10 years on, NDA govt to restore the Vir Savarkar plaque in Andaman Jail Ten years after Congress leader and former petroleum minister mani shankar aiyar removed a plaque commemorating the stay of Hindutva ideologue Sri Vinayak Damodar Savarkar from the Cellular Jail in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the Narendra Modi government is set to restore it. The move comes after Petroleum Minister Dharmedra Pradhan wrote to Home Minister Rajnath Singh, asking him to restore the plaque near the Swatantrya Jyot (eternal flame), which is located in the precincts of the jail. The Swatantrya Jyot was built by the Indian Oil Corporation, which is under the Petroleum Ministry. The issue of installing the plaque — which bears Savarkar’s name along with a quote — is likely to be raised during MoS (Home) Kiren Rijiju’s three-day visit to the Union Territory. “We have received a request from the petroleum minister and there is no issue in restoring the plaque,” a senior government official said. The plaque was first installed during the first NDA government’s tenure by the then Petroleum Minister Sri Ram Naik. A prominent early leader of the Hindu Mahasabha, Savarkar is often credited with coining the term and philosophy of Hindutva. Port Blair’s airport is named after him. Savarkar was named in the conspiracy to assassinate MK Gandhi.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 17:14:14 +0000
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