REWA: Five days have passed since this happened in Madhya Pradesh, police still don’t have a clue about which gang of hoodlums defaced a Gandhi memorial on the occasion of his 150^th Death anniversary. A memorial that was constructed and undisturbed since 1948 has been defaced by Gandhi haters. Why are the police going slow on this? For those who haven’t read the news, here’s what happened:

A portrait of Mahatma Gandhi was defaced at Bapu Bhawan in Laxmanbagh Sansthan here on Gandhi Jayanti by unidentified persons who wrote “deshdrohi” (traitor) over it and also stole an urn which was used for immersing his ashes, police said on Thursday (october 3).

The incident happened on Wednesday when the country was celebrating the 150th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation.

Gandhi’s mortal remains and the poster were kept at the Bapu Bhawan, located in Laxman Bagh. The Bhawan was constructed in 1948 and has been preserved since then by the Laxman Bagh Trust.

A case has been filed in the matter on a complaint by Rewa city Congress chief Gurmeet Singh Mangu.

Commenting on the issue, district Congress chief and complainant Gurmeet Singh, said, “Gandhi’s ideology has been shamed again. This unlawful act must have been done by the followers of Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse. This madness must stop. I urge Rewa police to check CCTV cameras installed inside Bapu Bhawan and nab the accused.”

The Laxman Bagh, which looks after the Bhawan is one of the oldest trusts established by the Rewa Maharaj. The trust owns various temples, farms and cow sheds across the district.

Bapu Bhawan caretaker Mangaldeep Tiwari said, “I opened the gate of the Bhawan early in the morning because it was Gandhi’s birthday. When I returned at around 11 pm, I found the mortal remains of Gandhi missing and his poster was defaced. This is shameful.”

“The matter was brought to our notice by those managing Laxmanbagh Sansthan. We found that the portrait of Mahatma Gandhi was defaced and someone had written ‘deshdrohi’ over it,” Rewa SP Abid Khan said.

In the complaint, Mangu had alleged that the stolen urn contained the ashes of Gandhi, but Khan said police were not sure about it. “We are not probing it,” he said.

A case under sections 153(B) (imputations, assertions prejudicial to national-integration), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and 505 (statements conducing to public mischief) of the IPC was registered in this regard, the SP said.

  Mohandas Gandhi, naked truth