Amit Shah’s statement on Veer Savarkar and the war of 1857 goes viral with misleading claims

A post on social media on Home Minister Amit Shah’s statement on freedom fighter and Hindutva pioneer Veer Savarkar is viral. It is being written in this post that Amit Shah said that the revolution of 1857 was not possible without Savarkar whereas Savarkar was born in 1883. However, after thorough investigation, it’s evident that this viral post misinterprets Amit Shah’s statement, twisting its context.

Manish posted a screenshot of India Today’s report on X and wrote, But, that Joker Savarkar was born in 1883. Did he time travelled??

But, that Joker Savarkar was born in 1883. Did he time travelled??🤔🤔
🤣😂 pic.twitter.com/pMbfa63Ek4

— Manish RJ (@mrjethwani_) December 27, 2023

Congress supporter Dr. Meeta Ruparel wrote, Now Savarkar made revolt of 1857 historic before he was born! (Savarkar 1883 to 1966).

Now Savarkar made revolt of 1857 historic before he was born! 🤪😂👇
(Savarkar 1883 to 1966) https://t.co/wGKRD61WCP

— Dr. Meeta Ruparel (@DrMeetaRuparel) December 27, 2023

Leftist Salil Tripathi wrote, Since Savarkar was born in 1883, can this man reveal what he drank before he said this? Or is that anti national in India?

Since Savarkar was born in 1883, can this man reveal what he drank before he said this? Or is that anti national in India? pic.twitter.com/RPIGDFjwhz

— saliltripathi (@saliltripathi) March 30, 2023

Congress supporter Ajay Kamath wrote, Savarkar was born in 1883. When he was thirty years old he did time travel, went back to 1857, did some magic and slipped back again. Librandus just won’t get it.

Savarkar was born in 1883. When he was thirty years old he did time travel, went back to 1857, did some magic and slipped back again.
Librandus just won’t get it pic.twitter.com/5veY4qcSN3

— Ajay Kamath (@ajay43) September 10, 2021

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Fact Check

In our investigation, we searched the viral report of India Today with the help of relevant keywords. According to this report, speaking at an event in Varanasi, Amit Shah said, “If Veer Savarkar was not there, the Revolt of 1857 would not have become history, we would have seen it from the perspective of the British.” India Today’s report also includes an X post from news agency ANI. According to this post, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in Varanasi that if Veer Savarkar had not been there, the rebellion of 1857 would not have become history, we would have seen it from the eyes of the British. It was Veer Savarkar who named the rebellion of 1857 as the first war of independence.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Varanasi: Had it not been for Veer Savarkar, the rebellion of 1857 would not have become history, we would have seen it from the point of view of Britishers.Veer Savarkar was the one who named the 1857 rebellion as the first independence struggle. pic.twitter.com/L8d7555U5e

— ANI (@ANI) October 17, 2019

After this we got a video of Amit Shah from 17 October 2019 on BJP’s official YouTube channel. In this video, Amit Shah said, “If Veer Savarkar had not been there, the revolution of 1857 would not have become history. We would have seen this also from the British point of view. Veer Savarkar had named the rebellion of 1857 as the first freedom struggle.”

During our investigation we also found Dainik Jagran’s report. It is told in this report that in 1857 the freedom fighters had started a war against the British but the British hid it by calling it a Sepoy Mutiny. Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, in his classic book on the Revolution of 1857, ‘Independence Summer of 1857’, named this revolution as India’s ‘First National War of Independence’. This book was first published in 1909. At that time it was established in the scholarly world that the Revolution of 1857 was a military rebellion or at the most an Indian rebellion. It was being presented in this form by most of the British historians and administrators.

Hence, all these points prove that Amit Shah is not giving credit to Savarkar for the revolution of 1857 but is giving him credit for naming this revolution as ‘India’s first freedom struggle’. Amit Shah is referring to Savarkar’s book.

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