A controversy erupted in the Indian state of Kolkata after the Hindu group, All India Hindu Mahasabha, depicted a Mahatma Gandhi lookalike as a demon.
India's freedom icon, also known as Father of the Nation, Gandhi was shot dead by a self-acclaimed Hindu nationalist Godse on January 30, 1948.
In the photo, which has now gone viral on social media, asura (demon) can be seen at the feet of the goddess, a bespectacled, dhoti-clad bald man with a walking stick who appears similar to Gandhi.
The Durga Puja idol organized by the Hindu Mahasabha in Kolkata's Ruby Park designed to replace the Asura with Mahatma Gandhi
© Photo : Twitter/ @soumodiptoroyy
Local police on Monday filed a complaint against West Bengal All India Hindu Mahasabha President Chandrachur Goswami, saying that a wig and a moustache are added to the lookalike idol.
Hindu Mahasabha is as old a group as BJP's ideological partner organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), though RSS started distancing itself from Hindu Mahasabha when the organization started honoring Gandhi's killer Nathuram Godse.
In particular, Hindu Mahasabha has often criticized Gandhi for his support of Muslims, which led to the India-Pakistan partition in 1947. However, neither BJP nor RSS has publicly criticized Hindu Mahasabha, due to which many opposition parties say that BJP is supporting Hindu Mahasabha ideology.
Meanwhile, Goswami told India Today, "Many people said it looks like Gandhi. However, it is also true that Gandhi must be criticized," adding that Gandhi's role in India's freedom movement needs to be "re-evaluated."
Meanwhile, BJP's West Bengal unit spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya told reporters, “We do not support such things. Such things are absolutely unacceptable and the administration should take immediate steps against the organizers.”