Chief Justice of India Bhushan R Gavai’s mother, Kamal Gavai, on Wednesday said she would not attend the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) centenary program in Maharashtra’s Amravati on October 5.
This comes after an ideological controversy erupted as she was invited to the RSS programme. It also comes on a day when Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended an RSS centenary function in Delhi, where he hailed the BJP parent body's efforts in fighting “discrimination and untouchability” in society and contributing to nation-building.
The 84-year-old said in an open letter written in Marathi that she “would have put forward the ideology of Dr BR Ambedkar” from the RSS dias at the event.
Here is what CJI BR Gavai’s mother Kamal Gavai said in the open letter:
Kamal Gavai’s open letter about RSS event
Kamal Gavai decided not to attend the programme as the chief guest in view of the controversy the news generated and the accusations and slander she faced.
{{/usCountry}}Kamal Gavai decided not to attend the programme as the chief guest in view of the controversy the news generated and the accusations and slander she faced.
{{/usCountry}}The letter said that some people invited her to the October 5 program, and as she harbours good wishes for everyone, she welcomes everyone.
"(But) As soon as the news of the programme was published, many people started criticising and levelling allegations at not only me but late Dadasaheb Gavai (her husband, former Bihar Governor R S Gavai). We have lived our lives as per (Dr B R) Ambedkar's ideology, while Dadasaheb Gavai dedicated his life to the Ambedkarite movement. Sharing our ideology on the platform of different ideologies is also important, which needs courage," she wrote in the letter.
The letter further stated that her husband deliberately attended programmes of organisations subscribing to opposite ideologies and raised the issues of the deprived classes.
She added that he attended RSS's programmes but never accepted its Hindutva. "If I had been on the dais (at the October 5 RSS function), I would have put forward the Ambedkarite ideology," Kamal Gavai wrote.
But as she and her late husband faced a volley of accusations, and attempts were made to malign her "because of one programme", she felt very sad and decided to put an end to all this by deciding not to attend the Sangh function, the letter further said.
The 84-year-old also mentioned that her health condition was not well and that she was undergoing medical treatment.