AHMEDABAD: Even as the Veeranjali Yatra, carrying the ashes of revolutionary Shyamji Krishnavarma, winds its way through Gujarat, the Modi government has come in for flak for “hijacking the legacy of a great leader and abusing his ideology for petty electoral gains”.
Jitendra Dholakia, a freedom fighter from Kutch, on Thursday lashed out at the Narendra Modi government for “monopolising the yatra” and demeaning the leader by what he called the “saffronisation of great revolutionary.” Dholakia, who is also the secretary of the Shaymji Krishnavarma Social Centre at Mandvi, said that as the yatra progresses, parallel efforts will be made to rejuvenate the activity of the centre in Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Kutch to create awareness among people, who, he says, have been “hoodwinked”.
“They are hoodwinking the people of Gujarat by not telling them that Comrade Shyamji stood for a secular, democratic and non-Fascist India,” said Dholakia, who was joined by the Socialist Unity Centre of India (SUCI) and NGOs like Prashant, Samvedan and Insaf in condemning the move. While Hiren Gandhi of Samvedan said that plans are afoot to print and distribute leaflets to teach the “truth about Shyamji” to the people, Dholakia said there was a need to document his work and take a new look at his role to gain a correct perspective.
“The scope of the yatra should be broadened as it appears to be monopolised by the ruling party. The common man is not involved in the process,” said Dholakia. “The Sangh Parivar,which had no role in the freedom struggle, is in a hurry to project heroes,” says Dwarikanath Rath, head of the state unit of SUCI.
“Krishnavarma had an open mind and a broad outlook. Not only was he in touch with the Bolsheviks of Russia, but also revolutionaries in China and Germany and was even praised by Lenin. He was closely associated with the Ghadar party formed in 1913 by Indian revolutionaries living in Canada. He was never a Hindu militant as he being projected. It is sad that a sectarian party is usurping his legacy to gain political mileage,” said Dholakia.
“Sadly, these aspects do not get highlighted as he is being presented as a revolutionary from the saffron mould. His fight for freedom on English soil and his training young people in the art of non-cooperation have not been talked of,” added Dholakia.