The Congress government in Madhya Pradesh has removed the editor of one of its magazines for publishing an essay allegedly glorifying Mahatma Gandhi’s killer Nathuram Godse in its January edition by calling him a “martyr for some”.
In the essay titled ‘ Mahatma Zinda Hai ’ (Mahatma is alive) in the Public Relations Department’s magazine ‘ Sandesh ’, Hyderabad-based independent writer Shweta Rani wrote: “For some Godse is a killer, while for others he the martyr who upheld the respect for religion.”
That on January 30,1948, Gandhi dying of bullets and on November 15, 1949, Nathuram Godse dying after being hanged was not the case, Ms. Rani contended. “Neither Godse has died, nor Gandhi, as ideas never die, both are there in our minds. It is for us to decide that in [our] mind and in society [whether] we need to promote Gandhi’s ideology or Godse’s.”
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Reacting to a complaint, Law and Public Relations Minister P.C. Sharma removed Manoj Khare, Joint Director, as the publication’s wing in- charge and as the editor on February 22, and served a notice on him. Earlier on February 18, a suspension order was issued, but later revoked.
“When you’ve titled the article on Mahatma Gandhi, then you must only talk about him,” Mr. Sharma told The Hindu . “Such an article was not required in the first place.”
An official of the department, requesting anonymity, said each issue of the 116-year-old magazine is referred to its Commissioner for approval. “The Director even wrote an editorial for the issue, and praised other contributions,” he said.
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Mr. Khare refused to comment, while Commissioner P. Narahari didn’t take phone calls.