In Frame: Mallikarjun Kharge (Image: File)
New Delhi: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday backed the suggestion for banning the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the country and accused it of creating law and order problems and disturbing peace in the country.
Addressing a press conference to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Patel and the 41st martyrdom day of Indira Gandhi, Kharge noted, “Indira Gandhi sacrificed her life to uphold the unity that Sardar Patel had forged for India. While one was the Iron Man, the other was the Iron Lady."
"It is my personal opinion, it should be done (RSS should be banned) as most of the issues and law and order problems are arising in the country because of the BJP-RSS. If the Prime Minister respects the views presented by Vallabhbhai Patel, this should be done," Kharge said.
“You can’t taste the venom to find out whether it is good or bad, you can only die,” the Congress.chief, who is.also Leader of Oppositoon inthe Rajya Sabha said.
He made the remarks while responding to a question over his opinion on RSS after Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav claimed that the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha were banned after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
“You can check on ChatGPT why Sardar Patel banned the RSS,” he said, adding, “Don’t blame me, this is what ChatGPT says," the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister said.
Kharge, meanwhile, was accompanied by the Congress general secretary and communications incharge Jairam Ramesh.
He also referred to Indira Gandhi laying down her life to save the unity and integrity of the country and Sardar Patel’s unparalleled contribution to unite and unify India immediately after independence and partition.
“This is the contribution of the Congress and its leaders, that they not only liberated the country, but united and unified it and laid down their lives to save that unity and integrity,” he remarked.
The Congress president taunted the BJP and the RSS for trying to appropriate Sardar Patel and his legacy, when he had banned the organisation after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
Kharge also cited Sardar Patel’s letters to Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Guru Golwalkar listing the reasons for banning the RSS. He quoted Sardar Patel saying that the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha had created a venomous atmosphere in the country that led to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. He also referred to Sardar Patel mentioning in letters how the RSS celebrated Gandhi’s assassination and even distributed sweets.
Blasting the lies being spread by the RSS and the BJP about differences between Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel, Kharge quoted various things the two leaders said about each other.
He recalled, while Nehru used to say that Patel was an untiring leader who worked for the unity and integrity of the country, Patel used to describe Pandit Nehru as an ideal for the country and the leader of the masses.
Taking a dig at the BJP and the RSS, he said, “Those who were behind Gandhi’s killing are today telling us that Congress does not value Patel.”
He said, while it was good that the BJP had built a grand statue of Sardar Patel in his memory, it should also remember that it was the Congress, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in particular, who had laid the foundation of the Sardar Sarovar Dam that irrigates lakhs of hectares of land on April 5, 1961 in Gujarat only.
The Congress president also criticised the attempts of the BJP government to change history by deleting chapters on Mahatma Gandhi, Nathuram Godse, Gujarat riots and other important issues from the NCERT books. “History cannot be wiped out or destroyed,” he said, adding that the truth will always remain alive and will not be erased despite all attempts to suppress it.
