RADICAL HINDUTVA leaders at the forefront of protests against namaz in public spaces were among a group of over 50 people that raised slogans hailing Nathuram Godse and marched through Gurgaon Friday to demand the release of Kalicharan Maharaj who was arrested by Chhattisgarh Police for derogatory remarks against Mahatma Gandhi.
The protest march was led by Kulbhushan Bhardwaj, legal adviser of Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti, which is a conglomerate of 22 local groups that have been protesting every Friday against namaz being held in public spaces in Gurgaon.
Friday’s march included Narender Singh Pahari, a former RSS and BJP leader, who had led a group that disrupted a Christmas eve function at a school last week in Pataudi, alleging religious conversion.
Mahavir Bhardwaj, state president of Sanyukt Hindu Sangharsh Samiti-Haryana, who had attended the ‘Dharam Sansad’ in Haridwar where several participants including Kalicharan had delivered hate speeches, also took part in the protest.
During the march, chants of “Nathuram Godse amar rahein (Long live Godse)” and “Godse saved the nation”, and calls for violence, were raised as the protesters gathered near the Deputy Commissioner’s residence at Civil Lines before marching to the DC’s office amid heavy police presence. The group included members of the Gau Rakshak Dal from Manesar, Bajrang Dal and Hindu Sena.
Bhardwaj, a former president of the Gurgaon district bar association who had defended a 19-year-old man who had shot at anti-CAA protesters near Jamia Millia Islamia in 2019, said they have submitted a memorandum addressed to the President at the DC’s office, demanding the “immediate release” of Kalicharan.
“We vigorously support the remarks made by Sant Kalicharan against Gandhi and condemn how the Chhattisgarh government has arrested him. When the country was partitioned on the basis of religion, why did Gandhi not oppose it? This country will never forgive Gandhi for his role in accepting the division of the country. The Hindu society has woken up and we will not accept any insult to our saints,” he said.
This story first appeared on indianexpress.com