The Hindu : Misfit in Central Hall

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 27, 2003

Opinion

Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Misfit in Central Hall

Sir, — Hanging the portrait of a man who pledged fealty to the British, propounded the two-nation theory and was implicated in Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, alongside national heroes in the Central Hall of Parliament will not do any good to this country. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the then Deputy Prime Minister, in a letter to Jawaharlal Nehru on his scrutiny of the investigation into the assassination of Gandhi, said: "It was a fanatical wing of the Hindu Mahasabha directly under Savarkar that hatched the conspiracy and saw it through". Savarkar was not convicted in the case, according to some lawyers, not because of lack of evidence but because of a technicality. He, along with M.A. Jinnah, had a dubious role in promoting the two-nation theory.

B. Sarath Babu,
Hyderabad

Sir, — I feel Mahatma Gandhi's status cannot be compared to Savarkar's. So, it would be better if Gandhi's portrait is removed from Parliament, the President's residence and all Government establishments when the portrait of a great patriot and visionary such as Savarkar is hung. Gandhi's identity would be better maintained if he is forgotten altogether. Then, perhaps, the "historians" would have a field day manipulating Savarkar as "the father of the nation".

K.R. Sanjeev Kanth,
Chennai

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