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Congress releases Sardar Patel's letter to Golwalkar

The Congress today released a copy of a letter written by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel in which the first home minister of independent India had charged the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh with spreading "communal poison", resulting in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, 1948.

"As a final result of the poison, the country had to suffer the sacrifice of the valuable life of Gandhiji," Patel wrote to RSS chief M S Golwalkar aka Guruji on September 11, 1948.

"Even an iota of sympathy of the government or of the people no more remains for the RSS. The opposition [to the RSS] turned more severe when the RSS men expressed joy and distributed sweets after Gandhiji's death," Patel wrote.

Defending the government's decision to ban the RSS, Patel said that in these conditions it had become inevitable for the government to take action against the RSS.

Patel said all the speeches of RSS leaders were full of communal poison and it was not necessary to spread poison and induce the Hindus and organise for their protection, he said.

UNI

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