Congress panel plans to start year-long events from Gandhi Jayanti

A high-powered committee of the Congress led by former PM Manmohan Singh decided to ask part workers to organise special events at key places associated with the freedom struggle, like Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar and Champaran in Bihar where Mahatma Gandhi led the first Satyagrah movement

In its first meeting on how to mark 75 years of India’s independence, a high-powered committee of the Congress led by former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Tuesday decided that the party would kickstart year-long events on Gandhi Jayanti with emphasis on special events at key places associated with the freedom struggle, like Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar and Champaran in Bihar where Mahatma Gandhi led the first Satyagrah movement. The party also decided to focus on the role the farmers played in the freedom struggle.

The Congress committee’s next meeting will be held after all suggestions are collated and submitted to former PM Manmohan Singh. (HT PHOTO)

To chalk out the finer details of these events, the panel, which included former chief minister of Haryana, Bhupinder Hooda, former ministers AK Antony and Ambika Soni, among others, decided to form sub-committees, which would submit a final report to the former prime minister. This comes at a time when the government has launched a high-profile campaign called Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav to celebrate the landmark Independence celebrations in 2022.

“We have to find a way that we can convey the role that so many people played in the freedom struggle, how to convey it to the young,” Hooda said, adding, “For instance, Dr Singh said that we have to highlight the importance of the Congress’ 1929 Lahore session- that was when the call for poorna swaraj or complete independence was first raised.”

Over the last few weeks, the Opposition has reacted sharply against posters by the government body, Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), which omitted the country’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. While ICHR maintained that the poster was part of a series, the Congress in its meeting hinted at highlighting the role of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) during the freedom struggle.

“People should know who helped the British and who fought against them, and our events should make it very clear,” said Pramod Tiwari, Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP and the member of the panel.

During the discussion, it was decided that each sub-committee would frame strategy to mark the celebrations in three-four states and emphasis should be made to showcase the “real” history of the events surrounding India’s independence.

The committee’s next meeting will be held after all suggestions are collated and submitted to Manmohan Singh.

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