'Like Awarding Gandhi's Killer': Congress Slams Modi Govt For Gandhi Peace Prize To Gita Press

Congress Secretary Jairam Ramesh slammed the Centre for its decision to give Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 to Gita Press. The leader likened it to awarding Mahatma Gandhi's killer Godse.

The Congress hit out at the Modi government on Monday for awarding the Gandhi Peace Prize for 2021 to the publisher Gita Press from Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur. Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh termed this decision, taken by a jury led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as a "travesty". He compared it to awarding Hindutva ideologue VD Savarkar and Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse.

While slamming the Centre, Jairam referred to a 2015 book by Gita Press which was authored by a journalist named Akshaya Mukul and claimed that it reveals the "stormy relations" that the publisher had with Gandhi.

PM Modi while hailing the publisher earlier in a tweet said that Gita Press is one of the world's largest and it has done "commendable work" over the last 100 years. He tweeted, "I congratulate Gita Press, Gorakhpur on being conferred the Gandhi Peace Prize 2021. They have done commendable work over the last 100 years towards furthering social and cultural transformations among the people."

 

Gandhi Peace Prize is an annual award that was instituted by the Government of India back in 1995, on the occasion of the 125th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, as a tribute to the ideals espoused by him. The award carries an amount of Rs 1 crore, a citation, a plaque, and an exquisite traditional handicraft/handloom item.

A government release read, "Gandhi Peace Prize 2021 recognizes the important and unparalleled contribution of Gita Press in contributing to collective upliftment of humanity, which personifies Gandhian living in true sense."

After Ramesh's remarks, the BJP retaliated by calling Congress a "Hindu Hating Party". The saffron party also took a jibe at the Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray for joining hands with the Congress.

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla tweeted, "Congress has sheer hatred for anything Hindu . From Hindu terror to opposing Ram Mandir to Bhagwa terror to blaming Hindus for 26/11 & now attacking Gita Press. Congress = Hindu hating party! They wanted to ensure Ram Mandir is never built. Does Uddhav Sena agree with their attack on Hindus, Hindutva and even on Savarkar?" 

Some of the awardees who have received the Gandhi Peace Prize in the past are Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Ramakrishna Mission, Akshaya Patra, Sulabh International, and luminaries like Late Dr. Nelson Mandela, Baba Amte, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, etc.