Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha MP and chief Sena spokesperson Sanjay Raut said on Monday that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat should tell the BJP government to give the Bharat Ratna award to Hindutva icon Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, instead of raising the issue in a speech.
“Why don’t they (the RSS) give the Bharat Ratna to Savarkar? It is their (the BJP) government in power. Swayamsevaks hold government positions in the government. Lakhs of RSS workers have given their lives to bring this government to power. So, why don’t they give Bharat Ratna to Savarkar? Instead of raising this issue in a lecture, Mohan Bhagwat should directly ask this to PM Modi and Amit Shah,” Sanjay Raut said.
The issue came into prominence after Bhagwat spoke about it in Mumbai on Sunday on the occasion of ‘100 Years Of Sangh Journey – New Horizons’. He said awarding Savarkar with the Bharat Ratna would enhance the prestige of the award.
Raut also criticised the BJP-RSS for the framework of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) with the United States, holding the Sangh responsible for the absence of “achhe din” (good days) for the nation. “The Sangh is responsible for the lack of ‘achhe din’ in the nation. Under the Sangh, the BJP enjoys ‘achhe din’, but the nation’s ‘achhe din’ went away. India became a slave of the US, and the Sarsanghchalak (RSS chief) will have to take the responsibility for it. The Sarsanghchalak said that the deals should be on our terms, but we surrendered to the terms set by President Trump. The Prime Minister was once a Sangh pracharak, but the nation has become a slave to the US. So, the Sangh should take responsibility for it,” he contended.
India and the US issued a joint statement on the BTA framework, which states that the US will apply a reciprocal tariff rate of 18 per cent on Indian goods encompassing textiles and apparel, leather and footwear, plastic and rubber, organic chemicals, home decor, artisanal products, and certain machinery.
The Opposition has criticised the framework, pointing out that India will eliminate or reduce tariffs on all US industrial goods and a wide range of US food and agricultural products, including dried distillers’ grains (DDGs), red sorghum for animal feed, tree nuts, fresh and processed fruit, soybean oil, wine and spirits, among additional products.
Raut also strongly objected to the presence of singer Adnan Sami at the RSS centenary event in Mumbai. “This event has revealed to the world how hypocritical the patriotism of the BJP and the RSS is. Adnan Sami, whose father, Arshad Khan, bombed the Pathankot IAF base when he was in the Pakistan Air Force during the 1965 Indo-Pak war, was sitting next to the RSS chief having breakfast. Didn’t the RSS’s ideologists and organisers know this history? What kind of inspiration is the RSS trying to give by honouring the heir of the person who attacked India,” he asked.
“An actress was standing there saying ‘I love Bhagwat’, but a lookout notice had been issued against her in a financial irregularities case. Not only that, her husband is involved in a serious case related to making pornographic films. What kind of character is the Sangh projecting by inviting people with such dubious backgrounds? People who default on bank loans and are against the law are trying to cover up their sins by appearing on the Sangh’s platform,” Sanjay Raut said.
Raut also expressed surprise at eminent citizens like Javed Akhtar and Shah Rukh Khan not being invited to the event. “Javed Akhtar’s uncle had served a prison sentence in Andaman jail along with Savarkar, but he was not invited. Shah Rukh Khan’s grandfather was a general in Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army (INA), but he too was not invited. These true patriots are not important to the Sangh. We respect the Sangh, but the way those with criminal and controversial backgrounds are being given importance at present shows the moral decline of the Sangh,” Sanjay Raut said.