01-16-2007, 02:41 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>BJP comes to the rescue of Savarkar's begging kin </b>
Pioneer.com
Navin Upadhyay | New Delhi
For months, Pune denizens passed by an old man who sat listlessly on a busy street near Sarashaug garden.
The dishevelled and bearded man looked like a beggar, sagging under the weight of layers of torn sweaters and bundle of dirty clothes. He talked to no one and asked for nothing. Those who took pity on him offered him food, which was often snatched by street dogs.
On last Saturday a TV channel linked the man with history and disclosed that he was the grandson of legendary freedom fighter Veer Savarkar.
The live telecast of the plight of Praful Madhav Chiplunkar, an IIT graduate, should have been enough to create a storm and prompt the Government to step forward to rehabilitate him.
But nothing of that sort happened. Only the BJP came forward to rescue the man, whose grandfather has been a symbol of valour and sacrifice.
Soon after the telecast, BJP national spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad spoke to Maharashtra State unit president Nitin Gadkari and the party wasted no time in taking care of the Savarkar's grandson.
"It is a disturbing matter and it only shows how the nation has forgotten the heroes who laid down their lives for freedom," Prasad said.
"The BJP has always stood by Savarkar and we opposed the move to remove his plaque from the Cellular jail and brand him as a terrorist in the history books," Prasad said.
<b>Gadkari told The Pioneer on phone from Nagpur that the BJP cadre from Pune would look after Chiplunkar for whole of his life. "He has been fully rehabilitated and it is our responsibility to look after him,"</b> he said.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has also repeatedly come out to support Parful.
<b>Praful is the son of Savarkar's daughter.</b> An IIT graduate in chemical engineering from Delhi, he worked for an Indo-German company in Thailand and later with an Indian corporate.
<b>Tragedy struck him when a fire accident consumed his wife and daughter in 2002 and he spent years recovering in hospitals</b>. Later, Praful worked as a watchman in a shop and after he lost that job, pavement became his shelter.
Praful seemed to be still struggling to recover from the trauma. When he was asked on TV about Savarkar, he lapsed into silence and then mumbled, he was my Guru deo." <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Pioneer.com
Navin Upadhyay | New Delhi
For months, Pune denizens passed by an old man who sat listlessly on a busy street near Sarashaug garden.
The dishevelled and bearded man looked like a beggar, sagging under the weight of layers of torn sweaters and bundle of dirty clothes. He talked to no one and asked for nothing. Those who took pity on him offered him food, which was often snatched by street dogs.
On last Saturday a TV channel linked the man with history and disclosed that he was the grandson of legendary freedom fighter Veer Savarkar.
The live telecast of the plight of Praful Madhav Chiplunkar, an IIT graduate, should have been enough to create a storm and prompt the Government to step forward to rehabilitate him.
But nothing of that sort happened. Only the BJP came forward to rescue the man, whose grandfather has been a symbol of valour and sacrifice.
Soon after the telecast, BJP national spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad spoke to Maharashtra State unit president Nitin Gadkari and the party wasted no time in taking care of the Savarkar's grandson.
"It is a disturbing matter and it only shows how the nation has forgotten the heroes who laid down their lives for freedom," Prasad said.
"The BJP has always stood by Savarkar and we opposed the move to remove his plaque from the Cellular jail and brand him as a terrorist in the history books," Prasad said.
<b>Gadkari told The Pioneer on phone from Nagpur that the BJP cadre from Pune would look after Chiplunkar for whole of his life. "He has been fully rehabilitated and it is our responsibility to look after him,"</b> he said.
The Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has also repeatedly come out to support Parful.
<b>Praful is the son of Savarkar's daughter.</b> An IIT graduate in chemical engineering from Delhi, he worked for an Indo-German company in Thailand and later with an Indian corporate.
<b>Tragedy struck him when a fire accident consumed his wife and daughter in 2002 and he spent years recovering in hospitals</b>. Later, Praful worked as a watchman in a shop and after he lost that job, pavement became his shelter.
Praful seemed to be still struggling to recover from the trauma. When he was asked on TV about Savarkar, he lapsed into silence and then mumbled, he was my Guru deo." <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->