The Aam Aadmi Party has questioned the timing of a rally to be organised by the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh at Ramlila Maidan on December 25.
Addressing journalists at a press conference on Tuesday, party leader Yogendra Yadav said by organising a programme to observe Swami Shraddhanand Martyrs’ Day on the day of Christmas, the Sangh Parivar was trying to foster trouble and disrupt communal harmony.
Swami Shraddhanand, an Arya Samaj missionary who was active in the early part of the last century, was shot dead on December 23, 1926, at his house in Delhi.
Asked if the party objected to commemorating his death anniversary, Mr. Yadav clarified that they were questioning the motives behind not scheduling it on the actual date.
“We have information that the RSS is planning to felicitate families from Western Uttar Pradesh who have recently re-converted to Hindusim from Christianity — all this on Christmas. We also learnt that senior BJP leaders and Union Ministers will also participate,” he said.
He added that this and some recent statements made by organisations such as Hindu Mahasabha created doubts that the BJP was trying to communalise the atmosphere in Delhi before the elections.
“It is safe to say the BJP is no longer interested in the issues it campaigned on for the Lok Sabha elections and it is trying to communally charge up the atmosphere. The books written by Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse are being reprinted and sold on a large scale,” said Mr. Yadav.
