Kerala Congress condemns PM Modi’s statement on Mahatma Gandhi

Chennithala, also the former Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly, claimed that disrespect towards Gandhi was going on in the country.

“Narendra Modi’s statement about Mahatma Gandhi, the Father of the Nation, is highly condemnable. Was Gandhi recognised world over only after the film ‘Gandhi’ was made?” asked Chennithala.

“Anywhere in the world you go, you will find a statue of Gandhi or a road named after him. No one else in the world has so many monuments dedicated to him except for Mahatma Gandhi. What he said is disrespect towards Gandhi. Modi should withdraw it and apologise to the people,” the Congress leader said.

Related: ‘Nobody knew Mahatma Gandhi until a film on him was made,’ claims PM Narendra Modi

Chennithala alleged that what can be understood from the PM’s statement was that he is still “in the grip of (Nathuram) Godse’s ghost.”

“Narendra Modi, who is travelling on the path of Godse, will not only make such statements, but much worse than that,” he alleged and asked, “Is the BJP ready to stop disrespecting Gandhi?”

Modi in a TV interview to a TV channel had said, “Mahatma Gandhi was a great person. Was it not our responsibility in these 75 years to ensure that the entire world knows Mahatma Gandhi? I am sorry to say that no one knows about him. The first time when the film ‘Gandhi’ was made, it was then that there was curiosity across the world as to who this person was.”

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