Two members of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) have filed two identical FIRs in two different police stations in Odisha accusing Gandhi Peace Foundation (GPF) chief Kumar Prashant of ‘conspiring against the nation’. It is being seen in yet another brazen attempt to hide uncomfortable facts and gag dissenting opinions
Image Courtesy:Indialogue Foundation
Speaking at the three day ‘Gandhi Katha’ in Bhubaneshwar, organised as a part of the sesquicentennial celebrations of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth, Kumar Prashant had said the RSS played no role in India’s freedom struggle. He also said that Vinayak Damodar (‘Veer’) Savarkar had collaborated with the British to get out of the Cellular jail in Andaman. On abrogation of Article 370, Mr Prashant had said that it was an ‘undemocratic’ measure taken without taking the people of the Kashmir into confidence. He compared it to what Mohammed Ali Jinnah did to partition the country.
The FIR in Lalbagh PS, Cuttack was signed by advocate Biswarajan Swain while the one in Phulbani, the district HQ of communally sensitive Kandhamal, was signed by advocate Bhagaban Mohaty. RSS state spokesperson Ravinarayan Panda, however, readily admitted that both are members of the Sangh. Mr Panda said that Kumar Prashant was a learned man and should read relevant literature to enlighten himself about the role of RSS in the Quit India movement and that Hedgewar was an eminent Congress leader before he broke off to form the RSS in 1925.
These claims have been summarily proved to be dubious. Mr. Panda can read about it here.
Established in 1958, the Gandhi Peace Foundation (GPF) is the leading organization working with Gandhian thoughts. Kumar Prashant is the chairman of GPF and a well known Gandhian intellectual.