Odisha government booklet on Mahatma Gandhi’s death sparks row

Bhubaneswar: An Odisha government booklet describing Mahatma Gandhi’s death as an “accident” has triggered a row as both Congress and ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) members condemned the matter in the state Assembly on Friday. Congress legislature party leader Narasingh Mishra demanded an apology from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik holding him responsible for the blunder.

“This is deplorable. I hold the Chief Minister responsible for this. He should beg an apology to the people. If he has knowingly done it, I demand his resignation. People of the country can never excuse him,” said Mishra in the Assembly.

The two-page booklet “Aama Bapuji: Eka Jhalaka” (Our Bapuji: A Glimpse) prepared by state school and mass education department said Mahatma Gandhi died due to accidental reasons on January 30, 1948.

The brochure published on the occasion of 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi said he died due to accidental reasons in a sudden sequence of events on January 30, 1948 at Delhi’s Birla House. “What does it mean? It means that Odisha government has accepted that Godse is not the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi even though he has already been hanged. This is unfortunate,” said Mishra. Since some Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders are describing Nathuram Godse, who assassinated Gandhi, as God, it seems the BJD is influenced by the ideology, said Mishra. (IANS)

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