Jairam Ramesh recalled two letters written in 1948 by Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to Syama Prasad Mookerjee,
He expressed grave concerns over the activities of the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha.
He linked the historical criticism to present-day politics, referring to controversial remarks by a BJP MP and sharing Nehru’s radio address delivered on the night of Gandhi’s killing.
Jairam Ramesh Cites Nehru–Patel Letters Criticising RSS On Gandhi's Death Anniversary
Ramesh said the letters, written shortly before and after Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, amounted to “damning indictments” of groups claiming to uphold nationalism.
Summary
On Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday recalled two letters written in 1948 to Syama Prasad Mookerjee by Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, in which both leaders strongly criticised and raised serious concerns about the activities of the Hindu Mahasabha and the RSS.
The Congress general secretary in charge of communications said that Nehru had written to Mookerjee just two days before Gandhi’s assassination, while Patel sent a separate letter a few months later, on July 18, 1948.
“Both are damning indictments of the self-declared custodians of nationalism. And to think that there is a Lok Sabha MP wedded to that ideology and who was blessed by the PM himself, who said that he could not choose between Gandhi and Godse. His mindset is revealing,” Ramesh said on X, in an apparent reference to BJP MP Abhijit Gangopadhyay’s controversial remarks in 2024.
Ramesh also shared a link to Nehru’s address on All India Radio on the night of January 30, 1948, delivered hours after Gandhi was assassinated.
In his letter to Mookerjee, Nehru had pointed out that the Hindu Mahasabha had held meetings in defiance of official ban orders in Pune, Ahmednagar and Delhi.
“Speeches were delivered that Mahatma Gandhi was an impediment and the sooner he died the better it would be for the country. The R.S.S. has behaved in an even worse way and we have collected a mass of information about its very objectionable activities.,” Nehru had written.
Ramesh also shared a screenshot of Patel’s letter to Mookerjee, in which Patel criticised the conduct and activities of both the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha.
Mahatma Gandhi, the central figure of India’s freedom movement, was assassinated on this day in 1948 by Nathuram Godse.
(with PTI inputs)
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