The Congress on Saturday demanded that BJP president Amit Shah, the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi “apologise to the families of our freedom fighters and to the 125 crore people of this country for throwing mud at the Father of the Nation and denigrating the sacrifices of our freedom fighters”.
The Congress was responding to remarks made by Mr Shah in Chhattisgarh on Friday where he had described Mahatma Gandhi as a “ chatur Bania ” (cunning/clever Bania), who had created the Congress as “a Special Purpose Vehicle” merely to win freedom. He had also said the Congress lacked any ideology. Mr Shahs was addressing a select audience of “prominent citizens” here on Friday evening.
The Congress’ communication chief Randeep Surjewala said Mr. Shah's remarks about the Father of the Nation and all those who had made innumerable sacrifices to win independence for India constituted not “just an insult and an offence” but could be described “as an act of treachery”.
Describing Mr Shah as a “Power broker”, the Congress leader said he “has given Gandhi, the freedom struggle and the sacrifices of those who fought for Independence a commercial tone, made it into a commercial model”.
“The truth,” Mr. Surjewala he said, “is that the white British used the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS as a Special Purpose Vehicle to divide India and after Independence, the BJP’s black British members used the same model to “become oppressors of the Dalits, farmers and the poor…”
“Instead of fighting caste differences, by connecting Gandhi to a particular caste, Mr Shah has given us a glimpse of the ruling party’s chaal, charitra and mansikta (behaviour, character and mindset) . One trembles at the thought of where such a mindset will take the country.”
(With inputs from Pavan Dahat in Nagpur)
