Some members of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha, a right-wing Hindutva group, "celebrated" the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi on Saturday.
Saturday marked the 68th anniversary of Gandhi's assassination by Hindu extremist Nathuram Godse on 30 January in 1948, and the day has since been observed as Martyrdom Day.
Sweets were distributed and members danced to songs at the Hindu Mahasbha's Meerut office on Saturday, The Hindu reported.
"We celebrate the fact that this country's hero Nathuram Godse eliminated Gandhi on this very day in 1948. Every year we distribute sweets, hire professional bands and invite people to dance to express our happiness at Gandhi's killing," Pandit Ashok Sharma, national vice president of the group, told the newspaper.
The Hindu Mahasbha outfit has carried out such controversial actions over Gandhi's assassination for several years.
Last year, the Hindu Mahasbha had launched a website dedicated to Godse, who was executed on 15 November, 1949. The outfit had also announced that it will build a "temple" in his memory.
Earlier this week, the outfit had observed the 67th Republic Day as a "black day", and "mourned" the Indian Constitution, deriding its definition of the country as secular.
