Close X
Monday, November 11, 2024
ADVT 
National

Congress Condemns Decision To Discontinue Indira, Rajiv Stamps

IANS, 15 Sep, 2015 11:50 AM
    The Congress on Tuesday condemned the Centre's decision to discontinue two postal stamps on Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, saying people "will not let the government get away with lowly politics of revenge."
     
    In a statement, Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said that Right to Information replies and news reports have revealed that the government has decided to discontinue postal stamps that were issued in memory of the two prime ministers.
     
    "The distastefully brazen manner in which the government has decided to discontinue the postal stamps depicts that hatred of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government in seeking personal vendetta has reached its zenith," he said. 
     
    "How low can Modi government stoop in its sinister attempt to erase the memory of the two martyr prime ministers?" he asked.
     
    The spokesperson said the Modi government had also changed names of two awards - 'Indira Gandhi Raj Bhasha Purushkar' and 'Rajiv Gandhi Rashtriya Gian-Vigyan Pustak Lekhan Purshkar' by removing names of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
     
    "Coming on the heels of blatantly partisan move of diluting the essence of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, this is yet again a black-hearted attempt to sidestep and expunge a powerful legacy of sacrifice and selfless nation building that is alien to BJP-RSS," Surjewala said.
     
    He said the Congress would take to the streets against the "blatantly partisan revisionism".
     
    An RTI query by the Indian Express has revealed that the stamps featuring the two prime ministers launched by the Department of Posts in December 2008, as part of its series `Builders of Modern India', has been discontinued.
     
    A Communications and IT ministry official told IANS that "omissions and additions" from an old series of stamp was a process and "nothing political" should be read into the move.
     
    "There are additions and deletions with the introduction of a new series," the official said.
     
    The news report also said that the Department of Posts was launching another series 'Makers of India' which will have 24 stamps featuring prominent personalities and a stamp on yoga. 
     
    It said that only four personalities - Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Mother Teresa and B.R. Ambedkar, who featured in `Builders of Modern India' series will be part of the new series.
     
    The Congress spokesperson said like other great nation builders, including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel, B.R. Ambedkar, Rajendra Prasad, Subhash Chandra Bose and Lal Bahadur Shashtri, both Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi shall always live in the hearts of people of the country.
     
    "They are, indeed, a part of the soul and essence that symbolizes India," Surjewala said, adding people need to be told how Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi led the country from one achievement to another and had strived for India's unity and made the supreme sacrifice.
     
    "They were not leaders of the Congress alone but leaders of the nation and its people," Surjewala said. 
     
    "Congress strongly condemns painful and poisonous attempts of Modi government at revising and rewriting India's legacy of service and sacrifice. People of this country will not let this government get away with lowly politics of revenge," Surjewala added.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    'Clean' Hydroelectric Power Poses Northern Methylmercury Threat: Study

    'Clean' Hydroelectric Power Poses Northern Methylmercury Threat: Study
    A new study by Harvard University researchers suggests hydroelectric projects will put more methylmercury pollution into northern ecosystems than climate change.

    'Clean' Hydroelectric Power Poses Northern Methylmercury Threat: Study

    Congress Working Committee Extends Sonia's Term By A Year, Lambasts Modi Government

    Congress Working Committee Extends Sonia's Term By A Year, Lambasts Modi Government
    BJP leader and union minister Smriti Irani hit hack at the Congress president over her "hawa baazi" remark, saying "whenever Sonia Gandhi targets us, people of India come to support Prime Minister Modi".

    Congress Working Committee Extends Sonia's Term By A Year, Lambasts Modi Government

    Flawed Science, Lack Of Consultation Cited As Ruling Ends Fracking Water Licence

    Flawed Science, Lack Of Consultation Cited As Ruling Ends Fracking Water Licence
    The Environmental Appeal Board has overturned a water licence granted to an oil and gas company in northeastern British Columbia, ruling the licence was based on bad science and bad faith.

    Flawed Science, Lack Of Consultation Cited As Ruling Ends Fracking Water Licence

    Public Fears Putting Uranium Mining On Same Footing As Shale Gas In Quebec

    Public Fears Putting Uranium Mining On Same Footing As Shale Gas In Quebec
    Fears about radioactive contamination may close the door to uranium mining in Quebec just as public angst shelved shale gas extraction in the province in 2011.

    Public Fears Putting Uranium Mining On Same Footing As Shale Gas In Quebec

    Second Attempted Child Abduction In Vancouver's Stanley Park, Police Arrest Man

    Second Attempted Child Abduction In Vancouver's Stanley Park, Police Arrest Man
    A two-year-old girl was grabbed by a man in Stanley Park's Lost Lagoon area around 2 p.m. on Monday. The girl's father confronted the man, who let go of the girl and ran off.

    Second Attempted Child Abduction In Vancouver's Stanley Park, Police Arrest Man

    Foreign Sailors Paid As $2 Per Hour While Canadian Crews Remain Jobless: Union

    Foreign Sailors Paid As $2 Per Hour While Canadian Crews Remain Jobless: Union
    The Seafarers International Union of Canada is preparing to take the federal government to court over the use of foreign sailors — some of whom are allegedly being paid as little as $2.02 per hour 

    Foreign Sailors Paid As $2 Per Hour While Canadian Crews Remain Jobless: Union