you have presented the adverserial viwes on Veer Savarkar. I have no problem with that. But as a matter of honesty in looking at contential issues you should also interview the pro-Sarkarite intellectuals.
I donot mean so called hindu organisations like RSS, VHP, BJP who are intellectually impoversihed and trying to live upto the standards set by their ideologicaladversaries.
Why can't you interview Acharya Sita Ram Goel (of Voice of India, http://www.voi.org ) the doyan of hindutva and a great historian. Sita RAm Goel is the only self-confessed hindu communalist in India. BJP, RSS etc take shelter under secularism or the dubious supreme court judgement that hindutva is a way of life.
Let your readers decide where the truth lies, rather than just listening to the viws of a Marxist historian of JNU. Are you listening.
This interview is atrocious. All my childhood, and my adulthood, I have revered Savarkar, read about him and worshipped his sacrifices. How can rediff publish such articles on the net ? Savarkar's poems still act as a catalyst to remind me of my motherland and also of my duties towards it even in a foreign land. His song, where he longs to go back to India, while in Britain, is the inner voice of all NRIs . No other literature has that emotional impact on me All the opinions that I have read from the other readers, not one has praised and acknowledged this interview. I would request rediff to withdraw this interview from the site as it is not completely true and is missing the point.
Bipin Chandra and Rediff, I am dispointed and certainly not convinced with the arguement. All our freedom fighters were great and we owe them more than just putting their portraits in the parliament house. We should refrain comparing a most ideallistic personality traits with that exists in freedom fighters, circumstances and approach were very different though end goal was one.
It is important that we should take good aspect of great personality. Ram is worshiped for victory against Ravan not for suspecting purity of Sita. Sending Sita to Jangal was a populist measure and given a chance Ram would also regret it.
Professor Sab, teaching and politics are two thing don't mix them, it create more confusion. Randhir
I don`t know why people are fighting on the issues which are already burried in PAST...Savarkar was a great freedom fighter and had selflessly given up his family life for the sake of the country.(I think Mr Chanda acknowledges it).
But we have to keep in mind finally he also was a human being and definately had weaknesses..There are many so called great freedom fighters whom we are forced to worship from childhood who have done very less for the country than for themselves..They got prominance because of their extreme richness and influence.History knows it.They were nothing but power crazy people.But still we see their pictures right from parliament to streets..
Why people are not taking any issues with it ?? Savarkar sacrificed a lot for this country.He should be remembered by every true Indian.
One can not judge a person of his/her role model qualities based on his/her religion, beliefs or institutions he belongs to. This has to be based on the service he has done to the nation and his achievements. History is much more than what individuals write in their diaries or what their perceptions are.
The interview does not dwell on Savarkar's achievements, patriotism and sacrifice. Instead he keeps on dwelling on things he may have done wrong. There are many more role models who have achieved a fraction of what Savarkar has. There may be many portraits hanging in the partliament hall that will be as or more questionable than that of Savarkar's.
