Savarkar used to eat meat, was not against cow slaughter: Minister

Karnataka Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao has claimed that Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar used to eat meat and was not against cow slaughter.

“Savarkar, a 'Chitpavan Brahmin', used to eat meat. He was a non-veg eater and he was not against cow slaughter.

He was modern in a way,” he said at an event here on Wednesday.

“Some say that he used to eat beef as well. As a Brahmin, he used to eat meat and was openly propagating eating meat. So he had that thinking,” the Minister claimed.

Rao added that Mahatma Gandhi was a vegetarian and had a firm faith in Hinduism “but his actions were different. He was a democratic person.”

“(Founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali) Jinnah was another extreme. He was a hardcore Islamist believer.