The Narendra Modi government has decided to reinstall a plaque commemorating the stay of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar at the freedom fighters’ memorial at Andaman and Nicobar Island’s famous Cellular Jail, where the Hindu Mahasabha leader was imprisoned by the British.
The plaque, near the Swatantra Jyot (eternal flame) in the jail premises, was installed by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government during the first NDA regime and removed in 2004 by the then petroleum minister and Congress leader, Mani Shankar Aiyar – a move that had triggered a huge uproar in Parliament and outside.
After Modi came to power last year, there have been a series of demands made to reinstall the plaque by BJP and Shiv Sena leaders. Sena MP Rahul Shewale had raised the issue in Parliament and demanded the reinstatement of the plaque bearing Savarkar’s poetry.
Speaking to India Today TV, Shewale said the removal of the plaque had “insulted” the nation. “The controversy over Savarkar is unfortunate. The Congress did not recognise his contribution towards our freedom struggle, but now the NDA government is getting it done. Both Sena and BJP follow his ideology and we are happy about it,” he said.
Sources have told India Today TV the plaque is likely to be installed again on July 4, the day Savarkar was jailed by the British during the freedom movement. Shewale said 2015 is also the 50th year of his death in 1966.
Savarkar is credited with coining the term Hindutva, now associated with the BJP and its affiliates. Savarkar was also named in the conspiracy to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi. The airport in Port Blair is also named after him.