CPI Rajya Sabha MP, Binoy Viswam, in a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the decision by the Varanasi administration to demolish the Sarva Sewa Sangh, urging him to stand in solidarity with the people of Varanasi and stop the bulldozing of the Sangh, an organisation closely linked with Mahatma Gandhi.

In the letter to PM Modi, MP Viswam stated, “I write this letter to convey distressing developments from your own Lok Sabha constituency which you have not taken note of. The Varanasi administration is demolishing the campus of the Sarva Sewa Sangh in Varanasi and several followers of Mahatma Gandhi, leaders of political parties, academicians and civil society activists were arrested for protesting this move. The administration wishes to demolish the seven decades old campus which houses a publishing house, a library, a free preschool, a Khadi Bhandar and a statue of Mahatma Gandhi to build a guest house in its place.” CPI Upper House MP stated further in the letter that the Sarva Sewa Sangh was founded back in 1948 by luminaries like Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Dr Rajendra Prasad, Kaka Kalelkar and Jayaprakash Narayan to unite “all constructive workers engaged in different fields in the country to achieve Swaraj based on the philosophy of Sarvodaya”, as dreamt by Gandhi.

“The Varanasi campus of the Sarva Sewa Sangh came into existence through the efforts of Vinoba Bhave, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Babu Jagjivan Ram and Jayaprakash Narayan to organize publishing activities to propagate Gandhian ideals to the people of the country. An organization with such rich history and contribution being demolished in your own constituency is a clear betrayal of Gandhian ideals,” the MP added in the letter.
Reminding PM Modi about his statement that “the Gandhian ideals of peace and harmony reverberate globally and give strength to millions” while unveiling a bust of Mahatma Gandhi in Hiroshima, MP Viswam said, “Looking at the destruction of an organization which is committed to spreading the same Gandhian ideals, it seems that you remember Gandhi ji only on foreign trips while dismantling his work and thoughts at home.”