Criticism of Savarkar not the agenda of Bharat Jodo Yatra: Sanjay Raut

Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray leader Sanjay Raut on Sunday claimed that the positive energy generated due to the Congresss Bharat Jodo Yatra has been undone by Rahul Gandhis criticism of freedom fighter V D SavarkarIn his weekly column Rokhthok in the party mouthpiece Saamana Rajya Sabha member Raut questioned why Gandhi was raking up issues which touch the peoples emotional chord and giving the BJP a chance on a platter to divert attentionDuring a press conference in Maharashtra as part of his ongoing Bharat Jodo Yatra Gandhi recently called Savarkar a symbol of the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh RSSGandhi had also claimed that the late Hindutva ideologue helped the British rulers and wrote a mercy petition to them out of fear the remarks that drew criticism and triggered protestsRaut who was recently granted bail in a money laundering case said I spent three months in jail Many freedom fighters were lodged in the Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai There is a memorial in the prison As a common prisoner it is difficult to spend even one day in jailSavarkar spent more than 10 years in Andaman cellular jail and faced tremendous hardships The British did not arrest him on false charges of money laundering He lit the torch of an armed revolution against the British rule which is why he was sentenced to Andaman said Raut who is the executive editor of Marathi daily SaamanaAlso Read Neither Savarkar nor Nehru should be targeted Sanjay RautHe said two sentences of life imprisonment meant 50 years in jail Savarkars brother Narayanrao was released unconditionally while Savarkar himself was released on conditions This cannot be termed as mercy he addedRaut cited reference in a book by author Y D Phadke which says a letter by Savarkar has been misconstrued as mercy it was a strategic act to get released from jailEven though he mentioned that he was ready to cooperate with the British government it was a strategic move and should not be taken on face value the Sena leader said further quoting the bookEven Mahatma Gandhi through his article in Young India on May 26 1920 demanded that Savarkar and his brother be released An annual convention of the Congress in 1923 also passed a resolution demanding the release of Savarkar he saidRaut also said if Savarkar regretted his earlier violent method against the British to seek release from jail it should not be construed as surrender but a strategyToday many leaders surrender to the central government out of fear of the Enforcement Directorate ED change parties and give up loyalty Savarkar suffered for more than 10 years in the Andaman jail for the countrys freedom he saidThe criticism of Savarkar was not the agenda of the Bharat Jodo Yatra he saidBy speaking against Savarkar Rahul Gandhi doused the positive energy and confidence generated by the Bharat Jodo Yatra Raut claimedHe further said the BJP has not given Bharat Ratna the countrys highest civilian award to Savarkar despite being in power for eight years The RSS has been a critic of Savarkar he addedPrime Minister Narendra Modi does not stop maligning Indias first prime minister Nehru and Rahul Gandhi also does the same with Savarkar This is not the agenda before the country How can India be united in such circumstances Raut saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever