Pinarayi, Satheesan condemn attack on Tushar Gandhi

**EDS: SCREENSHOT VIA PTI VIDEOS** Kottayam: Tushar Gandhi, the great grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, speaks to the media, in Kottayam, Kerala, Thursday, March 13, 2025. A group of RSS-BJP workers has raised slogans against Tushar Gandhi, urging him to withdraw a statement he had made against the RSS.(PTI Photo) (PTI03_13_2025_000101B)
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Kerala witnessed a public outcry and protests from both the ruling and the Opposition fronts after a group of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists allegedly detained Tushar Gandhi, the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, near Neyyattinkara, in the outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday evening. The Neyyattinkara police registered a suo motu case against identifiable BJP-RSS workers.

The protesters were reportedly irked by Mr. Gandhi, who was in Kerala at the invitation of the Sivagiri Madhom, terming the RSS a cancer on the nation’s soul in a speech commemorating the 100th anniversary of Sree Narayana Guru’s historic meeting with Mahatma Gandhi at the Madhom.

‘Rise in protest’

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the mentality of the Sangh Parivar workers who were behind the act was no different from that of Gandhi’s assassins. “It is an attack on secularism and democracy. Actions that violate freedom of expression cannot be allowed in a democratic society. Legal and democratic actions will be taken against such acts. Secular, democratic society should rise up in protest against this,” he said.

Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan condemned the RSS’s action, calling it a deplorable act of fascism. He said Mr. Gandhi had arrived in Kerala to commemorate an historic event. “The RSS has put Kerala to shame and revealed their true colours as a revanchist force,” he said. He said that Mr.Gandhi will be invited for more events in Kerala.

CPI view

Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary Binoy Viswam said the RSS’s contempt for Mahatma Gandhi and the Independence movement and the organisation’s support for the feudal colonial set-up was evident in their act against Mr. Gandhi. “The RSS were betrayers of the Independence movement. It has no stake in the country’s freedom movement and progress as a democracy. The RSS has lionised Gandhi’s killer Nathuram Godse and the latter’s sponsors, including V.D. Savarkar. Kerala should stand as one against this fascist travesty,” he said. 

Condemning the incident, the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) said in a statement that targeting critics is an attempt to establish a fascist state. Even after assassinating Gandhi, the RSS has not let go of its vendetta and is now targeting his grandson. This cannot be tolerated. The violence was led by Mahesh, an RSS leader and BJP councillor in the Neyyattinkara municipality. If RSS members attempt to implement here the method they deploy in north India, they will face strong resistance,” said the statement.