

Among several others who remembered Savarkar, or Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, on his 136th birth anniversary was Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Savarkar was an independence activist, politician, lawyer, writer, a freedom fighter, and also the man who formulated the Hindutva philosophy.

Narendra Modi paid tribute to him in a tweet.

‘Maligned Hero’

Many others joined the PM in wishing Savarkar on his birthday. Minister of Home Affairs Rajnath Singh said, “Savarkarji’s courage during the freedom movement and his contribution to this great nation will continue to inspire coming generations.”

Minister of Finance Arun Jaitley said Savarkar’s “nationalistic ideals, patriotism and courage guided generations of Indians.”

Many Twitter users also tweeted about Savarkar. Writer Vikram Samparh said he is a “much-misunderstood, maligned leader of our times.”

‘Godse, Pragya, Savarkar’

But going by the Twitter buzz, not everyone supported Savarkar’s idea of India, or the act of the BJP hailing him as a hero. One Twitter user said, “They [BJP] are promoting Godse, they are promoting Savarkar, they are promoting Pragya Thakur. I am waiting for that day when they will promote General Dyer.”

Another Twitter user quoted Savarkar allegedly saying, Muslims ''will have the position of Negroes” and “play the part of German Jews'' in the country.

A few others remembered the time Savarkar asked the British for a pardon so he did not have to serve his 50-year prison term.

His mercy petition was also quoted by the Twitterati. He had told the British in his mercy petition, “Moreover, my conversion to the constitutional line would bring back all those misled men in India and abroad who were once looking up to me as their guide.” He had also said he is ready “to serve the government in any capacity.”

“Nehru spent 9 yr in jails but never became loyal to Brits. Gandhi spent 5 yr in jails but continued his struggle. Bhagat Singh was hanged at age of 23 but refused to seek clemency. Veer Savarkar never participated in freedom struggle & wrote mercy petition. Now choose your hero,” said Twitter user Irony Man.

Another Twitter user reminded the online community that Savarkar “wrote five mercy petitions, during his lifetime, always referring to himself as ‘loyal and humble servant’ of the queen.”

There were doodles of Savarkar that had the word ‘Sorry’ in place of his hat.