'Grave injury': Release of 'Bharat Mata' coin, stamp on RSS insult to Constitution, says CPI (M)

New Delhi: The Communist Party of India (Marxist) on Wednesday termed the release of a postage stamp and a coin to commemorate the centenary of the RSS a "grave injury and insult" to the Constitution, which the Sangh "never accepted".

In a statement, the Politburo of the CPI(M) said it is highly objectionable that an official coin should replicate the 'Bharat Mata' image of a Hindu goddess promoted by the RSS, adding that the postage stamp showing uniformed RSS volunteers at the 1963 Republic Day parade too falsifies history. 

"The release of a postage stamp and a 100 rupee coin by the Prime Minister to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of the RSS is a grave injury and insult to the Constitution of India which the RSS has never accepted," the party said.

"It is highly objectionable that an official coin should replicate the 'Bharat Mata' image of a Hindu goddess promoted by the RSS as a symbol of its sectarian concept of a Hindutva Rashtra," it said.

"The postage stamp showing uniformed RSS volunteers at the 1963 Republic Day parade too falsifies history. This is based on the lie that Nehru invited the RSS to participate in the 1963 Republic Day parade as recognition of its patriotism during the India-China war when it has been shown through evidence that the 1963 republic day parade was essentially a huge gathering of more than one lakh citizens. The presence of uniformed RSS volunteers, if at all, was unreported and incidental," the Left party said.

It said the entire exercise is to "whitewash the shameful role of the RSS" which was not just distant from the freedom struggle but actually strengthened the British strategy of divide and rule, thus seeking to weaken the unity of the people of India which was a crucial component of the struggle against colonial rule. 

"The history of independent India has seen the worst communal violence in which the role of the RSS has been detailed in numerous reports of official commissions of inquiry. Today it is the RSS and its Parivar who continue to target minority communities and also marginalized sections of society through the promotion of manuvadi ideologies," it said.

"This is the reality of the history of the RSS that the Prime Minister seeks to conceal, by misusing his position. In doing so, he has lowered the dignity of the constitutional position he holds," it added.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi released the special postage stamp and the commemorative coin, which features the first-ever depiction of Bharat Mata on an Indian currency, to mark the centenary celebrations of the RSS.

The coin also has the RSS motto "Rashtray Swaha, Idam Rashtraya, Idam Na Mama”, which translates to "Everything is dedicated to the nation, Everything is the nation's, Nothing is mine".

The postal stamp features RSS swayamsevaks' participation in the 1963 Republic Day Parade, underlining the organisation's historic contributions.

•