GUWAHATI: Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi today said the decision of the Central government to discontinue postage stamps on former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi is "disrespect and dishonour to them".
The Centre's decision is an insult to history and to belittle the two prime ministers' contributions to make India modern, he said in a release.
"The decision of the Central government exposes its narrow and vindictive attitude towards the two towering personalities, who contributed a lot in making of India and in sacrificing their lives for the nation's unity and integrity.
"It's a mean and rude way to rewrite history by belittling the contributions of the two great personalities," Gogoi said.
Indira Gandhi's contributions in making the country attain self sufficiency in food, ameliorating the condition of poor and downtrodden, nationalisation of banks, making the country a nuclear power and her sacrifice for the country's unity and integrity will be remembered for generations to come, he said.
Likewise, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi's contributions in empowering women and youth by lowering the voting age, strengthening democracy through the three-tier panchayati raj system, revolutionising communications and information technology and his sacrifice for the country's unity and integrity cannot be forgotten, the Chief Minister said.
"Despite the Central government's attempt to relegate their contributions to the background, people will always fondly remember them for what they have done for the country," he added.