An organisation named Veer Savarkar Manch had distributed free long notebooks to the students of the government high school An organisation named Veer Savarkar Manch had distributed free long notebooks to the students of the government high school

The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has suspended the principal of a government-run school at Malwasa in Ratlam district after it distributed free notebooks with Veer Savarkar on its cover.

Principal R N Kerawat was suspended Tuesday night, over two months after the notebooks carrying pictures of the Hindutva ideologue were distributed to the students of his school by an organisation, PTI reported.

“The divisional commissioner (Ujjain division) suspended R N Kerawat, principal of Malwasa’s government high school, on Tuesday on the basis of an inquiry report,” Ratlam district education officer K C Sharma said.

“An organisation named Veer Savarkar Manch had distributed free long notebooks to the students of the government high school on November 4 last year. These notebooks carried picture of Veer Savarkar on the cover,” he said.

“Based on a complaint, a notice was issued to Kerawat. On the basis of his reply to the notice, an inquiry report was submitted to the divisional commissioner, who then took action against him,” Sharma added.

The move triggered sharp reaction from former chief minister and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Taking to Twitter, Chouhan accused the Kamal Nath government of playing “petty politics”, while the ruling party maintaining that the action was a part of “discipline”.

“Kamal Nath ji, you have been completely blinded by your hatred towards Veer Savarkar. You are insulting the great personalities of your own country because of the Congress thoughts. The state is embarrassed by your act,” Chouhan said, seeking Kerawat’s reinstatement.

Recently, the Congress-NCP-Shiv Sena government in Maharashtra also took action against a senior Mumbai University (MU) faculty member for “objectionable remarks” against Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.

On December 14, Soman had posted a video on Facebook and Twitter, addressing Rahul. The video was made after Rahul, at a rally, had said: “I’m Rahul Gandhi, not Rahul Savarkar.”

In the video, Soman is heard saying: “You truly aren’t Savarkar. The truth is, you aren’t a true Gandhi either. You don’t have any of the values.” He added that he is protesting against “Gandhi’s Pappugiri”.

Earlier, Shiv Sena had distanced itself from ally Congress over its remarks on Savarkar. The NCP had also called for the withdrawal of a booklet, ‘Veer Savarkar, Kitne Veer’, published by the Congress Seva Dal that questioned Hindutva idealogue Vinayak Savarkar’s sexuality and credentials as a patriot.

(Inputs from PTI)

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