KOCHI: The family of former IPS officer Sanjiv Bhatt will continue its fight for truth and justice despite his imprisonment entering its eighth year, his wife Shweta Bhatt said on Saturday.
Addressing the delegates' meet of the Muslim Youth League as the chief guest, she said the four walls of a prison could never extinguish her husband's courage and determination.
She recalled the solidarity extended by the Youth League, which organised a protest in Kozhikode in 2019 after Bhatt was sentenced to life imprisonment. She described the gesture as an example of secularism and fraternity.
At a time when polarisation and fear were growing in the country, hope rested with a younger generation willing to speak the truth, she said. Asking questions and defending constitutional rights were true expressions of patriotism, she added.
Shweta said she would continue the fight for her husband's release and justice despite the challenges. She also thanked the Muslim Youth League for its continued support, asserting that the family would not bow before those in power.
Earlier, inaugurating the meeting, Kerala Administrative Reforms Commission chairman Dr M K Muneer said Prime Minister Narendra Modi would meet the fate of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini.
“We are living in an era when authoritarian leaders are facing setbacks. That is why Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu are being forced to confront resistance. They will ultimately meet the same fate as Hitler and Mussolini. Narendra Modi, too, faces a similar future,” he said.
Muneer said struggles might take time but were steadily achieving victories. He also said the Chief Election Commissioner was facing severe political pressure following protests led by young people.
Referring to Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, Muneer said all three bullets fired by Nathuram Godse struck the right side of Gandhi's body, describing them as the first bullets of right-wing fascist politics. He alleged that M S Golwalkar and V D Savarkar were opposed to Gandhi and said Gandhi was assassinated two weeks after Golwalkar visited Thiruvananthapuram and delivered a speech criticising him.
“The idea of Gandhi is the idea of India. If the secularism advocated by Gandhi survives, fascism will have no future in this country,” he said.
Muneer said the country had moved from confronting the challenge of Gandhi's assassination to what he termed 'vote assassination'. He urged young people to take to the streets against such injustices.
He also called on the public to oppose hate speech irrespective of who made it, asserting that there should be no compromise with those spreading hatred.