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RSS blames Mahatma Gandhi for partition
By K G Suresh in Amritsar
January 29, 2003 23:45 IST

The Rashtriya Syamsevak Sangh on Wednesday blamed Mahatma Gandhi for the country's partition, attacked the media for its 'anti-Hindu' bias and asserted all Sikhs were Hindus.

At a function organised in Amritsar to honour its volunteers who saved 'Hindus from Muslim goons', RSS Chief K S Sudershan urged Hindus to organise themselves and said the 'unnatural partition' of the country must end.

"While Gandhi succeeded in creating and leading a people's movement, he committed two mistakes; supporting the Khilafat movement and making Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru the prime minister. The end result was that two enemies, Pakistan and Bangladesh, were created forever," he said.

The RSS chief said, "Everyone makes mistakes, but when a big leader makes one, they lead to serious consequences.

"While Nehru described partition as a fantastic nonsense, Gandhi said it would be allowed only over his dead body," Sudershan added in his hour-long address.

He, however, termed Gandhi's assailant Nathuram Godse as 'sarphira' [insane person].

Earlier in the day, activists of the Dal Khalsa and Shiromani Akali Dal (Amritsar) led by Member of Parliament Simranjit Singh Mann staged protests against the RSS programme saying it sought to revive old wounds.

K G Suresh in Amritsar
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