People's Democracy
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) No. 47
December 01,2002
(Weekly Organ of the Communist Party of
India (Marxist) |
Vol.
XXVI No. 47 December 01,2002 |
Time
For
Silent
Majority
To
Speak:
V
P
Singh
LeftWord’s
New
Book
on
Savarkar
Released
FORMER
Prime
Minister,
V
P
Singh,
has
called
upon
the
silent
majority
of
the
nation
to
speak
up
against
the
ongoing
attempts
of
the
sangh
parivar
to
communalise
the
country’s
political
ethos.
Saying
that
a
dangerous
phase
of
subjugation
of
minorities
has
been
launched
by
the
RSS,
he
stressed
the
importance
of
waging
the
battle
for
the
minds
and
not
just
meeting
the
challenge
electorally.
V
P
Singh
was
the
chief
guest
at
the
launch
of
a
new
book
brought
out
by
the
LeftWord
Books
–
“Savarkar
and
Hindutva:
The
Godse
Connection”
-
authored
by
well
known
lawyer,
constitutional
expert
and
political
commentator,
A
G
Noorani.
Speaking
after
releasing
the
book,
V
P
Singh
complimented
the
LeftWord
and
A
G
Noorani
for
bravely
taking
up
this
task
of
exposing
Veer
Savarkar’s
real
role
and
bringing
out
unknown
facets
of
his
life.
He
hoped
that
this
book
will
generate
a
debate
on
Savarkar’s
life
and
his
actual
contribution
to
the
freedom
struggle.
The
true
proponents
of
the
two-nation
theory,
he
reminded,
are
represented
in
India
by
the
Hindutva
forces
even
today.
The
author,
A
G
Noorani,
in
his
address
said
that
while
Hinduism
is
ancient
and
noble,
Hindutva
is
modern
and
innoble.
He
contrasted
Bhagat
Singh’s
strong
letter
to
his
father
protesting
against
any
clemency
plea
with
Savarkar’s
repeated,
apologetic
clemency
petitions
to
the
British.
Frontline
editor,
N
Ram,
who
chaired
the
meeting,
said
that
the
book
with
an
eye
for
detail
was
a
forensic
scrutiny
of
what
Savarkar
stood
for
and
practiced.
He
complimented
the
author
for
doing
a
hard
character
analysis
of
Savarkar.
The
book,
he
was
sure,
was
bound
to
provoke
and
bound
to
anger
the
Hindutva
lobby.
The
book,
as
its
jacket
states,
investigates
the
figure
of
Savarkar,
the
author
of
the
term
‘Hindutva’.
What
it
finds
does
not
add
up
to
a
flattering
portrait.
Savarkar
rejected
the
inclusive,
secular
concept
of
‘territorial
nationalism’
and
advocated
the
exclusivist,
communal
concept
of
‘cultural
nationalism’.
He
repeatedly
apologised
and
gave
written
undertakings
to
the
government.
He
was
directly
connected
to
more
than
one
murder.
And
most
damagingly,
as
the
book
charges,
it
was
Savarkar
who
led
the
conspiracy
to
assassinate
Mahatma
Gandhi
on
the
fateful
winter
evening
of
1948.
The
book
indeed
is
very
forthright
and
hard
hitting.
Sudhanva
Deshpande,
managing
editor
of
LeftWord,
welcomed
the
gathering.
CPI(M)
Polit
Bureau
members,
Prakash
Karat
and
Sitaram
Yechury
were
present
on
the
dias.
The
first
copy
of
the
book
was
presented
by
V
P
Singh
to
eminent
lawyer,
Anil
Diwan.
Those
who
attended
the
book
release
function
included
many
artists,
writers,
journalists,
MP’s
and
activists.
(INN)
