NEW DELHI : In an apparent attack on the BJP and its mentor, the RSS, Congress president Sonia Gandhi today said a few groups had opposed the 1942 Quit India movement launched by the Indian National Congress against the British rule.

“We must not forget that certain forces opposed the concept of Quit India movement. These facts should also be told,” the 70-year-old leader said in Lok Sabha during a special meeting to mark 75 years of the movement.”There is no contribution of those groups in the Indian freedom movement,” she further said, without naming the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which was formed in 1925.

In an apparent attack on the BJP and its mentor, the RSS, Congress president Sonia Gandhi today said a few groups had opposed the 1942 Quit India movement launched by the Indian National Congress against the British rule.”We must not forget that certain forces opposed the concept of Quit India movement. These facts should also be told,” the 70-year-old leader said in Lok Sabha during a special meeting to mark 75 years of the movement.

“There is no contribution of those groups in the Indian freedom movement,” she further said, without naming the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which was formed in 1925.Many historians have written about the RSS having had no role in the freedom movement, led largely by the Indian National Congress – a claim rejected by the ideologues of the BJP today.
In her speech, Sonia also attacked the BJP-led government at the Centre. “Dark forces are rising again in the country… There is threat to our secular, liberal and free thinking. Today, we still need to fight against these forces,” she said.”The politics of hatred and revenge has taken over the country. There is hardly any space in public for open discussions and debates,” she said.

Sonia used her speech in the Lok Sabha to underline the contributions of the Congress and Jawaharlal Nehru to the landmark episode in India’s struggle for independence. “We will not allow the idea of India to be a prisoner to narrow mindedness and communal ideology. Today it looks secularism and free speech are in danger. If we have to preserve freedom, we’ll have to defeat forces endangering it. We can’t and we won’t allow sectarian forces to succeed,” she said.
People have to fight for the India they believe in, which is loved by one and all and which was envisioned by the freedom fighters, she said. Speaking before Sonia, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his speech, said it was time to take a collective pledge to rid the nation of corruption and poverty by 2022 with the same spirit when Mahatama Gandhi launched the Quit India movement on this day 75 years ago.

“We will not allow the idea of India to be a prisoner to narrow mindedness and communal ideology. Today it looks secularism and free speech are in danger. If we have to preserve freedom, we’ll have to defeat forces endangering it. We can’t and we won’t allow sectarian forces to succeed,” she said. During freedom struggle, Pandit Nehru spent several years in jail, many Congress workers died in jail. A lot of atrocities were committed on the protesters, but no one stepped back, said Sonia Gandhi in Lok Sabha.

Today it looks secularism and free speech are in danger. There is politics of divide. We can’t and we won’t allow sectarian forces to succeed, she added. Though she did not name any party or leader in her attack, Hindutva organisation RSS, the ideological mentor of the BJP, appeared to be Ms. Gandhi’s target, as the Congress has often accused it of playing no role in the freedom movement, a charge denied by it.

She used her speech in the Lok Sabha during a special discussion on the Quit India movement to underline the contributions of the Congress and Jawaharlal Nehru to the landmark episode in India’s struggle for independence and also attacked the ruling BJP, accused by her party of communalism.

It should not be forgotten, she said, that there were people and organisations which had opposed the Quit India movement and made no contribution to the country’s freedom.Though she did not name any party or leader in her attack, Hindutva organisation RSS, the ideological mentor of the BJP, appeared to be Ms. Gandhi’s target, as the Congress has often accused it of playing no role in the freedom movement, a charge denied by it.

Modi said the event explained to the world the “robust willpower” of India. He said Gandhi’s call to “Do or Die” changed India’s Independence movement completely and sparked a never-before-sentiment that finally resulted in the country achieving freedom from the colonial British rulers.”When Mahatma Gandhi, a leader who always propagated non-violence, raised the call to ‘Do or Die’, it was a surprise for the nation. He told each and all of us to consider ourselves as independent nationals,” Modi said.

“The politics of hatred and revenge has taken over the country. There is hardly any space in public for open discussions and debates,” she said.Sonia used her speech in the Lok Sabha to underline the contributions of the Congress and Jawaharlal Nehru to the landmark episode in India’s struggle for independence. People have to fight for the India they believe in, which is loved by one and all and which was envisioned by the freedom fighters, she said.