New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi today made a veiled attack on the RSS and its affiliates, saying that they opposed the Quit India Movement and cautioned the country against “resurfacing of the forces of darkness that are threatening the idea of India as a plural, inclusive and democratic society.’’ “We will not let India be a prisoner of narrow ideology and communally divisive politics,’’ Ms Gandhi said speaking in the Lok Sabha during a debate to commemorate 75th anniversary of Quit India movement during which Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also present. “While the occasion remands us of the sacrifices of our freedom fighters, but there were also certain people and organizations which opposed the ‘Quit India Movement’, and these people have no role in the freedom struggle,’’ she said. Along with the celebrations of the historic moment, there were today also some apprehension as to whether attempts were not being made to destroy the very foundations of India characterised by equality, free will, trust, social justice and the rule of law, she said. The Congress president sought to underline that under Gandhiji’s leadership, the freedom fighters fought for a plural and inclusive India, “but today it seems that the clouds of hate and divisive politics were hovering over the nation, posing danger to secular and liberal and democratic traditions”. Earlier, in the beginning of her speech, Ms Gandhi recalled the moment when Pt Jawaharlal Nehru moved the ‘Quit India’ resolution seconded by Sardar Patel at the Congress session in Mumbai on August 8. She also recalled Gandhiji’s words, “I have made the Congress take a pledge of “do or die”. She said thousands of Indians, including women and children plunged into the freedom struggle undeterred by atrocities committed on the protesters. The Congress president added that during freedom struggle, Pt Nehru spent several years in jail and many Congressmen and women workers even breathed their last in prison.
