Thursday, Feb 27, 2003
Thursday, Feb 27, 2003 |
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By Our Special Correspondent
The President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, the Vice-President, Bhairon Singh Shekhawat, the Prime Minister, A.B. Vajpayee, the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani, the Lok Sabha Speaker, Manohar Joshi, and the Health Minister, Sushma Swaraj, after the unveiling of a portrait of Veer Savarkar in the Central Hall of Parliament on Wednesday. — PTI
The Opposition — with the exception of the former Prime Minister, Chandra Shekhar, and a Janata Dal (S) member — boycotted the function. A notable absentee was the Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha, P. M. Sayeed, who responded to the Congress' call for boycott while the Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson, Najma Heptulla, attended the function. Dr. Kalam — who had been requested by the Opposition to reconsider his decision to attend the function given Savarkar's "dubious role in Indian history" — was ushered into the Central Hall to a song penned by Savarkar. The National Anthem was not played. Lok Sabha officials explained that it was mandatory only when the President arrived in a ceremonial procession. As the President unveiled the portrait, BJP and Shiv Sena MPs and their supporters shouted "Swatantryaveer Savarkar Amar Rahe" and kept up the sloganeering right through the brief function. The artist, Chandrakala Kumar Kadam, was introduced to Dr. Kalam, who was then shown the place earmarked for the portrait: right across the alcove which bears the picture of Mahatma Gandhi. The President also released a booklet, `Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar'. Though the Opposition did not disrupt the function or stage a protest in front of the Gandhi statue in the precincts of Parliament, as was being suggested by some, an echo of the controversy over the unveiling of the portrait was heard in the Lok Sabha soon after with the BJP member, Yogi Adityanath, accusing the Opposition of insulting the memory of a freedom-fighter. This triggered a heated exchange and legislative business was stalled for a quarter-of-an-hour with both sides trading charges and indulging in sloganeering. The BJP today released a letter written by the former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, on Savarkar's birth centenary in 1980 wherein she noted that "Veer Savarkar's daring defiance of the British Government has its own important place in the annals of our freedom movement". Also, according to the BJP spokesman, V. K. Malhotra — who was particularly grateful to the President for not succumbing to the Opposition demand — Indira Gandhi had released a commemorative stamp of Savarkar and donated Rs. 11,000 to a trust in his name from her personal account. Congress leader said that Indira Gandhi had written the letter and made the contribution before official documents pertaining to Savarkar's role in the freedom struggle were declassified and made public.
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