New Delhi: RSS supremo Mohan Bhagwat and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday jointly unveiled a grand statue of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, and at an event, the Sangh chief called him “the brightest guiding star between 1857 and 1947.”
The event, held at the B.R. Ambedkar Institute of Technology Auditorium in Pahargaon as part of the programme celebrating 115 years of Savarkar’s inspirational poem Sagara Pran Talamalala, drew senior dignitaries and a large audience.
Bhagwat, speaking from the main stage where senior leaders, including Home Minister Amit Shah, Admiral (Retd) Devendra Kumar Joshi, the Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Maharashtra Minister Ashish Shelar were present, recalled Savarkar’s unparalleled contributions spanning literature, poetry, law, theatre and social reform.
Referring to Savarkar’s years of imprisonment alongside his brothers, he said Savarkar’s letters reflected a deep devotion to India, often expressing that even if there had been seven brothers, all would have willingly gone to jail for the country.
He said Savarkar considered every skill he acquired—whether writing, singing or legal expertise – as an offering to the nation.
“He believed education meant nothing if it did not serve the country,” Bhagwat noted.
Emphasising a sense of national unity, he said there should be no space in India for ideas that divide the country. Savarkar never identified himself with any caste or region, he added, but only as a servant of the nation.
Bhagwat said that while earlier generations of Indians had to die for the country’s freedom, the present generation must live for the nation’s progress. He stressed the importance of self-reliance and swadeshi, urging parents to teach children to work hard and succeed, but always with the intention of contributing to India’s development.
He described Savarkar’s vision of the nation as one rooted in cultural strength and unity, saying Savarkar saw the nation itself as divine.
Despite immense hardships, he never harboured bitterness, Bhagwat said, calling him “the brightest guiding star between 1857 and 1947”.
(IANS)
