RAIPUR: Mahatma Gandhi emerged as an additional target to revile besides Islam and Christianity on Monday, December 27, the concluding day of a two-day Dharam Sansad held in Raipur where the father of the nation was slandered by a Hindu religious leader, Sant Kalicharan.
In the same gathering, the Hindu priest from Maharashtra praised Nathuram Godse and justified the act of killing Gandhi from the stage.
On a complaint by Congress leader Pramod Dubey, the police registered an FIR against Sant Kalicharan for his defamatory statement against Gandhi.
Around two dozen religious leaders from across Chhattisgarh and other states had gathered at Dharam Sansad where, during the speeches, the Hindus were exhorted to get ready for creating a ‘Hindu Rashtra’.
The Congress party demanded to register a case of sedition against Kalicharan citing that such deplorable comments had not just insulted Gandhi but the entire country and the world.
The police meanwhile had registered the case under the IPC Section 294 (outrageous or obscene words or acts in any public place to the annoyance of others) and Section 505 (2) (statements seen conducive to public mischief).
Meanwhile, the organiser of Dharam Sansad disapproved of the remarks against Gandhi. “It was inappropriate to give the objectionable comment against Mahatma Gandhi from the podium of Dharam Sansad. The views by whosoever should be seen as his personal”, said Neelkanth Tripathi of the Dharam Sansad Organising Committee in Raipur.
The patron of the organising committee Mahant Ramsundar Das of Doodhadhari Math had distanced himself from the event and left the programme in protest. Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel was expected to attend but he didn't turn up.
“The Dharam Sansad was meant to safeguard the Sanatan culture and not for the disparaging comments against the great leader like Gandhiji”, Tripathi added.