Those glorifying Godse will not be allowed to define idea of India: Congress

New Delhi, Jan 30 (PTI) On Mahatma Gandhi's death anniversary, the Congress on Tuesday asserted that the true tribute to the father of the nation would be to not let the "flame of truth and harmony" be extinguished in the "storm of hatred".

The party also said that those who glorify Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse should not and will not be allowed to define the idea of India.

In a post on 'X', Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge cited a quote of Mahatma Gandhi, "The enemy is fear. We think it's hate but it is fear." "On Martyrs Day, we pay our respects to Bapu, the moral compass of our nation. We must pledge to fight against those who seek to destroy his ideals based on 'sambhav' and 'sarvodaya'," Kharge said.

"Let us do everything to protect the India of 'unity in diversity' and ensure justice, equality and fraternity among our people," he said.

In a post on 'X' in Hindi, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi said that on this very day, the ideology of hatred and violence had snatched away the revered Bapu from the country. "And, today the same thinking wants to snatch away his principles and ideals from us," he said.

"But in this storm of hatred, the flame of truth and harmony must not be extinguished," the Congress leader said and added that this will be the true tribute to Mahatma Gandhi.

A prayer meeting was held at the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra campsite in Araria in Bihar early in the morning to remember Mahatma Gandhi on the date of his assassination 76 years ago.

In a post on 'X', Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh shared pictures from the prayer meeting where Rahul Gandhi and several other leaders paid tributes to the father of the nation.

"Our battle against the ideologies that resisted and rejected him in his lifetime, and now attempt to appropriate him ever so frequently, continues," Ramesh said.

"Those who glorify Godse should not and will not be allowed to define the idea of India," he said.

Former Union minister and senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said Mahatma Gandhi may have been killed but there are millions of Indians, especially ordinary Indians, who cherish his life and his teachings of love, harmony, fraternity and peace.

"These values are being challenged today but, ultimately, Gandhiji's values will triumph," he said. PTI