“Mahatma Gandhi’s Father was Muslim Landlord”, claims Bhide Guruji; Congress seeks arrest him. 

Congress seeks arrest of Hindutva activist Sambhaji Bhide for questioning Mahatma Gandhi’s lineage.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that the government will look into the statement made by Bhide before taking any action.

Sumitra Shinde | HENB | Mumbai | 29, 2023:: The Congress on Friday sought the arrest of Hindutva activist Sambhaji Bhide after he allegedly made a statement questioning the lineage of Mahatma Gandhi.

“In Amaravati, a person called Sambhaji Bhide made a derogatory remark against the Father of the Nation that could spread hatred in the society. This person must be arrested immediately,” former Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan said in the state Assembly.

Sambhaji Bhide, the founder of Shiv Pratishthan’s Hindustan organization, has spoken about Mahatma Gandhi. ‘Mahatma Gandhi’s name is said to be Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, but Karamchand Gandhi is not Mohandas Gandhi’s father. His real father is a Muslim landlord’, said Sambhaji Bhide. Bhide has made this statement in a program organized in Amravati city on Thursday (July 27), and a controversy has ignited over this.

It so happened that a meeting of Sambhaji Bhide was organized on the night of July 27 at Jai Bharat Mangalam on Badnera Road in Amravati city. Speaking in this program, Bhide made a controversial statement about Mahatma Gandhi.

‘Mahatma Gandhi’s father was a Muslim’ – Bhide

Sambhaji Bhide said, “Karamchand Gandhi, who is said to be the father of Mahatma Gandhi, was employed by a Muslim landlord. Karamchand Gandhi had fled after stealing a large sum of money from that landlord. So the enraged Muslim zamindar abducted Karamchand Gandhi’s wife i.e. Mahatma Gandhi’s mother and brought him home.”

Sambhaji Bhide did not stop there. He added, “After abducting Mahatma Gandhi’s mother, the landlord treated her like a wife. So Karamchand Gandhi is not the real father of Mahatma Gandhi, he is the son of that Muslim landlord. Mahatma Gandhi was educated and cared for by the same Muslim landlord. I have proof of this too”, said Bhide.

‘Expel such leaders from politics’, what did Sambhaji Bhide say

Speaking at the same event, Sambhaji Bhide said, “India is the only Hindu majority country in the world. The fame and bravery of Hindus is immense. Currently, Hindus have forgotten their own duties, responsibilities and the pride of Hindu religion. Due to this, Hindus and Hindus are declining. Do not preach equality of all religions in the country. Leaders who give such sermons have to be expelled from politics”, said Bhide.

There was a reaction in the assembly

Congress has expressed its anger on this statement made by Sambhaji Bhide. Congress leader and former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan raised this issue in the Legislative Assembly. Sambhaji Bhide has made a statement about Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi. So Chavan demanded that they should be arrested.

Maharashtra CM Shinde remarked

After Ex-Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan’s demand to arrest Bhide, the present CM Shinde passed his opinion on the present row.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that the government will look into the statement made by Bhide before taking any action.

Bhide Guruji

 Sambhaji Bhide is a prominent right wing activist with a string of controversies to his credit. He is popularly known as Bhide Guruji. In his late 80s now, he was an active worker of the RSS before he formed his own Hindu outfit Shri Shivpratishthan Hindusthan in the 1980s. Based in Sangli, he has lakhs of followers in the state as well as in other parts of the country.

In January 2014, Narendra Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat and BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, was a key speaker at an event organised by Bhide’s outfit at the historic Raigad Fort.

As per a report of TOI, ‘Professor’ Bhide, a PhD in physics with a gold medal in MSc, relinquished this identity when he quit his job at Fergusson College in Pune in the 1980s to pursue his passion to mobilize youths to conserve Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s forts.

Bhide Guruji introduced the annual Durga Mata Daud during Navaratri in Maharashtra and Karnataka to rejuvenate the Hindu youths in the work of Hindutva movement.

FIR against Bhide Guruji

Amravati district police in Maharashtra on Saturday registered a case against radical Hindutva leader Sambhaji Bhide for allegedly making offensive comments on Mahatma Gandhi, an officer said. The First Information Report (FIR) was lodged a day after the Maharashtra unit of the Congress party demanded his arrest in the Assembly.

The Rajapeth police has registered the case against Mr. Bhide under Indian Penal Code Section 153A (promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, place of birth, residence, language, etc., and doing acts prejudicial to maintenance of harmony), the officer said.

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__Inputs from Express News Service, The Hindu  & Mumbai Tak.