Farmers Movement Archive

'PM Modi’s andolanjeevi remark is insult to freedom movement': Shiv Sena

Shiv Sena targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his 'andolanjeevi' remark in the Parliament and said that it was an insult to India's freedom movement. Sena leader and chief spokesperson Sanjay Raut, in his weekly column ‘RokhThok’, said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would not have reached this level in the country had it not been for its various agitations, including the Ram temple movement, the removal of Article 370 and agitation against inflation.Sena also accused PM Modi of ridiculing protesters including the farmers agitating against the three farm laws.“Prime Minister Modi has made fun of the country's agitations. The BJP continued its agitation from the emergency to the Ayodhya movement, from inflation to the removal of Article 370. Had the Ram movement not happened, the BJP would not have been seen today. When PM Modi of that BJP ridicules protesters as 'andolanjeevi', the freedom movement is also insulted,” Raut wrote in the column published in party's editorial mouthpiece Saamana on Sunday.Also read: Taliban chief Haibatullah Akhundzada killed in Pakistan ‘months ago’ - ReportsHe added that the country has a history of agitations and Mahatma Gandhi and Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar were the biggest 'andolanjeevi'. “Several statues are instants in the Parliament complex and all of them have a history of agitation. All the statues are now saying, ‘You are sitting on the throne because of our agitation.’“The Prime Minister has ridiculed the activists who took to the road by mentioning the word 'andolanjeevi'. Not only farmers who have been protesting against the agricultural law for three months but those who protested for the country's independence were also ridiculed with his remark,” it said.The Shiv Sena parliamentarian also took a jibe at BJP saying that Jana Sangh leaders including its founder Shyama Prasad Mukherjee have had held protests. Mukherjee led an agitation against the revocation of Article 370 and now his sacrifice is being called 'andolanjeevi'.“What should the agitations by the BJP be called? The party held many agitations. Then they were done for political interests and to gain power, that is to say. The abrogation of Article 370 was the biggest movement of the BJP. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee did protest to revoke Article 370. Mukherjee's sacrifice is now called 'andolanjeevi'. When revolutionaries come to power, they take the sacrifice of ideals of revolutionaries first. This is happening in our country,” Raut wrote.

Hindustan Times

14-02-2021

Mumbai