AGARTALA, Dec 25 (TIWN): Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) paid tribute to Swami Shraddhanand on his death anniversary.

The saint was associated with Congress, Freedom movements against the British and also voiced against the conversion of Hindus into other religions.

On his assassination day or ‘Balidan Dibash’ day, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad paid tribute at City Center premise.

To protect Hindu society from the onslaught of Christianity and Islam forced conversions, the Arya Samaj represented by him, started the 'Shuddhi' ( purification) movement to reconvert to the Hindu fold the converts of Christianity and Islam. This led to increasing communalisation of social life during the 1920s and later snowballed into communal political consciousness. Consequently, on 23 December 1926 he was assassinated by a provoked Jihadist, Abdul Rashid.[10] Upon his death, Gandhi moved a condolence motion at the Guwahati session of the Congress on 25 December 1926. An excerpt from the speech in relevant part reads "If you hold dear the memory of Swami Shraddhanandji, you would help in purging the atmosphere of mutual hatred and calumny. You would help in boycotting papers which foment hatred and spread misrepresentation. I am sure that India would lose nothing if 90 per cent of the papers were to cease today. . . Now you will perhaps understand why I have called Abdul Rashid a brother and I repeat it. I do not even regard him as guilty of Swamiji's murder. Guilty indeed are all those who excited feelings of hatred against one another. For us Hindus the Gita enjoins on us the lesson of equi-mindedness; we are to cherish the same feelings towards a learned Brahman as towards a chandala, a dog, a cow or an elephant."