Prime Minister Narendra Modi sparked a controversy with his remark that "the world did not know of Mahatma Gandhi till the film 'Gandhi' was made".
During an interview to a TV channel, Modi had said, "...Across the world, Mahatma Gandhi was a great person. Was it not our responsibility in these 75 years to ensure that the entire world knows Mahatma Gandhi. I am sorry to say that no one knows about him. The first time when the film 'Gandhi' was made, it was then that there was curiosity across the world as to who this person was. We have not done so... ."
"It was the task of this country to ensure that if the world knows about Martin Luther King, South Africa's Nelson Mandela ji, then Gandhi was no less. One has to agree and I am saying this after travelling across the world that India should have got that importance due to Mahatma Gandhi.”
The remarks attracted fierce criticism from the Congress with Rahul Gandhi leading the attack, saying those who follow Nathuram Godse's path of violence cannot understand Gandhi.
In a video message, the Congress leader said, "Those who get their world view in 'Shakhas' cannot understand Gandhi ji, they understand Godse and follow Godse's path."
"Gandhi ji was an inspiration to the entire world. Martin Luther King Junior, Nelson Mandela and Albert Einstein were all inspired by Gandhi. Crores of people in India follow Gandhi's path of truth and non-violence. This is the fight between truth and untruth, between violence and non-violence.
"Those who are violent and untrue neither understand non-violence nor truth," he said.
Taking another dig at Modi, the Congress leader said in another tweet: "Only a student of 'Entire Political Science' would need to watch the film to know about Mahatma Gandhi."
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said she heard from PM Modi that no one knew Mahatma Gandhi until an Englishman made a film on him.
"Not only did the whole world know him, the freedom movements of many countries were also inspired by him.
"It is surprising to know that the prime minister knows so little about the history of his country and the heroes of the freedom movement. Perhaps for them, Gandhiji is also just a PR stunt," she said in a post in Hindi on X.
Jairam Ramesh said, "I don't know in which world the outgoing prime minister lives where Mahatma Gandhi was not recognised across the world before 1982. If anyone has destroyed the legacy of the Mahatma, it is the outgoing prime minister himself.
"His own government has destroyed Gandhian institutions in Varanasi, Delhi and Ahmedabad," Ramesh alleged
"This is the identity of the RSS workers that they do not know the nationalism of Mahatma Gandhi. It is due to the environment created by their ideology that Nathuram Godse killed Gandhi, Ramesh said in his post on X.
Congress general secretary, organisation, K.C. Venugopal said Mahatma Gandhi is the greatest icon of modern history in the world and even before Independence, he was a phenomenon that every colonised country admired and looked to for inspiration.
"Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther King, who Modi referred to in his ludicrous statement, were inspired by Gandhi himself.
To think that a movie was required to popularise India's greatest thought leader since the Buddha is not only ignorant but also an insult to Bapu," Venugopal said in a post on X.
Congress leader P. Chidambaram said he was appalled by the prime minister's comment.
"Has Mr Modi heard of the name Albert Einstein? Does Mr Modi know what Albert Einstein said of Mahatma Gandhi? Did Albert Einstein (died 1955) know about Mahatma Gandhi only after the film 'Gandhi' was released (1982)," he asked.
