Joshi promises to review Godse

Joshi said he has asked State Cultural Affairs Minister Pramod Navalkar to watch the play today itself and give his response by tomorrow.

Earlier in the day in Parliament, the Centre was forced to assure it would look into the circumstances of the play, after the Opposition blasted the government’s inaction over what they called a derogatory drama with “shameful” references to Mahatma Gandhi.

Congress member Ajit Jogi raised the issue in Zero Hour today in the Lok Sabha saying the play was an insult to the nation and the Centre was perpetrating it by allowing the play tobe staged without any hindrance. The play apparently idolises Godse, who assassinated Gandhi in 1948, and ridicules Gandhi to which the Congress, Left and other parties objected strongly.

The play should have been banned at once instead of allowing it to go on in such fashion, Jogi said, a point which was reiterated by other members in the Opposition. The treasury benches initially defended the play with at least one BJP member and Shiv Sena leader Madhukar Sarpotdar saying members must first see the play before running it down.

This caused a furore following which Parliamentary Affairs Minister Madan Lal Khurana was forced to assure the House that the Centre would look into the issue and report back to the Lok Sabha latest by tomorrow evening. The Prime Minister or the Union Home Minister would make a statement on the issue, he said. This did result in some calm but not before a brief storm.

Jogi and CPM leader Somnath Chatterjee said Godse was an RSS follower and the BJP-led government was soft on theRSS and its activities.

Jogi alleged the RSS was encouraging plays like the Godse one which insulted Gandhi and hurt the sentiments of the people. He later said the Congress would agitate on this issue till the play was banned.

The Opposition chanted “shame” as the issue led to rising passions before the government gave its assurance. Khurana was also coerced into saying his party held Gandhi in high esteem as an “adarsh purush” who had done a lot for the country’s freedom. “We don’t need any certificate from anybody,” he added.

Janata Dal leader Jaipal Reddy wondered how the state censor board had cleared the play which was now several shows old. Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee also felt if things were wrong, they should be stopped. She said no national leader should be insulted in any fashion and no “character assassination” must be allowed.

Former prime minister Chandra Shekhar and former Union minister Raghuvansh Prasad Singh felt the Union and State governments should have actedon their own instead of being told to do by the House.

“This is a dangerous signal,” he warned.

Producer files caveat

The producer of the play, Udaya Baburao Dhurat, filed a caveat in the Bombay High Court against noted Gandhian Usha Mehta, urging that no ex-parte decision be taken to ban the play. According to reports, Usha Mehta and her followers planned to move the High Court to restrain the producer from staging the drama. The producer prayed that such an order would cause him “great and irreparable loss”.