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Video Producer: Furqan Faridi
Adding to her list of controversial statements, BJP MP from Bhopal, Pragya Singh Thakur, on Thursday, 16 May, said that Nathuram Godse, the man who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, "was a deshbhakt, is a deshbhakt and will remain one". She later apologised, saying that she respected Gandhi and that her comments had been twisted by the media.
In light of her comment, The Quint spoke to some citizens of the country to understand their opinion on Godse and whether they agreed with Thakur’s comment.
Aditya Tiwari, a student, said that Thakur's comments on Karkare and her calling Godse a patriot showed that it was a planned political move by BJP to try and promote a radical kind of nationalism and Hindutva. He added that her winning the election would be an unfortunate event for democracy in India.
Sonu Sita Ram, a resident of Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, told The Quint that Godse had assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, an act which could not be accepted. "There are other ways of showing patriotism, but how can we accept the assassination of the Father of the Nation," he asked.
Anjum Mahant, a resident of Guwahati, also agreed, saying that he did not believe that Godse was a patriot, adding that it was just the narrative of the BJP and the RSS.
Shalini Jha, a student in Mumbai, said that Thakur should not have made such statements because Gandhi was not just a Hindu leader or a Muslim leader but an Indian leader, a respected one.
However, some people also agreed with Thakur's statement. Sakshi Bhatia, a social activist in Chandigarh, said that she believed that Godse had been a ‘patriot’, but that shooting Gandhi had not been the right way to display his patriotism.
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Published: 16 May 2019,03:50 AM IST