Tushar Gandhi Criticises RSS-BJP, Faces Backlash

Thiruvananthapuram: Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi on Friday, reiterated his remarks against RSS -BJP on Friday, accusing these organisations of spreading hate and falsehoods.

"I will continue to expose the traitors. This is a fight that is even more essential than the freedom fight. We have a common enemy now, the Sangh. They must be exposed," he said.

"They wanted me to apologise for what I said. They wanted me to retract my statement. I do not do that. Once I say it, I do not believe in retracting it or even apologising for making the statement, he said while addressing a programme held at the Union Christian College in Aluva.

Meanwhile, BJP has demanded Tushar's arrest for making objectionable remarks against RSS. The BJP - RSS activists also protested the cases registered against five workers for blocking Tushar in Neyyattinkara on Thursday.

A group of BJP-RSS workers staged a protest against Tushar at a function to unveil the statue of Gandhian leader Gopinathan Nair at his residence in Neyyattinkara, about 20 km from here on Wednesday.

The BJP RSS activists protested against Tushar's remarks on the Sangh during his speech. "The soul of the nation is afflicted with cancer and the Sangh Parivar is spreading it," he said while addressing the gathering.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan condemned the attack. The mindset of those behind this hate attack is no different from that of those who assassinated Gandhi, he said.

“This incident is highly condemnable. An act of curtailing freedom of expression cannot be allowed in a democratic society. Strong legal action will be taken against such tendencies. There is a need to build public opinion against these forces to isolate them in society,” the chief minister said.

He directed the police to take stringent action against the RSS BJP workers. They were charged under Sections 189(2), 191(2), 190, and 126(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for unlawful assembly, rioting and wrongful restraint.

The Congress had also registered strong protest against the BJP RSS highhandedness.