Vijayan accuses Sangh Parivar of fearing Gandhi’s legacy on death anniversary

Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday paid tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on the 78th anniversary of his assassination, accusing the Sangh Parivar of being fearful of Gandhi’s ideas and seeking to erase his legacy from public life.

In a post on Facebook, Vijayan said Gandhi was assassinated because of his unwavering commitment to secularism and his vision of a pluralistic India rooted in diversity and dissent. He alleged that the same ideology continued to feel threatened by Gandhi’s memory, which he claimed was why his name was dropped from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

“Why are they still afraid of Gandhiji?” Vijayan asked, arguing that Gandhi’s life and values stood in direct opposition to what he described as a politics of hatred and exclusion promoted by the Sangh Parivar. He said efforts were underway to remove Gandhi from the everyday lives of ordinary people.

The chief minister stressed that unity in diversity was the cornerstone of the Indian republic and called on citizens to defend it against what he termed “totalitarian tendencies that suppress dissent”. He also alleged that certain forces were attempting to rewrite history and glorify communal killers in order to push the country towards authoritarianism.

Vijayan further claimed that Gandhi was not killed merely by Nathuram Godse, but by an ideology of hatred that, he said, continued to undermine the Constitution and democratic values. Gandhi’s martyrdom, he added, remained a reminder of the ongoing struggle against communalism.

Leader of the Opposition in the Kerala Assembly, V D Satheesan, echoed similar views. In his own tribute on social media, Satheesan said the Sangh Parivar was fearful even of Gandhi’s memory, accusing it of erasing books and writings to obscure historical truths.

Satheesan also said Gandhi’s assassination was the result of an ideology rather than the act of a single individual, adding that despite attempts to silence him, Gandhi’s ideals continued to endure.

Mahatma Gandhi, the leading figure of India’s freedom movement, was assassinated by Nathuram Godse on 30 January 1948.

With IANS inputs