Cong to protest re-enacting of Gandhi's assassination

The Congress will hold a nationwide protest on Monday against the re-enactment of Mahatma Gandhi's assassination by the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha in Aligarh district of BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh recently.

The grand-old party termed the actions of the Hindu outfit as “provocative and reprehensible,” alleging that the re-enacted Gandhi's assassination and garlanding of the statue of Nathuram Godse, who had killed the Father of Nation on January 30, 1948, with “candid and clandestine support” of the ruling BJP.

While the entire nation pays tribute to Gandhi on his death anniversary every year on January 30 observing the day as 'Martyrs Day,' the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha organised an event in Aligarh to mark the day as 'Shaurya Divas' in commemoration of Gandhi's assassin Godse.

Re-enacting the assassination, the Hindu outfit's national secretary Puja Shakun Pandey shot Gandhi’s effigy with an artificial gun, garlanded the statue of Godse and distributed sweets on the occasion.

“The group also burnt the effigy of Gandhi and shouted pro-Godse slogans like 'Mahatma Godse Zindabad.' To register our strong protest against this highly condemnable act, the Congress party has decided to hold a nationwide protest on Monday (February 4) from 10 am in all the state headquarters,” Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said.

The UP Police reportedly booked Pandey, her husband Ashok and others under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for rioting, promoting enmity and hurting feelings of a section of society after video footage of the incident went viral on social media.

“These provocative and reprehensible actions, happening in the BJP-ruled states take place with the candid and clandestine support given by the ruling party and the same reveals the deep hatred still carried by the right-wing groups against the father of the nation and his ideas of secularism, Ahimsa (non-violence) and brotherhood,” Venugopal said in a statement.

The protest against the actions of the right-wing outfit office bears and other members will be held in the places associated with the life of Gandhi or near statues of Mahatma “with an aim to highlight his messages,” he added.