Abhitej Singh, grand nephew of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, on Tuesday said that it was time for the youth to join hands and defeat forces that are dividing the country in the name of religion and destroying the secular texture of the country.
He was expressing his concern over growing intolerance in the society in the light of murder of Govind Pansare, Narendra Dabholkar and M.M. Kalburgi.
Mr. Abhitej Singh was speaking at an interaction programme organised by the Patrakartara Adhyayana Kendra (journalists’ study centre) at the Bangalore Press Club on Tuesday.
“This is not the independent India, which Bhagat Singh dreamt of. His legacy has been diluted by the successive governments since Independence. The society has forgotten the values for which he fought,” he said.
Noting that Bhagat Singh had not fought the imperial government, Mr. Abhitej Singh said his fight, for spiritual democracy, universal brotherhood, and to end disparity in society and communal disharmony in the name of religion, was being misunderstood and misinterpreted by political parties.
His dream of equal distribution of the fruits of labour has been forgotten, he said.
Mr. Abhitej Singh said that governments and political parties equated Bhagat Singh with violence and bombs, which was totally wrong.
“Both, the BJP and the Congress, were trying to impose their views on the society and had succeeded in creating a society of intolerance. They were using youth to divide the country in the name of caste and religion. This is a dangerous trend,” he said.
