Conferring Bharat Ratna to Savarkar would be an insult to all freedom fighters: Gandhi's kin

Great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi on Saturday said that it would be a great insult to all martyrs and freedom fighter if Hindu Mahasabha ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar is conferred with Bharat Ratna.

Tushar Gandhi told ANI, he said, "If Savarkar is given Bharat Ratna, it would be a great insult to all martyrs and freedom fighters, who sacrificed their lives and went through all kinds of torture for this country because Savarkar was the one who sought apology from Britishers."

Tushar also claimed that Savarkar was acquitted in Mahatma Gandhi assassination case because the prosecution could not produce proof of his guilt.

"BJP and all others who claim that Savarkar was acquitted by the court in Bapu's assassination case, must know that he was not acquitted because of his innocence but was acquitted because the prosecution could not produce proof of his guilt. Absence of a proof of his involvement in Bapu's murder doesn't make him innocent," he said.

His remark came after BJP-Shiv Sena got the absolute majority in the Maharashtra assembly polls with the former emerging as the single largest party in the state with 105 seats. Shiv Sena, on the other hand, bagged 56 seats in the elections.

BJP had announced in its election manifesto that if it returns to power then the state government would send a recommendation to confer Bharat Ratna to Savarkar.