Ignoring appeals from the Congress, Prime Minister I K Gujral has decided to attend the Quit India celebrations planned by the Shiv Sena-BJP government at the August Kranti Maidan in Mumbai to commemmorate the 1942 Quit India movement on August 9. Congress president Sitaram Kesri has refused to attend the event.
Gujrals move is bound to raise hackles within the United Front as well as the Congress at a time when the Manohar Joshi government is in the dock over the recent police firing on Dalits in Mumbai. The Lok Sabha is currently debating a Congress-sponsored special motion during which the party has demanded the coalition governments dismissal.
Official sources said Gujral cannot excuse himself from the function since it is a `national event, and is jointly sponsored by the Union ministry of human resources development. Elaborate preparations are being made by the state government to ensure that the day is celebrated in a grand manner. Several individuals who participated in the Quit India movement would be present at the function.
Two factors prompted Kesri to keep away from the function: the recent police firing and the related pillaging of senior Congress leader Chhagan Bhujbals house, and a memorandum submitted by Charan Singh Sapra, Mumbai Youth Congress chief. The memorandum asked Gujral not to give undue credibility to forces of communalism and fascism.
The Youth Congress memorandum said the Congress president should not attend the function organised by a government whose prominent leaders have refused to recognise Gandhi as the `father of the nation. It mentioned that such views had been frequently expressed by leaders like Bal Thackeray, Gopinath Munde and Pramod Mahajan. It also questioned the role of the BJP and Shiv Sena in the countrys freedom struggle.
In any case, Kesri would be in Calcutta from August 8 for the partys plenary session. Since he has declined to attend the Mumbai function, there would be no change in his schedule in Calcutta, the sources said. Prior to his refusal, Kesri was to have taken a short break to fly down to Mumbai for the function.
During a recent visit to the Capital, chief minister Manohar Joshi had announced that during the August 9 function, Gujral would inaugurate a special scheme on small savings in the state to raise Rs 10,000 crore. Joshi had said it was a national event, and had to be organised in a grand manner. There would be no restrictions on the expenses incurred for the event, he had stated.
