NEW DELHI: Noted historian S Irfan Habib on Wednesday said the juxtaposition of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and RSS icon Veer Savarkar was “insulting” as there was a difference in their approach towards the idea of nationalism.
“Bhagat Singh was a thinker who left behind a revolutionary ideology. RSS says that he praised Savarkar. Yes. He did... But he finished it within four-five lines. That’s that. Politics is far away from Bhagat Singh’s ideology. His legacy of nationalism should be taken forward with that spirit. Ideologically, he had huge similarity with Bose but Savarkar...It is an insult to juxtapose him with Savarkar,” Habib said at a public meeting organised outside Arts Faculty in Delhi University’s North campus.
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It was in DU’s North campus where outgoing DUSU president and ABVP leader Shakti Singh installed busts of Singh and Savarkar alongside freedom fighter Subhash Chandra Bose.
Adding fuel to the fire, NSUI Delhi state president Akshay Lakra had blackened Savarkar’s bust and garlanded it with footwear. Later, the statue was removed after students objected to its presence in the North campus.
Nationalism, Habib said, means “looking for enemies inside as well as outside the country”. “He (Bhagat Singh) was ahead of nationalism. His nationalism was different. Read his works, and you will understand how his ideology was different from Savarkar’s.”
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Bhagat Singh’s nephew Prof Jagmohan Singh claimed the RSS was born out of division. “Nationalism is a way of getting power. Patriotism is the ideology that benefits the masses,” he said.
“The values with which our freedom fighters fought we have to take those values forward. We need to question if a revolution brought revolutionary passion. Bhagat Singh had that passion.”
Retired DU professor Shamsul Islam asserted that the difference between Savarkar and Bhagat Singh should be explained by making the former’s works available in university campuses.
“Savarkar’s works should be made compulsory (to read) in the entire country. … He (Savarkar) said British Raj is Hindu Raj and that we don’t need to do away with it. He himself said that he wrote five ‘mafinamas’ (apology letters) to the British government,” he said.