Mumbai: Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson, Tushar Gandhi, has alleged that buckling under pressure from a Hindutva outfit, the Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce in Pune cancelled his lecture scheduled on Friday as part of a seminar on Mahatma Gandhi.
The college authorities said that although the seminar went ahead as per schedule, Tushar Gandhi's speech was cancelled after some students threatened that they would stage a protest if he came to the event. The authorities also said that the cancellation was aimed at ensuring that nobody makes a political statement during the event.
Condemning the episode, state housing minister Jitendra Awhad tweeted, "Not allowing Tushar Gandhi to speak because some Gandhi haters objected is ridiculous and should be condemned. The Pune police should not have allowed this to happen, it's unfortunate."
Awhad said he had raised the issue with state Home Minister Anil Deshmukh. Gandhi was invited to deliver the inaugural address at the two-day national seminar, 'Revisiting Gandhi', organized in collaboration with Savitribai Phule Pune University to mark the Mahatma’s sesquicentenary celebrations.
On learning his lecture was being cancelled, Tushar tweeted in which he blamed the Patit Pavan Sanghatana for the threats. "Modern College Pune was forced to cancel a program because they had invited me; Patitpavan Sanstha threatened to disrupt the program, if I was present. The Goli Maro Gang in Action," Gandhi said in a tweet on Thursday. When contacted, Gandhi told The Free Press Journal, he was informed by Gajanan Ekbote, PES Chairman, that the entire programme had been cancelled. Gandhi added, "It is reprehensible that our society is held at ransom in this manner. If they did not want me to speak, or believe in Gandhian policies, then why did they invite me? Why was I not informed about the cancellation?"
Sitaram Khade, an office-bearer of the Patit Pawan Sanghatana's city unit, refuted the allegation that members of his outfit had threatened to disrupt the event. "We checked with our members. None of us had approached the college and opposed the programme," he said. Ekbote said, "I spoke to Tushar late on Thursday night. We are going to organise a separate programme in our college. We are not against Mahatma Gandhi. He is the subject of my study. Therefore, do not harbour any misunderstanding."
"Some students showed us the videos of Tushar Gandhi's speeches. They were of the view that the speeches are objectionable. They threatened to stage a protest if Tushar came to the event. As exams are on, we cancelled the invite so that a law and order situation does not arise," he said. "This event is being organised in association with SPPU, which has given Rs 3 lakhs for it. We wanted to ensure that no political statements are made or any such views are expressed during the event," Ekbote added.