JAMMU: Describing the replacement of Mahatma Gandhi by Narendra Modi in the calendar and diary issued by Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), Govt of India, as an act of national sacrilege, Harsh Dev Singh JKNPP Chairman and former Minister, remarked that none could become a Mahatma merely by getting himself photographed with a Charkha. He said that the picture of Mahatma Gandhi with Charkha stood for a set a values and symbolised austerity, sacrifice and simplicity. How could a political demagogue wearing a Rs 10 lakh luxury-monogrammed suit be chosen as a mascot for Khadi and that too by replacing Bapu the father of the nation? Questioned Harsh. He said that the move had only evoked cynicism besides rendering the PM as an object of contemptuous humorous disparagement. Terming the act of KVIC as absurd and ludicrous, he said that no one had the charisma and appeal to replace the iconic image of the Father of the Nation, who had secured a highly respectful and permanent place in the collective conscience of the country and the world at large.
Condemning the Central Government for promoting the culture of sycophancy and personality cult, Singh said that its latest move had invited country wide ridicule and derision adding that the silence maintained by the PM on the subject was also intriguing given his penchant for publicity, pomposity and ostentation, luxury suits and expensive clothes, media attention and for grandeur and power. He said that Modi had not only become the mascot for Khadi but had even allowed a temple to be built in his name landing him in massive embarrassment in the recent past. Is it the insecurity or the impudence that is making muscular Modi to go for these petty enticements? Questioned Harsh urging the GoI at the same time to stop fiddling with national sentiments.
Maintaining that Mahatma Gandhi was an epitome of humility and self less sacrifice, Singh said that none had the puissance to come anywhere near to his sublime persona. Any attempt to bring the self promoting and self aggrandising politicians in comparison to Gandhi would not only invite ridicule and contempt but could spark massive outrage, warned Singh.