Supporters of Veer Savarkar on Sunday demanded that the government should put Rahul Gandhi behind bars for his 'anti-national' comments.
"We are demanding a Bharat Ratna for Veer Savarkar. The government should put Rahul Gandhi behind bars for his 'anti-national' comments. He should go and settle in Italy," a supporter of Veer Savarkar told here.
"Rahul Gandhi considers himself to be a big leader of the country. He said that he is not Rahul Savarkar. The fact is that he cannot become Savarkar in a thousand years. When Rahul Gandhi was a kid, he had gone to Andaman and Nicobar with his father Rajiv Gandhi. Rajiv Gandhi had paid tribute to Veer Savarkar at that time. Indira Gandhi had issued a postal stamp in Savarkar's name," he added.
Addressing a rally in New Delhi yesterday, Rahul Gandhi said he would not apologise for his "rape in India" remark as his name is not Rahul Savarkar.
"I was asked by the BJP in Parliament yesterday to apologise for the comment. I was asked to apologise for something which is right. My name is not Rahul Savarkar. My name is Rahul Gandhi. I will never apologise for truth," Gandhi said.
Reacting to Gandhi's statement, Savarkar's grandson Ranjit has said that Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray should beat Gandhi publicly for 'insulting' his grandfather.
"I want Uddhav Thackeray to beat Rahul Gandhi openly as he said many times that if anyone insults Savarkar, he will beat him publicly," he said.
( With inputs from ANI )