Hyderabad: The conferring of the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 on Gita Press has set off a political slugfest between the Congress and the BJP with the Opposition party comparing the choice of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led jury of honouring Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar and Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse.
In reaction, the BJP came out with a sharp alleging Maoist influence on the grand old party. Congress leader Jairam Ramesh's equating the jury's decision with honouring Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar and Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse has raised the heckles of BJP MP Ravi Shankar Prasad, who quickly brought the Maoist analogy.
He said, “What can be expected from the Congress which created hurdles in the way of construction of Ram Mandir? A party that opposes ban on triple talaq... What could be more shameful than Congress criticising Gita Press getting the Gandhi Peace Prize? We condemn it. I want to say with a heavy heart that the party that once ruled the country now has people with Maoist mindset, they are also advisors to Rahul Gandhi and this should be opposed by the whole country”.
Jairam Ramesh referenced a book by journalist Akshaya Mukul, published in 2015, which purportedly reveals the strained relationship between Gita Press and Mahatma Gandhi. Prasad also dragged ex-Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in the row asking whether Gandhi agrees with the remarks made by Jairam Ramesh, who is the General Secretary In-Charge of Communications for India’s biggest opposition party.
Union Minister Jitendra Singh also hit out at the Congress for its criticism over awarding the Gandhi Peace Prize to Gita Press, saying nobody has any objection to it except those who consider Muslim League a secular organisation. Geeta Press is associated with India's culture, our ethos and Hindu belief, and it produces affordable literature which reaches every household," Singh said while replying to questions at a press conference at the BJP headquarters In New Delhi.
Congress general secretary-in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh had on Sunday alleged that the decision to honour Gita Press with the Gandhi Peace Prize is a "travesty" and "it's like awarding Savarkar and Godse.
Asked about Ramesh's remark, Singh said, And, who are those levelling allegations? They are those who say that Muslim League was secular. The Congress forgot that it was the Muslim League which gave two nation theory, got India partitioned and took credit for the creation of Pakistan, the Union minister said.
Meanwhile, the Gita Press despite expressing its pleasure over conferring the coveted Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 on it, refused to accept the cash component of the award with a cash of Rs one crore keeping with its tradition of not receiving any kind of donations. "It is a matter of great honour for us. It is our principle not to accept any kind of donations, so the trustee board has decided not to take the award in any monetary form. However, we will certainly accept the award for the honour of it," Gita Press manager Lalmani Tripathi told reporters on Monday.
Gita Press is the world's largest publisher of Hindu religious texts and it was founded in 1923 by Jaya Dayal Goyanka and Ghanshyam Das Jalan for promoting the principles of Sanatan Dharma.
Earlier on Sunday, Ministry of Culture made an announcement of the award saying it will recognise Gita Press's "outstanding contribution towards social, economic and political transformation through non-violent and other Gandhian methods" through this prize.
The Gandhi Peace Prize is an annual award instituted by the government in 1995, on the occasion of 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi as a tribute to the ideals espoused by Mahatma Gandhi. The RJD also meddled itself in the controversy taking the Congress's side. The party MP Manoj Jha termed the BJP as fundamentally "anti-Gandhi". Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma became the latest entrant in the imbroglio launching a sharp attack on the Congress.
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With the win in Karnataka, Congress has now openly unleashed a war against India's civilisational values and rich legacy, be it in the form of repeal of anti-conversion law or criticism against Geeta Press.people of India will resist this aggression and reassert our…
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) June 19, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="
">With the win in Karnataka, Congress has now openly unleashed a war against India's civilisational values and rich legacy, be it in the form of repeal of anti-conversion law or criticism against Geeta Press.people of India will resist this aggression and reassert our…
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) June 19, 2023With the win in Karnataka, Congress has now openly unleashed a war against India's civilisational values and rich legacy, be it in the form of repeal of anti-conversion law or criticism against Geeta Press.people of India will resist this aggression and reassert our…
— Himanta Biswa Sarma (@himantabiswa) June 19, 2023
Taking to Twitter, Sarma wrote: “With the win in Karnataka, Congress has now openly unleashed a war against India’s civilisational values and rich legacy, be it in the form of repeal of anti-conversion law or criticism against Geeta Press. “People of India will resist this aggression and reassert our civilisation values with equal aggression.” Home Minister Amit Shah also lauded the contribution of Gita Press in a Tweet.
