Hindu Mahasabha leader Rajyashree Choudhury, grandniece of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, on Tuesday likened Mahatma Gandhi’s role in the freedom struggle to “Bhishma” of the epic Mahabharat.
It was obvious that Gandhiji was in full support of Jawaharlal Nehru for Prime Minister of India. Despite his open support for Jawaharlal Nehru, the Congress party wanted Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to be the president of Congress and consequently the first Prime Minister of India. After the independence, 12 out of 15 Congress committee workers voted in favor of Sardar Patel during the voting.
Choudhury questioned Gandhi’s role during crucial events of that time like the Partition of India in 1947. “It is true that Gandhi Ji contributed in achieving Independence, but he acted like Bhishma Pitamah,” she said.
Recently, Choudhury had visited office of the Hindu Mahasabha in Daulatganj area of Gwalior in Madhya Pradesh and performed ‘aarti’ of a photo of Nathuram Godse, the assassination of Gandhi.
“Gandhiji had said that the country’s Partition would be allowed over his dead body, so why he did not stop it? Why the Partition was allowed under the influence of those leaders who were greedy for power?” Choudhury said while speaking to reporters.
She also pinned the blame for Gandhi’s death on those present at the spot at the time of the incident and the then Nehru government.
“The (then) government hid its mistake. Gandhiji wasn’t shot dead, he bled to death. The bullet fired from Godseji’s pistol may have hit Gandhiji, but there was no post-mortem report and no eye-witness account,” Choudhury said.
She said those who laid down their lives for the country were dubbed as terrorists by the rulers. “Mahatma Gandhi did not stop execution of (revolutionary) Bhagat Singh. He had even opposed Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose in a bid to favour Nehru,” said Choudhury.
he said her grandmother was the sister of Bose. Choudhury also touched upon the controversy surrounding the death of Bose. “It was said that the Netaji was killed in a plane crash (in 1945), but the documents suggested that he actually lived for a long period after that incident. She added: ” At the time of Independence, most of Congressmen wanted to hand over the leadership of the country to Sardar Patel, but Gandhiji silenced everyone to favor Nehru”.
Responding to a query on a criminal case registered against some local activists of the Mahasabha last week, Choudhury dared the police to take action.
“We will hold an agitation and even move to Parliament if police takes action against any activist,” she said.
A case was registered by Gwalior Police against some Mahasabha activists for allegedly distributing pamphlets containing “objectionable words” about Mahatma Gandhi.
On November 15, Mahasabha members had performed ‘aarti’ of Godse and Narayan Apte, a co-conspirator who too was hanged in the Gandhi assassination case, at their office in Gwalior.
The country has divided into two parties. While one party is in support of Nathuram Godse, the other party is against Godse. While some people consider Godse a killer of Mahatma Gandhi, others consider him a terrorist.
