“The country won independence only because of Congress struggle. The flag of the freedom movement itself is that of the Congress. The Indian tricolor is the Congress flag”, thus spake Karnataka Pradesh Congress Chief DK Shivakumar. As per Kannada media reports, he uttered these words while addressing a motley crowd of Congress workers at the KPCC office in Bengaluru on the occasion of Independence Day yesterday.
Addressing the gathering after hoisting the national flag, DK Shivakumar said that India’s independence and Congress are like two faces of a coin. Congress was formed for the sake of bringing freedom to India. Indian got independence only because of the Congress struggle, he claimed.
He further claimed that all great freedom fighters have their roots in the Congress. “The flag of the freedom movement itself is that of the Congress. The flag which great people like Mahatma Gandhi, Subhash Bose, BG Tilak held in their hands is the Congress flag. The Indian tricolor is the Congress flag”, he said. Hence, those of us who hold such Congress flag are indeed blessed, he said.
DK Shivakumar’s words of wisdom did not end there. He then said that just as we fought against the British for freedom, we are fighting to save the Constitution and rights today. We have to vow to safeguard the democratic principles in the country, he said.
Report in Kannada media on DK Shivakumar controversial statement
The Congress party and its leaders are yet to condemn the Jihadi mob which burned its own Dalit MLA’s house on August 11 in a organised riot. The Congress leaders ever since the riots shook Bengaluru have been monkey-balancing while speaking about the riots and have never once unequivocally named the Muslim mob which burned a police station, vehicles, crores of public property and a MLA’s house.
Readers commented that DK Shivakumar seems to have forgotten that it was a PM from his own party who imposed the dreaded emergency on the country and took away all rights guaranteed under the very Constitution which he claims to safeguard. He is also factually incorrect as the flag used during the freedom struggle was not the present Congress flag. He would do well to read the history of his own party before making such claims in public, commented another reader.
