The Hindu : PCC slams Gandhi's denigration

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Friday, Jan 31, 2003

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PCC slams Gandhi's denigration

By Our Special Correspondent

JAIPUR JAN. 30. The Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee today asked the Centre to take up the issue of "denigration" of the image of Mahatma Gandhi with the U.S.

The article and the sketches in Maxim, a U.S. lifestyle magazine, and the portrayal of the Mahatma on MTV were a "conspiracy against India and the Father of the Nation", senior PCC leaders, who had gathered to mark the Martyrs' Day, said.

The main official function of the Rajasthan Government at the State Secretariat too took note of the "U.S. calumny'' against the Crusader for Peace.

After the customary "Ramdhun" and the two minutes silence at the Secretariat in front of the gigantic Gandhi statue, the gathering condemned the portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi in an "undesirable" manner. In the absence of the Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot, the Deputy Chief Minister, Kamla, led the group.

The PCC meeting attended by the State president, Girija Vyas, and the former Chief Ministers, Heeralal Devpura and Jagannath Pahadia, the senior leader, Chandanmal Baid, and the Cabinet Minister, C.P. Joshi, wanted the Centre to react to the issue "strongly".

They alleged a conspiracy to tarnish the image of India and the Gandhian values it cherished. "This shows their imperialist mindset," Dr. Vyas said at the end of the prayer meeting.

INLD stages dharna

Our Staff Reporter reports from New Delhi

The Haryana Chief Minister and Indian National Lok Dal president, Om Prakash Chautala, along with his Cabinet colleagues, party MPs, MLAs and workers staged a dharna near the Rajghat protesting against the wrong portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi by Maxim.

Lambasting the magazine for its defamatory story, accompanied by 21 illustrations of a man beating up an image of Mahatma Gandhi, Mr. Chautala appealed to the President, A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, to initiate diplomatic steps with the U.S. so that appropriate legal action could be taken against the culprits.

The protesters said the article and cartoons had not only hurt the feelings of all Indians the world over but had stirred the conscience of those who believed in non-violence and were striving to make a peace-loving and tolerant civilised world.

Stating that nobody could tolerate denigration of the Father of the Nation, Mr. Chautala, said Mr. Kalam, in his capacity as the constitutional head, should take appropriate action to ensure that such a thing does not happen again.

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