Several organisations, activists, intellectuals and prominent citizens of Bhopal participated in a public meeting on ‘Shaheed Diwas’ at Iqbal Maidan to commemorate the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi and other freedom fighters who paid sacrifices for creating an independent, republican and democratic India.

The meeting was held despite the police and administration order to prohibit  any meeting as the model code of conduct for municipal corporation elections was in force and also that Section 144 of CrPC was under operation in the city.

Braving the police intimidation, which is ‘grossly unreasonable’ as the model code of conduct is not applicable to public programmes that are organised by mass organisations who have nothing to do with the elections, the participants continued their meeting and condemned the Government for not even allowing a programme for paying tribute to the very persons who laid life for making India a free and democratic country.

The participants pointed out that attempt by communal organisations to felicitate a murderer like Nathuram Godse on 30th January is not only an insult to Mahatma Gandhi but an insult to the freedom movement as a whole. It was pointed out that organisations like RSS and Hindu Mahasabha to which Godse was connected were active collaborators of British government and they never wanted India to become a free and democratic country. Instead these organisations wanted to create a ‘Hindu Rashtra’ that was to be subordinated to the British Empire.

Speaking on the occasion, noted educationist Anil Sadgopal said that the communal organisations of Hindutva are following the same reactionary line even today. These organisations are helping the neoliberal capitalist forces to plunder rich resources of our country by creating communal hatred and thus diverting people’s attention from real issues. Several prominent persons including senior journalist lS Hardenia, trade union leader GS Asiwal and others were present on the occasion.