The Congress has announced a countrywide protest on February 4 over the re-enactment of the Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination by some members of Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha (ABHM) who shot at his effigy at a January 30 event in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh.
The protest will take place at party headquarters in all states.
Congress general secretary KC Venugopal on Sunday said, “In a shocking incident on 30 January, when the nation commemorated the 71st anniversary of Gandhi’s assassination, members of the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha in Uttar Pradesh used a pistol to shoot at an effigy of Gandhiji, distributed sweets and garlanded the statue of Nathuram Godse, Gandhiji’s assassin who was a member of Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha. The group also burnt the effigy of Mahatma Gandhi and shouted pro Godse slogans like “Mahatma Godse Zindabad” etc.”
The Congress has labelled the right-wing group’s actions as “provocative and reprehensible” and said that such incidents “take place with the candid and clandestine support given by the ruling party”.
It further said that such actions “reveal the deep hatred still carried by the right-wing groups against the father of the nation and his ideas of secularism, ahimsa and brotherhood”.
“To register our strong protest against this highly condemnable act, the Congress Party has decided to hold a nationwide protest on Monday, 4th February from 10.00 am in all the state headquarters. The protest should preferably be held with placards etc in the places associated with the life of Mahatma Gandhi or near statues of Mahatma with an aim to highlight his messages,” said Venugopal in a statement.
On January 30, ABHM secretary Puja Shakun Pandey recreated Gandhi’s assassination by shooting an effigy and hailed the killer Nathuram Godse. Police have arrested two individuals in connection with the incident and are currently trying to locate Puja and her husband, ABHM spokesperson Ashok Pandey.
