Gandhi effigy shot by Hindutva leader

An Indian right-wing organisation leader shot at an effigy of Mahatma Gandhi to mark the death anniversary of modern India’s founding father.  

The shocking incident, which has drawn widespread outrage and condemnation, took place in Aligarh city of Uttar Pradesh.

Puja Shakun Pandey, who is national secretary of Hindutva organisation ‘Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha’, shot at the effigy of Gandhi with a toy gun.

She later garlanded the statue of Nathuram Godse, the assassin who had taken the life of Gandhi in Delhi on January 30, 1948.

The day is marked as Martyrs’ Day in India, however, the organisation that recreated Gandhi’s assassination called it ‘Bravery Day.’

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Times of India reported Pandey as saying that she had started a new tradition and it was the same as Dussehra festival, in which demon king Ravana’s effigy is burnt.

In a video, which has since then gone viral on social media, Pandey aims at Gandhi’s effigy with a toy gun. When she “shoots” at it, a red-coloured liquid can be seen flowing from it.

The effigy was later set on fire while slogans praising Gandhi’s murderer can be heard in the background.

Aligarh police has registered a case against her and tens of unidentified persons under the sections of sections 147 (rioting), 148 (rioting, armed with deadly weapon), 149 (unlawful assembly), 295 A (Deliberate and malicious acts, intended to outrage religious feelings or any class by insulting its religion or religious beliefs) and 153 A (promoting enmity between different groups) of Indian Penal Code (IPC).