Hindu Mahasabha activists stopped from installing Nathuram Godse bust

Police on Friday foiled the attempt to install a bust of Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, by the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha in its office compound in Meerut. A large contingent of security personnel, deployed in the area, stopped the Mahasabha activists from going ahead with their plan to install a statue of Godse on January 30, the day Gandhiji was killed in 1948.

Prohibitory orders were earlier put in place to stop any such activity, Superintendent of Police (City) Om Prakash said. On directions of Additional City Magistrate Bramhapuri Deepali Koshid, police on Saturday last had sealed the area where the Mahasabha had planned to construct a "temple" for Godse, the police officer said.

Mahasabha leader Pandit Ashok Kumar Sharma, however, said police had detained several local activists and took away the "materials which was to be used in the function." Sharma said they would move the Allahabad High Court against the police action.

In December last, the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha activists had reportedly performed a ceremony here for building a "temple" dedicated to Godse, following which the administration ordered a probe into the matter. Meanwhile, Congress leader from Uttarakhand Dhirendra Pratap on Friday staged a protest at the Mahatma Gandhi's statue in Meerut demanding stern action against the persons who wish to install Godse's bust.