Mumbai: Gandhians have alleged that the Maharashtra government is trying to erase Mahatma Gandhi’s contribution in the country’s freedom struggle. Activists have demanded that the 11am siren calling to observe two-minute silence to commemorate the martyrdom of Mahatma Gandhi and other martyrs should be reinstated across the country.

Hum Bharat Ke Log, a social organisation, has announced a nationwide commemoration of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination day as the day of national unity, communal harmony, non-violence and peace. The initiative will host cultural programmes in the morning and a two-minute silence at 11am and 5.17pm at the time of Gandhi’s assassination.

However, these activists alleged that the siren tradition was abruptly stopped in Maharashtra making it a history. However, these Gandhians cited a 2018 Government Resolution from Maharashtra Governor to observe two-minute silence but missed out on Gandhi’s assassination as the reason of observing the silence.

Tusahr Gandhi, president of Hum Bharat Ke Log and the great-grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, said, “If the Governor misses out on Bapu’s name in the GR, they want to erase his contribution from people’s minds. They want us to think that Bapu did not attain martyrdom for the country. We need to fight this hate with the principles of Mahatma Gandhi and Bhagat Singh.”

The activists also announced that they will run social media campaigns on the Martyrs’ Day to oppose right wing supporters’ social media trends hailing Nathuram Godse. “We have witnessed in the last few years that BJP’s IT Cell trends hashtags related to Godse Zindabad on the day of Bapu’s assassination. We will run multiple hashtags related to Bapu and his principles to counter them,” said Feroze Mithiborwala of Hum Bharat Ke Log.