Veer Savarkar and ultra-veer Aiyyar

For many years now, an atrocity of terrifying magnitude had been quietly perptrated within the confines of a mostly-forgotten Andaman island. This island was once home to the infamous Cellular Jail when the British ruled India. And it was on this island that former Petroleum Minister Ram Naik had a monument installed which extolled the lifes of a few freedom fighters - Veer Savarkar being one among them. The others were Bhagat Singh, Madanlal Dhingra and Bahadur Shah Zafar. So what's so atrocious about such a setup? Well, it seems your eyes are also blinded by NDA propaganda like mine and everyone else's in the nation. Only a messiah like Mani Shanker Aiyyar could see through the haze and notice that the plaque did not mention Gandhiji and hence was an insult to the great man! Surely the situation demanded rectification. In Aiyar's own words,

"Why did you remove the plaque dedicated to his memory?
The Swatantra Jyot is mounted on a plinth that has four sides. On all four sides are plaques dedicated to the freedom struggle. Two of the plaques commemorate Madanlal Dhingra and Bhagat Singh, both renowned shahids. A third plaque contains several stirring patriotic sayings. Bizarrely, there was no mention at all of Gandhiji.

I thought it essential that we had a plaque recording Gandhiji's contribution to the freedom struggle. But there was no fifth side to put a plaque.

The only way we could have accommodated this plaque was by removing one of the existing plaques. The fourth plaque remembered Bahadur Shah Zafar and Savarkar and that was the one I removed.

Do you regret that?
Certainly not. As a patriotic Indian I was appalled to find a representation of our freedom struggle that completely ignored Gandhiji. As a responsible citizen, it was my duty to undo the insult to the father of the nation.

I'm proud to have done that."

God I am so relieved! I never suspected even once that the NDA government was guilty of such henious crimes as casting insults upon the Father of the Nation. And I must remain forever indebted to that ultra-veer Mani Shankar Aiyyar, who bravely sacrificed his own political well-being, to set the record straight. May more amongst us be blessed with his determination and grit.

So what's up next? Well, one can imagine that every monument that stands as a symbol of free India and that does not extoll Gandhiji would be "corrected". I remember reading somewhere that the India Gate extolls the 70,000 Indians who fought in the First World War. It seems difficult to give Gandhiji a place among them, doesn't it? Try explaining that to Aiyyar though.

When asked whether the public campaign against him in Maharashtra has a potential of diminishing Congress' chances in the upcoming Assembly elections, Aiyyar appeared confident that the storm would weather away. He even said that it was the NDA that would lose votes because of the joote-maro campaign because the effigy being used looked more like Ram Naik than him! And no, this wasn't a joke. HA HA! He even claimed that the campaign is an insult to Madrasis because the effigy has been dressed in a traditional Tamil costume. More HA HAs!

While Aiyyar's comments dragging Gandhiji into the issue have surely added a new angle to the controversy, I suspect it worsens the Congress' situation even further. Earlier the Congress had conveniently distanced itself from Aiyyar's remarks. However, now that Gandhiji's been brought into the equation, it seems the Congress will find it difficult to stay quiet and uninvolved. Does the Congress agree that the earlier plaques constituted an insult to Gandhiji? If yes, then why did they distance themselves from Aiyyar's actions and remarks? If not, then why has the Congress high command not taken any action against Aiyyar for so obviously and needlessly insulting a freedom fighter? These are questions the Congress will have no easy answers for. With this drama sure to continue at least till Maharashtra elections, it promises to be a really exciting time indeed. Stay tuned!