Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 2 : Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and senior Congress leader K. Muraleedharan criticised the Modi government, accusing it of systematically distorting history and dishonouring Mahatma Gandhi.

In a strongly worded Facebook post, CM Vijayan said Gandhi turned his life itself into a universal message, and was murdered by a Hindutva fanatic precisely because he stood uncompromisingly for democracy and secularism.

"Gandhi and his ideals stood in the way of divisive politics, which is what provoked the communal forces," the Chief Minister wrote.

The chief minister lashed out at the Centre for releasing a postal stamp and coin to mark the centenary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), an organisation that was banned after Gandhi's assassination.

Calling the move an "insult to the Constitution", he said the decision to issue them on the eve of Gandhi Jayanti itself showed that "even Gandhi's memory unsettles the Sangh Parivar".

He accused the government of repeatedly trying to project V.D. Savarkar, who was tried in the Gandhi assassination case, as a national symbol.

"This attempt to substitute Savarkar for Gandhi is a dangerous distortion that secular society must resist," CM Vijayan warned.

Echoing the sentiment, Muraleedharan declared that the Modi government's efforts to "belittle" Gandhi would be fought back and defeated.

Inaugurating a Gandhi Darshan programme in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday, Muraleedharan called the release of a Rs 100 coin carrying the stamp of the RSS "deplorable".

"Those who collaborated with the British during India's independence struggle have no moral right to decide this nation's course," he said.

Muraleedharan accused the Sangh of seeking to rewrite history to suit its "ideological agenda" and warned that such moves posed a direct challenge to India's "democratic and secular foundations".

Both leaders used Gandhi Jayanti to underline that the fight against communalism and historical revisionism remains critical, asserting that Gandhi's vision of pluralism is the true antidote to "divisive politics".

/IANS