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K Sudhakaran | Photo: Mathrubhumi
Kannur: KPCC president K Sudhakaran justified his controversial statement. He had said that Jawaharlal Nehru accommodated fascism. He said that he had only attempted to present the democratic values upheld by Nehru.
“I have attempted to mention Nehru’s political perseverance by considering even the opposing voices,” said Sudhakaran. “The history was mentioned to remind the Sangh Parivar of the democratic principles. A slip of tongue emerged amid the speech was taken to a level which I never anticipated,” said Sudhakaran.
He expressed regret in the distress caused to the Congress activists by his statement.
In his speech on Children’s day, Sudhakaran said, “Nehru showed his great democratic consciousness by appointing Ambedkar as law minister. He was willing to include RSS leader Shyama Prasad Mukherjee in his cabinet. He made truce even with communalist fascists.”
Sudhakaran further clarified that Nehru had repeatedly stated that one should never form electoral alliances with communal forces and also never make alliances with them no matter how many elections are lost.
The statement came after senior IUML leader M K Muneer criticised Sudhakaran for his remarks, accusing him of trying to "provoke many and please the fascists", and the ruling CPI(M) as well as Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, in separate statements, slammed the KPCC chief, alleging he was trying to take the Congress in the tent of the Sangh Parivar.
"If Sudhakaran has made such remarks, it is certain that he has not read history completely," Muneer told reporters in Kozhikode. He said Nehru's first election victory was against the fascist forces like Hindu Maha Sabha.
Irked by Sudhakaran's remarks, the IUML leader also claimed that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is participating in the Bharat Jodo Yatra, has made it clear that those Congressmen who have pro-RSS thinking should leave the party.
Accusing the KPCC chief of trying to "whitewash" the RSS that too on Children's Day when the country remembers Jawaharlal Nehru, CM Pinarayi Vijayan sought to know why is he taking such efforts.
Hailing Nehru as a true secular leader, the Marxist veteran said Nehru, in a letter sent to the Chief Ministers on December 7, 1947 had explained the nature of the danger posed by the RSS. In another letter, he had warned against falling for claims that the RSS was not a political organisation, he said.
He alleged that the Congress always had had communalists and RSS supporters like that of Sudhakaran's mindset. Vijayan claimed that Mukherjee was made a minister, succumbing to pressure exerted by such people in the Congress. By comparing Shyama Prasad Mukherjee and Dr Ambedkar, Sudhakaran not only distorted history but also insulted Dr Ambdekar, the CM said.
In a statement, the CPI(M) state secretariat urged the Congress's national leadership and the UDF to clarify their stand on Sudhakaran's remarks.
"The other day he had also openly said that he had given protection to the RSS shakhas. Instead of correcting such pro-RSS positions, Sudhakaran again tries to justify his position by portraying even Jawaharlal Nehru as a leader who allied with communal fascist forces", the CPI(M) alleged.
Sudhakaran recently courted controversy by saying that when he was part of the Congress (Organisation) decades ago, he had sent his men to "give protection" to some RSS shakhas in the state.
While speaking at a function in Kannur, he had said that the CPI(M) had tried to destroy the shakhas when it had been launched in places like Edakkad, Thottada and Kizhunna here and he had sent people to "protect" it from being destroyed by the Left cadres.
Congress (Organisation) came into being after the 1969 split of the Congress party. The Congress(O) later merged with the Janata Party.
Sudhakaran had also clarified that his actions back then were not because of any affiliation towards right wing outfits, but guided by his belief that all parties, including the RSS, have the right to function in a democratic country.
(With inputs from PTI)
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