Mysore/Mysuru: Noted columnist Praveen Kumar Mavinakadu said that former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had praised freedom fighter Veer Savarkar, calling him “the country’s proud son who cannot be forgotten.”

He was speaking at a seminar on the topic ‘Indira Gandhi and Savarkar,’ organised by Savarkar Pratishtana, Mysuru, as part of Indira Gandhi Jayanti celebrations at a private hotel here on Thursday.

Regretting that great freedom fighters and leaders like Savarkar are being “unnecessarily and unfairly targeted” by current Congress leaders as part of vote-bank politics, Praveen Kumar said that Vinayak Damodar Savarkar continues to remain in the hearts of people as a prominent figure who fought for the country’s independence.

Funds for Pratishtana

“Indira Gandhi, in a letter written in 1980 to Pandit Bakhle, the then Secretary of Swatantryaveer Savarkar Rashtriya Smarak (Savarkar Pratishtana), had highlighted Savarkar’s role in the freedom struggle against the British. Calling him the proud son of the country, she personally donated Rs. 11,000 to the Pratishtana,” he noted.

Savarkar Pratishtana Secretary Rakesh Bhat, in his address, said that the Supreme Court had earlier pulled up Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi for making derogatory remarks against Savarkar, cautioning him against repeating such statements.

“However, some Congress leaders continue to make distasteful comments against Savarkar, which is highly condemnable,” he said.

Speakers also criticised the recent remarks made by Minister Priyank Kharge, MLC B.K. Hariprasad and other Congress leaders were against Veer Savarkar, terming them “in poor taste.”

Documentary on Savarkar

A documentary on Veer Savarkar titled ‘The Life of the Great Revolutionary,’ produced by the Films Division of the Government of India in 1983 under the direction of then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was screened at the event.

The letter written by Indira Gandhi to Savarkar Pratishtana in 1980 and the commemorative stamp released by her in honour of Veer Savarkar — featuring an image of the Cellular Jail in the Andaman Islands, where he was imprisoned by the British —were also displayed.

Earlier, floral tributes were offered to the portraits of Indira Gandhi and Veer Savarkar.

Aditya Adhikari Hospital Managing Director Dr. N. Chandrashekar, Savarkar Pratishtana Associate Secretary Shivu Chikkakanya, Mysuru Unit’s S. Mahesh Kumar, Shivu Patel, D. Raghavendra, H.S. Hiriyanna, Mangala Gowramma, Savarkar Yuva Balaga’s Vikram Iyengar, Sandesh Pawar and others were present during the occasion.