Journalism of Courage
After BJP leaders in Maharashtra condemned the statement of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Hindutva ideologue Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, members of the youth wing of the Pune city unit of the BJP staged a protest Friday and allegedly damaged a poster of the Congress leader on the premises.
City BJP workers, led by youth wing chief Raghvendra Mankar, staged the protest outside the Congress Bhavan in Shivajinagar. The police have provided protection to the Congress office and have detained the agitating BJP workers.
“The city Congress condemns the behaviour of BJP leaders. It is a cowardly act of the BJP to damage the poster of Rahul Gandhi on the Congress Bhavan premises,” party leader Ramesh Iyer said. Incidentally, the entire Pune unit of the Congress is in Buldhana to participate in and make arrangements for Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in the district.
At a function in memory of tribal leader Birsa Munda in Washim on Tuesday, Rahul Gandhi had said, “Despite the British offering him land, (Birsa Munda) refused to bow down; he chose death. We, the Congress party, consider him our idol. For the BJP and RSS, Savarkarji, who wrote mercy petitions to the British and accepted pension, is an idol.” The statement triggered a controversy in Maharashtra with the BJP, MNS and Shiv Sena (UBT) registering their protest against it.
