On Mahatma Gandhi’s death anniversary, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Friday recalled two letters written in 1948 to BJP ideologue Syama Prasad Mookerjee by India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel where they strongly criticised and raised questions over the activities of the Hindu Mahasabha and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) — the ideological fountainhead of the BJP and its precursor Jana Sangh.
According to Ramesh, Nehru wrote to Mookerjee just two days before Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, while Patel wrote a separate letter a few months later, on July 18, 1948. “Two days before Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated, Jawaharlal Nehru had written to Syama Prasad Mookerjee. A few months later, on July 18, 1948, Sardar Patel had also written to him. Both are damning indictments of the self-declared custodians of nationalism,” he said in a post on X.
“Both are damning indictments of the self-declared custodians of nationalism. And to think that there is a Lok Sabha MP wedded to that ideology and who was blessed by the PM himself, who said that he could not choose between Gandhi and Godse. His mindset is revealing. Here is also a link to Nehru’s address on All India Radio on the night of Jan 30, 1948,” he wrote sharing a link.
In his letter to Mookerjee, Nehru wrote that the Hindu Mahasabha had held meetings in defiance of ban orders in Pune, Ahmednagar, and Delhi. “Speeches were delivered that Mahatma Gandhi was an impediment and the sooner he died the better it would be for the country. The RSS has behaved in an even worse way and we have collected a mass of information about its very objectionable activities,” Nehru stated.
Ramesh also shared a screenshot of Patel’s letter to Mookerjee, in which Patel criticised the activities of the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha. Mahatma Gandhi, the most prominent leader of India’s freedom movement, was assassinated by Nathuram Godse on this day in 1948.