Congress leader and Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao sparked a controversy with his remarks on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar being a non-vegetarian and not against cow slaughter.
At an event in Bengaluru organised to mark Gandhi Jayanti, Dinesh Gundu Rao claimed that Savarkar was not only a meat-eater, who consumed beef, but also propagated the practice publicly.
The Congress minister said that Savarkar, despite being a Brahmin, did not adhere to traditional dietary restrictions and was a modernist. Dinesh Gundu Rao said, “Savarkar was a Brahmin, but he ate beef and was a non-vegetarian. He did not oppose cow slaughter; in fact, he was quite a modernist on that topic."
The minister also contrasted Savarkar’s views with those of Mahatma Gandhi, emphasizing that Savarkar’s ideology leaned toward fundamentalism, whereas, Gandhi’s beliefs were deeply democratic.
“Gandhi was a strict vegetarian with a deep belief in Hindu cultural conservatism. He was a democratic person in his approach,” Dinesh Gundu Rao said, highlighting a stark difference in ideologies between the two leaders.
According to Rao, Gandhi’s actions included tolerance and inclusiveness, characteristics that set him apart from Savarkar’s fundamentalist thinking.
Dinesh Gundu Rao also commented on Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who he claimed represented another extreme. Rao said that Jinnah was never a hard-core Islamist, with some claiming that he even ate pork.
Gundu Rao said, “Jinnah became an icon for Muslims. He was never a fundamentalist, but Savarkar was.”
Responding to the controversial remarks by the Congress minister, BJP leader R Ashok questioned why the Congress was always targeting Hindus.
Ashok said: “Congress' God is Tipu Sultan. Why are you Congress people always targeting Hindus? Why not Muslims? The Congress mindset is like this. Hindus have given a verdict in the elections. Every Hindu will teach them a lesson.”
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis also slammed the Congress, and said that Rahul Gandhi started defaming Savarkar and now others are just taking his narrative forward.
Fadnavis said, “These people do not know anything about Savarkar. They insult Savarkar ji again and again. Savarkar ji has expressed his views on cows very well. He has said that the cow helps the farmer from his birth till his death, hence we have given the status of a god to the cow.”
Rahul Gandhi was recently summoned by a court in Maharashtra’s Nashik district in a defamation case filed against him for his alleged objectionable remarks on Savarkar. According to the complainant, Gandhi had said that ‘Savarkar is BJP and RSS Jin’ and that ‘with a folding hand Savarkar prayed for release and later on promised to work for the British Government’.
The complainant claimed that these statements were aimed at defaming Savarkar.
