THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: CPM state secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said here on Tuesday Mahatma Gandhi’s murder was the first terror activity witnessed by Independent India. Releasing a book by C Divakaran MLA, titled ‘Lokathe Njetticha Vediyochakal’ (Gunshots that stunned the world), Kodiyeri said the RSS and the BJP leaders were maligning the image of the state by saying Kerala had become a land of jihadi terror. He said the charge Kerala had become hostile land for Hindus to live in was baseless and no senior leader of the Sangh Parivar had ever raised such an allegation.
‘A nonagenarian RSS leader like P Parameswaran had never raised such allegations. It is an attempt to provoke and thereby create an atmosphere to dismiss the LDF Government,” he said. He said the sound of the gunshots was still echoing and those who had raised voice against Sangh Parivar were being silenced. Citing the instances of the murders of Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, M M Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh, he said, forensic experts had said the same weapon was used to kill Dabholkar and Pansare. Sanathan Sansthan, an outfit based in Goa, was behind the incidents. He also said Sanathan Sansthan had convened a meeting of over 100 Hindu organisations and arrived at a decision to declare India a Hindu rashtra by 2023.
Kanam: History being ‘constructed’
CPI state secretary Kanam Rajendran said history was being ‘constructed’ by replacing renowned historians from institutions like ICHR with RSS men. He said the RSS had never been part of any historical developments, including the fight against the British colonial rule. He said the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha leaders had always been adorers of Hitler and Mussolini.
“Now they are trying to construct history in a bid to find a place for Savarkar and Deen Dayal Upadhyay,” he said. Former Vice-Chancellor and scholar G Balamohan Thampi said the murder of Gandhiji could not be treated as an isolated incident as there had been concerted efforts from fundamentalist forces to whip up communal frenzy leading to his murder. “Some four to five years prior to Gandhiji’s murder, Godse was a member of the RSS and later joined the Hindu Mahasabha. Only on technical grounds could RSS deny Godse was not its member,” he said.
He said the RSS was trying to use democratic platforms to destroy democratic institutions to establish a Hindu rashtra. Unfortunately, the Left parties are not able to reclaim the political space left by the Congress which has become a regional party with inefficient leadership. He also asked the CPM and CPI leadership to bury their differences and get united to build a strong resistance against the Sangh Parivar. Prabhat Books general manager Haneefa Rawther presided over the meet. G N Panicker, Vallikkavu Mohandas, G R Anil and others spoke. Chandra Babu, of Prabhat Books, welcomed the gathering.