Those who glorify Godse will not be allowed to define the idea of India: Cong
On the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, the Congress on Tuesday asserted that the true tribute to the father of the nation would be not to let the “flame of truth and harmony” be extinguished in the “storm of hatred”.
The party also said those who glorify Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse should not and will not be allowed to define the idea of India.
In a post on ‘X’, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge quoted a quote from Mahatma Gandhi: “The enemy is fear. We think it is hate, but it is fear.”
“On Martyrs’ Day, we pay our respects to Bapu, the moral compass of our nation. We must pledge to fight against those who are trying to destroy his ideals on the basis of ‘sambhav’ and ‘sarvodaya’,” Kharge said.
“Let us do everything we can to protect India from ‘unity in diversity’ and ensure justice, equality and brotherhood among our people,” he said.
In a post on ‘X’ in Hindi, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that on this day, the ideology of hatred and violence had snatched the revered Bapu from the country. “And today the same thinking wants to take its principles and ideals away from us,” he said.
“But in this storm of hatred, the flame of truth and harmony should not be extinguished,” the Congress leader said, adding that this will be the true tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.
An early morning prayer meeting was held at the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra camp at Araria in Bihar to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi on the date of his assassination, 76 years ago.
In a post on ‘X’, Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh shared pictures from the prayer meet where Rahul Gandhi and several other leaders paid tribute to the father of the nation.
“Our struggle against the ideologies that resisted and rejected him during his lifetime, and which now so often try to usurp him, continues,” Ramesh said.
“Those who glorify Godse should not and will not be allowed to define the idea of India,” he said.
Former Union minister and senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram said Mahatma Gandhi may have been assassinated but there are millions of Indians, especially ordinary Indians, who cherish his life and his teachings of love, harmony, brotherhood and peace.
“These values are being challenged today, but ultimately Gandhiji’s values will prevail,” he said.
(Only the headline and image of this report may have been reworked by Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
First print: January 30, 2024 | 11:01 am IST