KGSN condemns misuse of Mahatma Gandhi’s image in advertisement
The Karnataka Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi (KGSN) has condemned the alleged misuse of Mahatma Gandhi’s image in a recently published advertisement in Karnataka, calling it an affront to the Father of the Nation’s core ideals and a matter of serious national concern.
The Congress and the Opposition BJP engaged in a spat through an advertisement using a cartoon of Gandhi. In its full-page advertisement on the front page of the leading vernacular and English dailies on February 3, the Congress-led Karnataka Government showed Gandhi admonishing ‘Sangh-Appa’ wearing a white shirt and a Khaki pant for scrapping the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
The advertisement takes a potshot at the Centre for replacing the MGNREGA with Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajivika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G).
In retaliation, the BJP put out a full-page advertisement on February 7, where Gandhi is shown as lifting his stick to hit Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and calls them all ‘Nungappa’ (The one who squanders everything).
“To you, the Nungappa who are using Mahatma as your property,” Gandhi is shown as telling the trio who pose, requesting him not to hit them. In a statement, KGSN president Wooday P Krishna and honorary secretary MC Narendra expressed alarm over the portrayal of Gandhiji and said it was derogatory and contrary to his philosophy, warning that such representations could mislead the younger generation and damage the sanctity associated with his legacy.
The statement further said, “An advertisement that has recently appeared in leading daily newspapers of Karnataka depicts the Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi, in a manner that would shock anyone who understands Gandhiji’s philosophy.”
