Ahmedabad: The proposed staging of the play ‘I Am Nathuram Godse’ has been cancelled in Ahmedabad following protests by the National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and the Youth Congress, extending a controversy that has already led to cancellations in Rajkot and Jamnagar.
The play was scheduled to be performed on Monday at the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay Auditorium in the Bodakdev area.
Organisers decided to cancel the show after protests escalated in different parts of the city, citing concerns related to law and order.
According to sources, nearly 75 per cent of the tickets had already been sold online, with ticket prices fixed at Rs 275.
Gujarat Congress spokesperson Parthivraj Kathwadia said the play was unacceptable in the state associated with Mahatma Gandhi.
“How can a play based on Godse, the assassin of the Father of the Nation and independent India’s first terrorist, be tolerated on Gandhi’s birthplace and workplace?” he said.
He added, “Gujaratis, Gandhians and patriotic citizens can never accept the insult to Mahatma Gandhi. The people of Gujarat have rejected Godse’s ideology, which is why the shows in Rajkot and Jamnagar were stopped, and now the Ahmedabad show has also been cancelled.”
He further said the Congress would continue to oppose any attempt to present Godse’s ideas. “For Gujarat and for India, Godse will always remain a villain, while Mahatma Gandhi was, is and will always be the hero for the country and the world,” he said.
On Sunday, NSUI and Youth Congress workers staged demonstrations in areas including Bodakdev and along Sindhu Bhavan Road.
Protesters raised slogans opposing Nathuram Godse and wrote messages on public walls asserting that a play centred on Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin would not be accepted in Gujarat.
As part of the protest, activists also carried out symbolic actions such as defacing images of Godse with black ink.
Congress leaders warned that the performance would not be allowed to proceed if staged in the city.
The controversy began last week in Rajkot, where the play was cancelled after Congress workers entered the venue before the show began and damaged stage property.
Protesters alleged that the play sought to glorify Godse and amounted to an insult to Mahatma Gandhi.
Police detained around 40 Congress workers following the incident. The organisers subsequently announced that the show had been cancelled, offered refunds to ticket-holders and apologised to audience members who had arrived to watch the performance.
With the Ahmedabad performance now cancelled, the play has been withdrawn from all three cities amid continuing opposition across Gujarat.
(IANS)
