Family members of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Khudiram Bose have dismissed as “mockery of history” and “cheap publicity stunt” any suggestion that Hindutva idealogue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar had a role in inspiring the two freedom fighters. Their statements came in reaction to a tweet by Randeep Hooda who plays Savarkar in the latter’s biopic, Swatantra Veer Savarkar.
Hooda tweeted, “The most wanted Indian by the British. The inspiration behind revolutionaries like Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh and Khudiram Bose.”
Netaji’s daughter, Anita Bose Pfaff, said, the only common thing between her father and Savarkar was, perhaps, their religion. She added, “Like Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji was opposed to the divisiveness based on religious differences. Let Savarkar’s followers join Netaji in his vision for India and not hijack him for views that certainly were not his.”
Subrata Roy, grandnephew of Khudiram Bose, said, he had never seen any reference in books that the freedom fighter, who went to the gallows at just 18 years of age, found inspiration in Savarkar.
Netaji’s grandnephew, Chandra Bose, said that Savarkar’s ideology was totally different from that of Netaji and Shaheed Bhagat Singh, who had fought for a secular united India. He added that Savarkar wanted a Hindu Rashtra, much like Jinnah’s demand for a Muslim state. “There is ample evidence, both in Netaji’s writings and speeches, that he opposed Savarkar. In his unfinished autobiography, Bose states that in India’s freedom movement, one can expect nothing from the Hindu Mahasabha or the Muslim League. And there are multiple speeches in which he has said that noting can be expected of Savarkar and Mohammad Ali Jinnah,” he said.