Members of the Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha (ABHM) – Puja Shakun Pandey and her husband Ashok Pandey have been arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police from Tappal in Aligarh for recreating the scene of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination on January 30, the 70th death anniversary of the leader as per news reports.
A case has been registered against 13 individuals in connection with the incident.
In a video that went viral on the social media, Puja Shakun Pandey is seen to be pointing a toy gun which squirts a red fluid at a poster of Mahatma Gandhi and then setting it on fire. Other supporters are seen to be shouting slogans against Mahatma Gandhi in the praise of Nathuram Godse – the assassin of the father of the nation. The statue of Godse is also seen garlanded in the same video. Five people had been placed in custody on January 30, but Puja Shakun Pandey and her husband had evaded arrest by going underground.
ABHM is a Hinduvta outfit which holds Mahatma Gandhi responsible for the partition of the country. Celebrating the day of Mahatma Gandhi’ assassination as ‘Shaurya Diwas’ or Bravery Day, the ABHM members have defended their actions in front of media houses stating that they have not done anything ‘wrong’.
Likening the burning of the effigy to ‘Ravan dahan’ carried out during the festival of Dussehra in the country, Ashok Pandey has added that the incident took place inside their office premises.
Booked under the sections of the Indian Penal Code for committing ‘deliberate and malicious acts to promote enmity between different groups’, the accused ABHM leaders are currently in custody.
