The Sidhi police have said a case cannot be made out over a social media post by an alleged member of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), wherein he had replaced Mahatma Gandhi’s image with assassin Nathuram Godse’s on a ₹10 currency note and wrote “Long live Nathuram Godse” on his birth anniversary on May 19.
“There is no case in this,” S.M. Patel, in-charge, Kotwali Sidhi police station, told The Hindu. “We are unable to find him [the accused] but have his mobile number, using which we are going to trace him. We will first inquire into the matter and then take action.”
In the post description, Shivam Shukla even modified Gandhi’s couplet in the Facebook post to say: “Raghupati Raghav Raja Ram, desh bacha gaye Nathuram (Nathuram saved the country)”. In another profile, he is seen alongside BJP MP from Sidhi Riti Pathak and sporting a BJP scarf in photographs.
The National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Congress, filed a complaint with the police on May 20, demanding a case be registered against Mr. Shukla, who they claim is a student leader of the ABVP, affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, on charges of sedition and fraud.
“On the one hand, people of all castes and religions, political parties rising above ideologies, have come together to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, on the other hand, some elements in society are spreading hatred,” wrote Deepak Mishra, NSUI Sidhi unit president.
“With the aim to instigate riots, they are glorifying Mahatma Gandhi’s killer Nathuram Godse by creating his image on a ₹10 currency note, which is shocking to people as it is being circulated on the social media,” he added.