Chennai Jan 30 PTI Governor R N Ravi and Chief Minister M K Stalin on Sunday paid floral tributes here to Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary with the latter urging the people to take a vow that there is no place in the Indian soil for Nathuram Godses heirsRavi and Stalin paid floral tributes to a decorated portrait of the father of the nation placed close to a life size statue of Gandhi on the Marina beachfront hereIn a tweet Stalin urged people to take a pledge on the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi to uphold unity by nurturing love and brotherhood and let us take a vow that there is no place in the Indian soil for Godses heirs and their evil thoughts The Chief Minister did not explicitly name anyone in his postRavi also paid floral tributes to Gandhiji at the Raj Bhavan here and administered a pledge against untouchability and observed 2-minute silence as a mark of respect along with students from the institutions of Harijan Sevak Sangh and Raj Bhavan staffers and officialsOn the occasion Ravi hailed Mahatma Gandhi for his charismatic leadership to the freedom movement unwavering commitment to truth non-violence and dedication to serve the Scheduled Castes and downtroddenThe Govenror urged the people to pledge themselves on this day for adhering to his principles and rendering selfless service to promote fraternity in our society in strengthening and taking our nation on the progressive path a Raj Bhavan release saidThe Governor interacted with students and presented them with Mahatma Gandhis autobiography and sweets He advised the authorities to arrange for career counselling for students to enable them to decide on options after completing schoolingLed by Stalin Ministers Chief Secretary V Irai Anbu and top government officials took a pledge against untouchability on Saturday at the Secretariat here on the eve of Gandhijis death anniversary which is observed as Martyrs DaySimilarly senior government officials including district collectors administered the pledge against untouchability to government staff across Tamil Nadu on the Martyrs Day eveGandhi was assassinated by Nathuram Godse on January 30 1948 and the nation paid homage to the father of the nation on his 74th death anniversary PTI VGN ROH ROH

Mumbai Jan 22 PTI Actor and NCP MP Amol Kolhe facing flak in certain quarters for portrayal of Mahatma Gandhis assassin Nathuram Godse in an upcoming Hindi film has asserted he is a firm believer in Gandhian thoughts and maintained he took up the controversial role only to challenge himself as an artiste Kolhe facing criticism from a senior party colleague and also political opponents over the role clarified that he does not support the ideology of Godse However NCP president Sharad Pawar has come out in support of the actor In the film Why I Killed Gandhi directed by Ashok Tyagi and produced by Kalyani Singh the 41-year-old actor-politician will be seen as Mahatma Gandhis assassin The movie was shot in 2017 but is slated to release on January 30 - the day Gandhi was assassinated on the same date in 1948 - on an OTT platform Controversy over the actors role has kicked off a month after the trailer of the movie was dropped online In the trailer lasting 2 minutes and 20 seconds Kolhe known for playing the role of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and his son Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj in two separate Marathi TV serials is seen expressing his angst against Gandhi whom he holds responsible for the atrocities on Hindus in Pakistan In an interview to PTI Kolhe spoke at length about how he was initially hesitant to play the role of Godse the key reason to pick up this part and how he feels fortunate to have a considerate party leader like Sharad Pawar I had done roles in Marathi movie and television when the offer for Why I Killed Gandhi came I was initially excited that I am playing a role in a Hindi film But when I came to know about the role of Godse I told them makers it is against my personal ideology Kolhe said But as an actor many times you play roles which are not congruent with your ideology and still you play that role I was told that this role is all about the confession that Nathuram Godse gave in the inquiry commission held by Justice J L Kapur I said I will be doing this role as an actor he added Citing an example of Russian theatre legend Konstantin Stanislavski the actor-politician said this method of acting is difficult especially when you dont believe in the ideology of the character and yet you portray it with conviction This is a difficult task to do as an actor Kolhe said adding It becomes a different kind of a challenge It is a challenging task as I dont believe in the ideology and yet I had to portray the role As a challenge to an actor I picked up the role Once the camera starts rolling you have to put it aside However Kolhe insists that as a person he is a firm believer in Gandhian thoughts I follow the ideology that none of the killing can be justified you cannot justify a murder and my ideology remains the same I personally feel it assassination of