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Twitter war: Cong dubs Savarkar traitor

Last Updated 23 March 2016, 20:36 IST
Stepping up attack, the Congress on Wednesday dubbed Vinayak Damodar Savarkar a “traitor” even as it celebrated the martyrdom of Bhagat Singh.

The official Twitter handle of the Congress merged the photographs of Bhagat Singh and Savarkar under the title “Martyrs and Traitors”.

“Bhagat Singh waged war for Freedom from British Raj. V D Savarkar begged for mercy, to be a slave in British Raj,” the Congress said on its Twitter handle.

Savarkar was the founder of the Hindu Mahasabha and is considered as the pioneer of the concept of ‘Hindutva’. The Congress has often sought to link Savarkar to Nathuram Godse, who murdered Mahatma Gandhi.

The sharp attack on Savarkar, revered by many across the country and particularly in Maharashtra as a nationalist, comes after the party tested waters by first painting him as a “fake” freedom fighter.

The aggression in the Congress’s stand on Savarkar came after vice-president Rahul Gandhi sought to bring out the ideological differentiation in Mahatma Gandhi and Savarkar. “We have Gandhi and you have Savarkar,” Rahul had said in the Lok Sabha earlier this month amid howls of protests from BJP members. However, none of the BJP leaders countered Rahul’s taunts at Savarkar, perhaps prompting the Congress to take an aggressive stand.

The Congress’ tweets on Wednesday gave excerpts of petitions made by Savarkar and Bhagat Singh to British colonial authorities from jail.
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(Published 23 March 2016, 20:36 IST)

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