Mahatma Gandhi and Vinayak Savarkar are irreconcilable and one cannot idolise both at the same time.
At three street corner meetings to mark the 75th death anniversary of the Father of the Nation, more than one speaker accused BJP leaders of faking respect for Gandhi.
“Gandhi and Savarkar are irreconcilable. A follower of Gandhi cannot sing paeans to Savarkar. People who name the Cellular Jail after Savarkar have no respect for Gandhi. They are faking it,” veteran rights activist Sujato Bhadra said at an assembly at New Market on Monday evening.
“Gandhi’s killing was not only the murder of a leader but an assault on the secular fabric of India. The people whose ideological forefathers were behind the killing cannot now claim to be followers of Gandhi,” he said.
Several BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath, paid their respects to Gandhi on Monday.
A cluster of organisations had arranged three meetings — in Bowbazar, New Market and Hazra.
“Without Gandhi’s death, the RSS could not have reached the stature that they now have. Their disdain for Gandhi is obvious. He had devoted his life to the struggle for Independence. He lived and died for a secular India. The saffron ecosystem had no role whatsoever in the freedom struggle. They want to create a Hindu rashtra,” Chhotan Das, another rights activist and member of Samvidhan Bachao, Desh Bachao, said at the meeting at the Hazra intersection.
“It is the responsibility of everyone who believes in Gandhi to stand up to the political wing of the RSS, the BJP.”
None of the meetings drew a large crowd. But many passers-by stopped to hear the speakers. At New Market, many shopkeepers, hawkers and shoppers were in the audience.
“The idea is to reach out to people who are not associated with any organisation. We want people to discuss Gandhi in their drawing rooms,” said an organiser.
Amitava Chakraborty, a speaker at the meeting in Bowbazar, said Gandhi was more relevant than ever in today’s India.
“To divert attention from its failures, the State is banking on creating divisions among its people. A set of people are being turned into second-class citizens. Religious polarisation is destroying the fabric of India,” he said.
“Gandhi stood like a mountain against the forces of Hindutva, who are much stronger now than they were 75 years ago,” he said.