A stirs was caused in the city and on social media platforms as Coimbatore City police interrupted pledge taking ceremony by Marxist Communist, Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam citing code of conduct and also remarked against criticising against particular community when Godse was about to be mentioned.
Coimbatore: There was a stir in the city as the police refused permission to accept the pledge on Gandhi's death anniversary.
The 74th death anniversary of Gandhi, who is revered as the father of the nation, is being observed on Sunday, 30th January and various organisations have been paying tributes to his portraits.
A pledge taking ceremony was held on behalf of the National Unity Platform at Sivananda Colony on Sunday.It was headed by G Ramakrishnan, a member of the Marxist Communist Party Political Leadership Committee. It was attended by various organisations including Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal and Students Union of India.
There were minute stirs between the police and the gatherers as the police refused permission for the programme, stating there was no permission obtained. Moreover, the banner placed at the oath-taking ceremony included a verse criticizing the Hindu Community, “Was killed by Hindu fanatics”, which the police stated must be removed.
Later, the word Hindu alone was removed from the flex banner and the ceremony was held. The police also had to interrupt during the oath taking ceremony, as the pledge read, 'Gandhi was killed by the RSS organisations,' leading to further clash. The ceremony continued to take place once again.
Later, addressing a press conference the Marxist Communist Party’ Political Leadership Member G Ramakrishnan said the pledge had been taken to defend secularism.
He alleged that BJP was keen on implementing the RSS ideologies and mentioned of the Centre’s rejection of TN and Kerala tableaus for Republic Day parade.
'After 72 years of playing Gandhi's songs, the tableau was rejected this time. We did not point to any religion, but have stated what happened. It is saddening to see some people praising Godse for shooting Gandhi.'
