Amid a war of words between the Congress and the BJP over the government’s decision to discontinue postage stamps featuring the former Prime Ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said on Wednesday that there was no question of reconsidering the move.
He said stamps should not focus on just one family but honour everyone who contributed to the making of India. “Our government respects the contribution of all and wants to give them due respect. Based on the advice of the Philatelic Advisory Committee, it was decided to issue a definitive series of stamps to represent the diversity of India. Earlier, in the definitive stamp series, the focus was on the family.” Mr. Prasad told presspersons. The revised list will honour Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Maulana Azad, Subhas Chandra Bose, Dr. Rajendra Prasad, Jayaprakash Narayan, Bhagat Singh, Deen Dayal Upadhyay, Syama Prasad Mookerjee, Ram Mahohar Lohia, Vivekananda, Rabindranath Tagore, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Maharana Pratap, Shivaji, Mother Teresa and others.
Mr. Prasad added that this list is always subject to review. “All of them are icons in there own field. Is Jawaharlal Nehru part of the Congress family or not? Though his name has been there several times, we wanted him as he is the first Prime Minister.”
He further questioned: “Why was Maulana Azad never given a place, why Sardar Patel and Subhas Chandra Bose were given this honour only once as opposed to Indira Gandhi (four times) and Rajiv Gandhi (two times).”
However, as per the website of the Department of Posts, the commemorative stamp to honour Maulana Abul Kalam Azad was issued on November 11, 1966, and then again on the same date in 1988.
Through the years, several non-Congress personalities were honoured with commemorative/definitive stamps, including Raj Narain — whose election petition resulted in the disqualification of Indira Gandhi — and Sangh Parivar icon Veer Savarkar.
Earlier, the Congress had demanded an apology from the Modi government, saying the decision to discontinue the stamps reflected a “very narrow mindset.”
“We condemn the approach and attitude of this government towards the Gandhis who have sacrificed a lot for the nation. It is an insult to history,” Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma told reporters.
