Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao has claimed that Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar used to eat meat and was not against cow slaughter.
“Savarkar, a 'Chitpavan Brahmin', used to eat meat. He was a non-veg eater and he was not against cow slaughter. He was modern in a way,” he said at an event on Wednesday, October 2. “Some say that he used to eat beef as well. As a Brahmin, he used to eat meat and was openly propagating eating meat. So he had that thinking,” the Minister claimed.
Savarkar, a Brahmin, Was Non-Vegetarian & Supported Cow Slaughter: Karnataka Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao
Rao added that Mahatma Gandhi was a vegetarian and had a firm faith in Hinduism “but his actions were different. He was a democratic person.”
“(Founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali) Jinnah was another extreme. He was a hardcore Islamist believer. He used to drink wine and it is said that he used to eat pork as well but he became a Muslim icon after the two-nation theory and politics. But Jinnah was not a fundamentalist but Savarkar was a fundamentalist,” he said.
On Karnataka Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao's statement on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis took a snatching attack on Congress, saying that Rahul Gandhi started all these false statements on Savarkar.
"These people do not know anything about Savarkar. The insult him again and again. Savarkar has expressed his opinion on cows very well. He had said that since the birth to death of a farmer, cows have helped him. So, cows have been given the status of God. Rahul Gandhi started the series of making such false statements on Savarkar, and I think they are trying to take it forward," said Maharashtra Deputy.
BJP national spokesperson CR Kesavan termed it as imperative remark, said, "one of our most courageous patriots who symbolises sacrifice for our nation and on the other side, the Nehru Congress - that dynastic caucus which reeks of sycophancy and is riddled unscrupulous entitlement."
"While Veer Savarkar spent 27 years fighting against the British, defying the British and on this side you have Rahul Gandhi, who has come out on bail, accused of corruption and charges of fraud in the National Herald case...Let the Congress leaders come and explain why Indira Gandhi praised Veer Savarkar and why they are sullying his reputation now. Let them apologise to the family of Veer Savarkar and the nation for this. What do the leaders of the alliance party in Maharashtra have to say about the Congress leaders abusing Veer Savarkar? What is the response of Uddhav Thackeray? What is the response of Sharad Pawar to Gundu Rao's notorious statement? Let the Congress party and alliance parties answer this," he added.