‘The Week’ Apologies For 2016 Article Mocking Veer Savarkar, Says It Holds Him In High Esteem

Weekly news magazine ‘The Week’ has apologised for a five-year-old ‘derogatory’ article on Vinayak Damodar Savarkar.

On 14 May, the publication put out a note in its print magazine on 14 May, which said:

“An article concerning Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, which was published in The Week dated January 24, 2016, under the title ‘Lamb, Lionised’ and mentioned in the contents page as ‘Hero to Zero’, is misunderstood and giving rise to misinterpretation of the high stature of Veer Savarkar. We hold Veer Savarkar in high esteem. if this article has caused any personal hurt to any individual, we the management express our regret and apologise for such publication.”

The article was written by journalist Niranjan Takle, who is no longer associated with the weekly. Takle quoted one historian Shamsul Islam to make comments on Savarkar.

After the publication of the article, Savarkar’s grand-nephew Ranjit Savarkar filed a defamation case against The Week, saying they had “deliberately ignored facts” to defame Savarkar.

A police case was filed under Sections 34, 500, 501, 502 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

In an interview to the newspaper Sunday Guardian at that time, Ranjit said, “I want them to be punished as per the due process of law, so that nobody dares to write false things about Savarkar.”

He further said, “When Shamsher Islam wrote about Savarkar, he opined, gave his views. But this prominent magazine went a step ahead. The reporter produced false data and drew conclusion against Savarkar. Also, he should have sought our views before carrying the article. But he didn’t do so.”

The article is still present on the website of Theweek.in, and can be read here.

The Week is published by Kerala-based Malayala Manorama.