• Spotlighting a man who authored What is Hindutva and Essentials of Hindutva

• V.D. Savarkar, whose ideological DNA is tied to Nathuram Godse, suddenly side-by-side with Gandhi

• Today, PM Narendra Modi called the RSS the “world’s largest NGO” in his Independence Day speech

The Union ministry of petroleum and natural gas marked Independence Day with what it apparently thought was a unifying tribute to the nation’s freedom fighters — but by placing Vinayak Damodar Savarkar on the same pedestal as Mahatma Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, and Bhagat Singh.

Indeed, Savarkar’s image tops all the others, and is actually placed slightly higher than the national flag, an absolute break in protocol, prompting netizens to either remove his image altogether, or replace it with that of Jawaharlal Nehru.

The ministry’s post on X featured a montage of the four men’s faces with the caption: ‘Freedom was their gift, shaping the future is our mission’. It added, ‘As we celebrate our nation’s independence, let’s remember — liberty thrives when we nurture it every day, through unity, empathy, and action. Happy Independence Day.’

Congress general-secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal accused the Modi government of using every Independence Day to “distort” history and elevate “traitors” to hero status. “This Orwellian image, elevating a British mercy petitioner like Savarkar over Gandhi ji — the undisputed Mahatma who got us freedom, and completely eliminating Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel ji, shows their contempt for our freedom fighters,” Venugopal wrote on X.