Rahul in SC: RSS people, not RSS, killed Mahatma
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi has walked a very thin line in the Supreme Court on the issue of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. In an assertion that could get him off the hook in a defamation case, Gandhi has said that he had not blamed the RSS as in institution for the killing of the Father of the Nation, but "people associated with it."
“The petitioner (Rahul Gandhi) never accused the RSS as an institution for the crime… it is clear from my affidavit before the (Bombay) High Court,” Rahul’s counsel Kapil Sibal told a Supreme Court bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice Rohinton F Nariman. He repeatedly referred to the Congress leader’s affidavit in which Rahul had said that he blamed a person -Nathuram Godse -- associated with the RSS for the killing, but did not denounce the whole organisation.
This statement by Rahul’s counsel and veteran lawyer Sibal signifies a climb down from his previous stand. In earlier hearings, Sibal had turned down the court’s suggestion to give a “decent burial” to the case — with Rahul expressing regret over his statement. The lawyer had said that there was no question of expressing regret and that he would rather argue Rahul’s case on merits, based on evidence on record and judicial precedents Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday told the Supreme Court that he did not blame the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on the RSS. Judges then indicated that they are likely to clear the Congress VicePresident of defamation charges next week on September 1.
The Congress on Wednesday went into an offensive with a fierce counter-attack in retaliation to the social media campaign on a U-turn by Rahul Gandhi in the Supreme Court, asserting that he has not changed position on the RSS involvement in Mahatma Gandhi's assassination to save himself from legal trouble. It asserted that both the party and the leadership firmly stood by the "historical truth" that the RSS indeed was responsible for the killing of Mahatma Gandhi AND presented the truth at a party press conference as an official communiqué issued by the government in 1948.
An aide of Rahul said he had instructed senior counsel Kapil Sibal to bring out this truth on the role the RSS played in the events leading to the tragic assassination of the Mahatma in the Apex Court.
Sibal said no fresh affidavit was filed by Rahul to misinterpret it as U-turn as he had only referred to the facts stated in an old affidavit filed in the Bombay High Court last year, clearly stating that "RSS ke logon ne Gandhi ko mara (People associated or affiliated with RSS killed Gandhi" and that’s what Rahul had been saying at public rallies. "We stand by that," Sibal on Wednesday told the court, which had earlier threatened to initiate trial if Rahul did not apologise. He argued that the court appeared satisfied as it no longer insisted on any apology.
Sibal went on to read out an official communiqué of the Government of India issued on February 4, 1948 as the basis for Rahul's contention at the party's press conference. The communiqué said: "Undesirable and even dangerous activities have been carried out by members of the Sangh. It has been found that in several parts of the country, individual members of the RSS have indulged in acts of violence involving arson, robbery, dacoity and murder and have collected illicit arms and ammunition."
The communiqué added: "They have been found circulating leaflets exhorting people to resort to terrorist methods to collect fire arms, to create disaffection against the Government and suborn the police and military. These activities have been carried out under a cloak of secrecy and the Government has considered from time to time how far these activities rendered it incumbent upon them to deal with the Sangh in its corporate capacity.
"The last occasion when the Government defined this attitude was when the premiers and Home Ministers of Provinces met in Delhi towards the end of November. It was then unanimously agreed that the stage when the Sangh should be dealt with as an association has not yet arrived and that individuals should continue to be dealt with sternly as hitherto. The objectionable and harmful activities of the Sangh have however, continued unabated and the cult of violence sponsored and inspired by the activities of the Sangh has claimed many victims – the latest and the most precious to fall was Gandhi Ji himself."