It is not surprising that calls for conferring the Bharat Ratna on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar should have been made on the eve of an election in Maharashtra. While there can be no doubt that Savarkar was an influential political figure in pre-Independence India, and one of the early proponents of Hindutva, it is equally true that he aroused controversy before and after his death. The Home Minister asserted recently that the “uprising of 1857 would not have become a part of our history but for Veer Savarkar.

It was he who wrote that the uprising of 1857 was the first Indian war of independence. Otherwise,we would still have been looking at this event through the prism of the British historians ~ a mere mutiny or revolt by sepoys”. While that may seem an oversimplified reading of history, it is interesting that it is after a dozen years in the saddle of governance (the Vajpayee and Modi years put together) the Bhartiya Janata Party should consider conferring the highest civilian honour on Savarkar.

During this period, BJP-led dispensations chose M S Subbulakshmi, Lata Mangeshkar, Amartya Sen, Gopinath Bardoloi, Bismillah Khan, Ravi Shankar, A B Vajpayee, Madan Mohan Malviya, Bhupen Hazarika and Nanaji Deshmukh among others. But not Savarkar, the man who is said to have re-christened the 1857 revolt! While in his early years in political life, he sought a violent overthrow of British rule and endorsed the actions of a follower who assassinated Sir William Hutt Curzon Wylie, he had said in his plea for clemency after being sent to the infamous Cellular Jail that he was a prodigal son who wanted to return to the “parental doors of the government”.

He added: “Moreover, my conversion to the constitutional line would bring back all those misled young men in India and abroad who were once looking up to me as their guide. I am ready to serve the government in any capacity they like…my conversion is conscientious…” Immediately after independence, Savarkar was implicated in the conspiracy to assassinate Mahatma Gandhi and arrested. He was however acquitted for lack of evidence. But controversies aside, it is unquestionable that Savarkar played an important role India through his writings and acts and was instrumental in shaping the thoughts of millions.

It is not surprising therefore that the party in power feels its ideological guru ought to be honoured with the Bharat Ratna, and chooses to voice its view on the eve of an election in his home state. Overall though, it must be said there is need for a greater degree of transparency in the award of civilian honours. The Prime Minister had announced early in his first term that views of the people would form an important part of the deliberations while deciding who would get such honours. This promise chimes oddly with the fact that a name which has been suggested many times more often than any other ~ that of legendary singer Mohammed Rafi ~ has not even been considered. These are the inconsistencies which put a cloud on civilian awards, not so much a BJP dispensation wanting to honour Savarkar 53 years after his death.