On Gandhi Jayanti, Bapu's Portrait Defaced, Urn Used For Immersing His Ashes Stolen

On Wednesday, when the country was celebrating the 150^th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi a portrait of the Father of the Nation was defaced at Bapu Bhawan in Laxmanbagh Sansthan by unidentified persons who wrote “deshdrohi” (traitor) over it and also stole an urn which was used for immersing his ashes. A case has been filed in the matter on a complaint by Rewa city Congress chief Gurmeet Singh Mangu. 

“The matter was brought to our notice by those managing Laxmanbagh Sansthan. We found that the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi was defaced and someone had written ‘deshdrohi’ over it,” news agency PTI quoted Rewa SP Abid Khanas saying.

“We are not probing it,” he said.

A case under sections 153(B) (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the IPC was registered in this regard, the SP said.

Mahatma Gandhi played a pivotal role in spearheading India's independence movement. During the pre-Independence era, Gandhi infused millions of Indians with a sense of tolerance and resilience to fight any form of oppression or violence imposed by the mighty British empire. He builded India's entire freedom campaign around two of his much-revered principles 'Satyagraha' and 'Ahimsa'. While Satyagraha meant to appeal to, insistence on, or reliance on the Truth, Ahimsa was centred around imbibing non-violence as a combative tool to thwart any act of force or violence. He not only is a towering figure in India's political history but also cemented his place among leading statesmen of the world for his noble philosophy towards humanity in general.

Gandhiji's greatness lay in his simplicity towards life and high intellectual prowess. To sum up his personality in the best possible way, the great American scientist Albert Einstein had this said about the 'Naked Saint' - ‘Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth.