Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Sunday made a statement saying, "His government will reprint two books written by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar - 1957's Swatantra Samar and Gomantak - and circulate them in all libraries of the state." "Swatantraveer Savarkar was an unsung hero who fought the British rule, faced the cruellest punishment and yet after India's independence, a section of people has spread only lies, lies and hatred against him. At the same time, he also said, "We Indians have largely failed to accept the life and works of this glorious patriot."
Speaking about the 1957 Independence Summer Book, he said, "This book ignited a flame of patriotism in many youths and the British rule banned the book. Fortunately, only a copy of this book was kept with a person from Goa, and that helped to reprint it.'' At the same time, he said on Sunday, "The history that was imposed on India is actually a propaganda of the West. He said that the recording of events should be based on "facts" rather than being "motivated by opinion"
CM Sawant was speaking on the occasion of the release of Vikram Sampat's book based on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar on the second day of the Kumaon literature festival here. The Chief Minister said, "In my opinion, history should be an independent presentation of things that have happened in the past. One can have one's own interpretation based on experience and understanding. But history must be driven by fact, not opinion. At the same time, he stressed, "Unfortunately, in our country, the history that has been imposed on us is based on the propaganda of the West and what they think of us. They thought we were the land of the snake charmers, they thought we were a poor country. My question is, did they attack us because we were poor? The answer is definitely 'no'.''
He also said, "Savarkar was the first person to challenge this disinformation, who through his book 'The Independent Summer of 1857' instilled a feeling of patriotism among the people and due to this, the British were forced to ban this book." Savarkar faced brutal punishment at the hands of the British, but after independence, a section of the people spread a complete lie about him.
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