Union home minister Amit Shah lashed out at the party for releasing a book that speaks against Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar and said they (Congress) should be ashamed of themselves.
Jodhpur: Stating that the Congress should be ashamed of itself, on Friday, Union home minister Amit Shah lashed out at the party for releasing a book that speaks against Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar
“For vote-bank politics, Congress party is speaking against a great personality like Veer Savarkar. Congressmen should be ashamed of themselves," said Shah addressing a rally here.
The grandson of Savarkar, Ranjit Savarkar had alleged that the Congress was scheming to tarnish the name of his grandfather through the party booklet titled 'Veer Savarkar Kitne Veer?'
The most controversial point of the booklet is that it claimed that the Hindu Mahasabha co-founder, Savarkar, had a "physical relationship" with Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse
In a press release, Ranjit had stated, "Congress is plotting to defame Savarkar. The party is conspiring to spread anarchy in the country by making unwarranted accusations on freedom fighter Savarkar. The government must take an action against the Congress Seva Dal and should register a criminal case against them,"
In addition to demanding that a case be registered against the Congress Seva Dal, Ranjit has also sought the help of Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to ban the controversial booklet that was distributed during the 10-day camp of Congress Seva Dal.
"A case should be registered under section 120, 500, 503, 504, 505, 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the Madhya Pradesh Government should ban the book," he added.
Congress Seva Dal chief Lalji Desai has attempted to defend the booklet stating, "Writer has written it on the basis of evidence. But that's not important for us whether he was gay or not. In our country today, everyone has a legal right to have their own preferences," Desai said.
The booklet seemed to selectively draw reference citing page 423 of the 'Freedom at Midnight' book written by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre, which stated that Godse had a homosexual relationship with his "political guru" Savarkar before the former turned celibate.
Adding to the ire of his followers, the booklet also claimed that Savarkar encouraged his followers to rape women from minorities and pelted stones at mosques when he was 12 years old. (ANI)
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