Mysore/Mysuru: Former Chief Minister Sidddharamaiah has courted controversy by saying that Veer Savarkar was not a freedom fighter.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the District Congress Committee on ‘Unconstitutional and Discriminatory CAA, NRC, NPR’ at Congress Bhavan near the City Railway Station here yesterday, Siddharamaiah said that the British had jailed Veer Savarkar for protesting against the hanging of his friend and not because Savarkar had participated in the freedom movement. 

Maintaining that Savarkar was released from jail after he gave a written undertaking that he would not fight the British anymore, the former CM said that after being released from jail, Damodar Savarkar was portrayed by the RSS as Veer Savarkar. 

Stressing on the need for the people to realise what is true and what is not, especially at a time when vested interests were spreading lies, Siddharamaiah quoted Ambedkar to say that those who are ignorant of history cannot create history.

Flaying the BJP for introducing CAA, Siddharamaiah said that the Act cannot be implemented as there are over 70 petitions pending before the Supreme Court questioning the validity of the Act and the decision will be taken by the Supreme Court on the validity of CAA. 

Former SC Judge Justice  V. Gopala Gowda who spoke after inaugurating the seminar, said that nobody has the right to change the basic principles of the Constitution. Asserting that no Government can interfere with the Constitution just because it has a brute majority in the Parliament, Justice Gowda maintained that the Citizenship laws — CAA, NRC, NPR were unconstitutional and against the basic principles of the constitution. 

Arguing that the President’s assent to the CAA too was unconstitutional, he took objection for leaving out minorities from CAA.

Former Advocate General Ravivarma Kumar who was the main speaker, likened the status of NRC to an orphaned child. Asserting that the Citizenship laws enacted by the Centre do not have constitutional backing, he claimed that there were many flaws in the Acts. 

Maintaining the NPR was only introduced in 2003 but was never implemented, he claimed and said that the CAA will affect all communities. 

He further said that protests were going on against the Law from Kashmir to Kanyakumari and the Government should listen to the people of the country. Accusing the BJP Government at the Centre of trying to throttle any opposition, he expressed concern that all democratic and constitutional bodies were being compromised.

Ex-Minister Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa also spoke on the occasion. City Congress President  R. Murthy, Rural Congress President Dr. B.J. Vijaykumar, former MPs R. Dhruvanarayan and Kagalawadi Shivanna, MLAs H.P. Manjunath, Puttarangashetty and Narendra, MLC R.Dharmasena, former MLAs Vasu, M.K. Somashekar, Kalale Keshavamurthy, M.R. Krishnamurthy, K. Venkatesh, S. Jayanna, Cheluvarayaswamy and Narendraswamy, KPCC Women’s Wing President Dr. Pushpa Amarnath, General Secretary Nagalakshmi and other leaders were present.