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Wednesday, Apr 07, 2004

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National

Congress disputes PM's denial

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, APRIL 6. The Congress today countered the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee's denial of the charge that he had been a ``police informer'' during the Quit India Movement and circulated a signed statement made by him on September 1, 1942, to show how the then ``20-year-old'' had secured his release from prison.

Reacting to Mr. Vajpayee's ``outburst'' in Lucknow on Monday, the Congress spokesman, Anand Sharma, said he (Mr. Vajpayee) was trying to rewrite history by distorting facts to show that he had been involved in the freedom movement. Also, using the signed statement as evidence, the Congressman accused Mr. Vajpayee of lying about his age; he had given his age as 20 in 1942 whereas he claims to be 1924-born.

The Congress also put the role of the Rashtriya Swayamasevak Sangh in the freedom struggle under the same scanner and said the Sangh was opposed to the movement to free India from the yoke of colonial bondage. ``The RSS claims that their members participated in the Quit India Movement in their individual capacity, but the fact is that the Sangh never participated in any of the major movements of the freedom struggle. The RSS must realise that its role is documented by history,'' Mr. Sharma said.

Referring to the RSS rationale that the organisation stayed away from the movements because it was law-abiding, he quipped: ``The extended Sangh Parivar has no respect for the law as was evident in 2002 during the Gujarat carnage, but they had all respect for the law under British India.''

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