Gandhi is one of the most unfortunate incidents in Indian history and a murder can never be justified he said Speaking of his process of getting into the skin of a character Kolhe said that as a performer it is essential to understand the psychological graph of the role When you play characters like Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj the process is very simple I go by the psychological graph of the character Once you get hold of the psychological graph the body language speech diction and other things automatically follow And in the same fashion I went ahead with the role of Godse he explained The MP from the Shirur Lok Sabha constituency in Pune district said that when he acted in the film way back in 2017 in his wildest dream he had not thought of joining the NCP and contesting the parliamentary elections in 2019 However Kolhe does admit that the thought of inviting conflict and criticism did come to his mind and that there can be some controversy over his role as Godse But he thinks Personal ideology and professional commitment are two different things and one needs to differentiate between the two One thing is very clear the party has nothing to do with this film simply because I did the film in 2017 when I was not associated with it Kolhe asserted The party should not be dragged into this controversy is my earnest request he said The actor-MP said he has huge respect for his party leader Sharad Pawar and feels fortunate that he has stood by him The freedom for artistes and personal ideology are two separate things and this has been shown by Pawar sahab for a long time And the same stand he took that whatever Amol Kolhe has done is in the capacity of an artiste He has shown trust in my ideology And I am very thankful After hearing his reaction I feel fortunate to work under his leadership that is so considerate Kolhe added On a concluding note Kolhe said now that he shoulders a responsibility of a Lok Sabha constituency and his partys ideology too as an actor he will consider the ideology of the party and choose roles more wisely Kolhes portrayal of Godse on the silver screen has not gone down well with some in the NCP While NCP leader and Maharashtra minister Jitendra Awhad has targeted Kolhe over the issue the opposition BJP sought to know the actor-turned-MPs exact stand on Godse Awhad has said that even if Kolhe had played Godse in his capacity as an actor It is indeed an endorsement of Godses views Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrakant Patil said Kolhe should clarify his exact stand on Godse and his views However Pawar has backed the actor-politician Dr Amol Kolhes decision to act in that movie should be seen as an artistes choice If he played that role it does not mean he subscribes to Godses ideology or views Pawar said If someone plays the role of Aurangzeb in a film it should not be seen as the actor becoming a supporter of the MughalsRavan abducted Sita in the Ramayana does it imply that the actor playing Ravan actually kidnapped her the NCP president added PTI KKP RSY NP NP

Ahmedabad Nov 17 PTI The Congress in Gujarat on Wednesday approached the police and demanded that people who installed Mahatma Gandhis assassin Nathuram Godses bust in Jamnagar be treated as anti-nationals and booked under the sedition law in the interest of the countrys integrity A delegation of senior Congress leaders MLAs and party workers met state Director General of Police DGP Ashish Bhatia and submitted a memorandum which stated that installing the bust of the man who murdered Gandhi was an attempt to attack the countrys integrity and was like an act of terrorism In the interest of the countrys integrity request you to take action against people behind this under sedition law the memorandum read A group of people from a right-wing outfit Hindu Sena had on Monday installed the bust which some Congress members demolished on Tuesday Police arrested seven persons from both sides on charges of promoting enmity It is a matter of shame that such a thing is happening in the Gujarat of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel Gandhi is celebrated the world over for this non-violence and dedicated his entire life to fight for the countrys freedom Congress leader Bharatsinh Solanki told reporters after meeting the DGP People who are behind this despicable act of installing the bust of the murderer of Mahatma Gandhi should be booked under sedition law because this is an anti-national act This is what we have demanded from the DGP he said Godses bust was installed by members of the Hindu Sena a right-wing outfit led by Jamnagar-based lawyer Pratik Bhatt in an open ground of a small temple-cum-ashram on Jamnagar city outskirts said inspector of Jamnagar A division police station Mahavir Jalu Upon learning about the bust installation president of Jamnagar city Congress Digubha Jadeja reached the spot along with party colleague Dhaval Nanda and demolished it Based on the complaints submitted by Bhatt and Jadeja police have lodged cross-complaints under section 153A of the IPC for promoting enmity between different groups PTI KA NP NP