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‘World got to know Mahatma Gandhi from movie,’ Modi claims; Congress hits back
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh accused the prime minister of “destroying the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi”.
Prime Minister Narendra drew criticism from Congress on Wednesday over his claim that the world did not know about Mahatma Gandhi until Richard Attenborough's 1982 movie 'Gandhi' was made.
In an interview to news channel ABP, Modi claimed Mahatma Gandhi was an eminent figure but the world was not aware of him. He also asked whether it was not the nation's responsibility to get Gandhi a level of global recognition in the last 75 years.
"Mahatma Gandhi was a great soul in the world. In these 75 years, was it not our responsibility to inform the world about Mahatma Gandhi? No one knew about him. Forgive me, but the first time there was curiosity about him in the world was when the film 'Gandhi' was made. We did not do it," the prime minister claimed during the interview. Follow full coverage of the Lok Sabha elections.
He added that if the world was aware of other leaders such as Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela, Gandhi was no less than them.
“If the world knew Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Gandhi was no less than them and you have to accept that. I am saying this after travelling the world…” Modi claimed.
As the video clip of the TV interview went viral on social media, the Congress criticised the prime minister for his remark.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh took to X to accuse the prime minister of “destroying the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi”.
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“It seems the outgoing prime minister lives in a world where Mahatma Gandhi was not recognized worldwide before 1982,” Ramesh wrote on X. “If anyone has destroyed the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi, it is the outgoing prime minister himself. It is his government that has destroyed Gandhian institutions in Varanasi, Delhi, and Ahmedabad.”
“This is the hallmark of RSS workers, that they do not understand Mahatma Gandhi's nationalism. It was the environment created by their ideology that led Nathuram Godse to assassinate Gandhi,” he added.
Ramesh also said that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections is a fight between the devotees of Mahatma and the devotees of Godse. "The defeat of the outgoing Prime Minister and his Godse devotee colleagues is certain," he claimed.
