Shiv Sena has sent a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, requesting to confer Bharat Ratna to freedom fighter Veer Savarkar. The ruling BJP’s ally, in a letter to the PM, called Savarkar a “staunch supporter for a Hindu India” and requested Modi to undo the “the “injustice” done to his legacy by conferring a Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, to him.
“The nation wants that the Bharat Ratna ceremony be held at the historic Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar Islands,” said the letter to Modi sent by Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut. Savarkar was jailed by the British at the Cellular Jail, a sentence then known as Kaala Pani.
The letter also stated that the British Courts had sentenced him to life imprisonment. He was tortured and ill treated there, but he remained resolute and patriot.
“Previous governments deliberately ignored Veer Savarkar’s great contribution (to freedom struggle). He was a supporter of the Hindu nation, and that is why previous government tried taking revenge…. I have full faith that your (Prime Minister Modi’s) government will confer Bharat Ratna to Veer Savarkar, which people of our country want,” the letter added.
