Was Savarkar linked to Gandhis assassination?
Nathuram Godse and Narayan Apte, the two main accused, were known to Savarkar and frequently visited him. After Gandhi’s assassination, mobs stoned Savarkar’s home in Bombay, where he had shifted to from Ratnagiri. Savarkar was arrested, but he alone was set free for lack of evidence. Savarkar’s supporters deny any link to the Mahatma’s assassination, insisting that Godse and Apte acted on their own. What is his legacy? For his supporters, Savarkar believed in a strong Hindu society and in the Hindutva ideology of one nation, one culture, one people, which meant no special provisions for any minority. For his opponents, this ideology divides India today by trying to deny the minorities a rightful place in Indian society. As the bitter political battle over Aiyar’s decision reveals, the controversy over Veer Savarkar’s legacy is far from concluded.
