With Sena under fire over stance on Savarkar, MNS organises seminar on 'Swatantryaveer'

Even as confusion persists over Shiv Sena’s indecisive stance on Veer Savarkar, MNS has organised a seminar on the literature and thoughts of the freedom fighter. The poster of the event features both MNS chief Raj Thackeray and his son Amit who recently joined politics.

Scheduled to take place at 3 pm on February 27 in Mumbai, the seminar will involve the famous Marathi actor Sharad Ponkshe as the presenter. This development comes weeks after Thackeray garlanded the portrait of Savarkar at the MNS statewide convention. It is being seen as a tactic to gradually take over the ideological space dominated by the ruling Shiv Sena. 

The poster of the Savarkar seminar is here:

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Shiv Sena's dilemma on Savarkar

Addressing the Bharat Bachao rally in the national capital in December 2019, Rahul Gandhi refused to apologise for his ‘Rape in India’ comment, saying that he was not ‘Rahul Savarkar’. He was indirectly referring to Savarkar’s alleged apology to the British seeking an early release from the Andaman jail. This resulted in a furious backlash from BJP leaders including Devendra Fadnavis. 

Despite Shiv Sena's traditional support for Savarkar, it was perceived to have moved away from its Hindutva stance owing to the compulsions of its alliance with NCP and Congress. The ideological dilemma for the Sena came to the fore on this issue. Initially, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut defended Savarkar both on Twitter as well as in the Saamana newspaper.

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Taking an indirect dig at its ally Congress for painting freedom fighter Veer Savarkar in a poor light, Raut dared those accusing Savarkar of apologising to the British to spend even 72 hours in the Andaman prison. However, party supremo Uddhav Thackeray refused to comment on Rahul Gandhi’s remark that had sparked off the controversy in the first place. On February 13, Fadnavis once again questioned the Sena on its position pertaining to the insulting articles about Savarkar appearing in Maharashtra Congress mouthpiece 'Shidori'. 

Devendra Fadnavis remarked, "In the February 8 edition of the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee, dirty articles have been written about Swantantryaveer Savarkar. The name of the article is ‘Not Swatantryaveer, but Maafiveer’." He added, "If Congress continues to write against Veer Savarkar, then the country will never forgive the party. What is Shiv Sena's stance on this issue?"

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