On January 4, Thane City Court in Maharashtra ordered Congressman Digvijaya Singh to issue a formal apology for disparaging former RSS president MS Golwalkar, also known as Golwalkar Guruji, in a post on social networking site X. The apology letter should be signed by Digvijay Singh, as Magistrate P. Suryawanshi stated unequivocally. Vivek Champanerkar, an RSS member, filed a defamation lawsuit against Digvijay Singh on July 7, 2023, after the latter published a divisive post against the previous RSS chief.
In reaction to a defamatory social media post published by the Congress politician, Vivek Champanerkar filed a civil defamation lawsuit against Digvijaya Singh in the Thane Magistrate Court, requesting compensation of one rupee. Champanerkar pleaded, “Digvijaya Singh is liable to be prosecuted and punished for the offence punishable under Sections 499 and 500 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as to be tried for tortuous act of defamation,” arguing that Singh’s post had seriously harmed him personally and caused great disrepute to the plaintiff’s organisation, the RSS.
On October 6, 2023, the court sent Digvijaya Singh a summons, but he failed to show up. In the ensuing hearing on Thursday, January 4, Digvijaya Singh’s lawyer argued that the controversial social media post had been taken down. Thus, he contended, there was no reason to keep pursuing the defamation complaint against the member of Congress.
Aditya Mishra and Surabhi Pandey, who were representing Vivek Champanerkar, objected to the lawsuit’s dismissal unless Digvijaya Singh also sent a formal apology. The case’s hearing was rescheduled until January 29th by Magistrate P Suryawanshi after the parties’ arguments on Thursday. But he did order Singh to deliver an apologetic letter to the court that he personally signed.
“What was Guru Golwalkar ji’s view on Dalits, OBCs, and Muslims and national rights over water, forest, and land?” was the tweet that Digvijaya Singh posted on July 7, 2023. It also included a photo with some contentious writing on it that was circulated. The passage appears to be from Golwalkar’s book “We and Our Nationhood Identified,” according to the photograph.
Golwalkar wrote in his book, “Whenever power comes to hand, first hand over the government’s wealth, state land, and forest to your two-three trusted rich people,” according to the wording inscribed on the photo. If 95% of people are impoverished, power will not overflow for seven generations.
The photograph also purports to show Golwalkar saying in 1940, “I am ready to serve the British all my life, but I don’t want the freedom that gives Dalits, OBCs, and Muslims equal rights.” In this context, attorney Rajesh Joshi has also filed a formal complaint (FIR) in Indore against the leader of the Madhya Pradesh Congress.
