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Mallikarjun Kharge's warning to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat over ‘true Independence’ remark: ‘If he continues…’
Mallikarjun Kharge said that RSS people don't remember the 1947 independence because they did not 'struggle or go to jail' for it.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday slammed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat's 'true Independence' remark, warning him that if he continues to make such statements, it will be difficult for him to move around the country, news agency PTI reported.
Speaking at an event on Monday, Mohan Bhagwat had said India achieved its 'true Independence' on Ayodhya Ram Temple's consecration day. He added that the day should be celebrated as 'Pratishtha Dwadashi".
Kharge, after the inauguration of the grand old party's new headquarters at Kotla Road on Wednesday, said RSS people don't remember the independence of 1947, and instead believe it was achieved with the Ram Temple inauguration because they did not fight for it.
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"I read the statement by the RSS chief. He said real independence was established with the inauguration of the Ram Temple. He had inaugurated the temple along with (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi...Modi believes that independence was achieved in 2014 when he became PM," PTI quoted the Congress chief as saying.
Kharge said it was a “matter of shame” that the RSS was not acknowledging the 1947 independence, saying that it is "because they did not struggle for it, go to jail, and therefore they do not remember. We remember because our people died for independence and struggled for it".
Further sharpening his attack against Bhagwat's remarks, Kharge said, "it would become difficult for him to move around in the country if he keeps giving such statements".
The Congress leader said the party's new headquarters, 'Indira Bhawan', will become the centre of fighting those who are working against the Constitution and democracy.
Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi also condemned the RSS chief's remarks. In a fierce attack, he said, "Mohan Bhagwat has the audacity to inform the nation every 2-3 days what he thinks about the independence movement, Constitution. What he said yesterday is treason because it is stating that the Constitution is invalid, fight against the British was invalid."
Rahul said that if he had made such a statement in any other country, then he would be "arrested and tried".
To say that India did not get independence in 1947, he said, is an insult to every single citizen of the nation. "It's about time we stop listening to this nonsense that these people think they can just keep parroting out and shouting and screaming," he added.
In his speech, Bhagwat had asserted that the Ram temple movement was not started to oppose anyone, rather it was "to awaken the 'self' (swa) of Bharat so that the country could stand on its own feet and show the path to the world".
The RSS chief's remark drew ire from other opposition leaders as well. Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut also slammed his comment and demanded that Bhagwat avoid doing "politics" in the name of Lord Ram.
(with PTI inputs)
