Demanding immediate arrest of the national general secretary of Hindu Mahasabha, who allegedly sprayed bullets into the effigy of Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary, a large number of Congress workers staged a sit- in at Gandhi Park on Monday. The Congress workers sloganeered, venting anger over lack of police action on those who had participated in the programme where Mahatma Gandhi had been shown disrespect.
Addressing the party workers who gathered, the state Congress chief Pritam Singh said that right wing organisations under the patronage of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are engaged in spreading hatred in the country over the past five years.
“These forces are hell bent on disturbing the communal harmony in the name of Ram and Rahim, temple and mosque. The police and the administration are choosing to look the other way to please the ruling party,’’ he said.
Continuing with his attack on the right wing organisations, Singh said that the act of firing shots on the effigy of the father of the nation by these forces on a special day shows that these forces are out to kill the ideology Mahatma Gandhi personifies, a message of non- violence, peaceful co –existence and harmony.
The PCC president lashed out at the Uttar Pradesh (UP) police for not arresting the leaders responsible for showing disrespect to the father of the nation. “It shows that the divisive forces are getting protection and patronage from the BJP- helmed Union and the state governments,” Singh said and added that the Congress workers would not let the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi die at any cost.
Former state ministers Hira Singh Bisht, Matbar Singh Kandari and Dinesh Agarwal aside from Kedarnath MLA Manoj Rawat, state Congress vice- president Surya Kant Dhasmana and a host of former MLAs, including Ambresh Kumar and Rajkumar, attended the dharna.