Pragya terms Godse ‘deshbhakt’, apologises amid outrage on social media
The BJP distanced itself from her statement saying it did not agree with her, as "Mahatma Gandhi's killer cannot be a patriot"
Bhopal: Amid the raging controversy over Kamal Haasan’s remarks on Nathuram Godse, Bharatiya Janata Party’s Lok Sabha poll candidate from Bhopal, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur kicked up another row on Thursday. Speaking to reporters, Pragya Thakur, who is an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, called Godse, the assassin of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, a deshbhakt (patriot). “Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt, is a deshbhakt and will remain a deshbhakt. People calling him a terrorist should instead look within, such people will be given a befitting reply in these elections,” she said. Haasan, the founder of the Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM), had earlier this week triggered a massive controversy when he described Godse as independent India’s first Hindu extremist. On Wednesday, Haasan clarified that he had not used the term ‘terrorist’ when talking about Nathuram Godse, as had been reported. “What I spoke in Aravakurichi is ‘historic truth’,” he, however, added. Haasan also said that his remarks were in reference to Godse only and not about Hindus as a whole. Meanwhile, the BJP has distanced itself from Pragya Thakur’s remarks. Spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said the party strongly disagrees with her statement and will ask her to tender a public apology for the same. “BJP does not agree with this statement, we condemn it. Party will ask her for clarification, she should apologise publicly for this statement,” Rao said in a statement. Reacting to Pragya Thakur’s remarks, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said the Bhopal candidate’s remarks are not her ‘personal opinion’ and that the BJP was standing by independent India’s first terrorist. “Remember, Narendra Modi has defended & endorsed Pragya’s candidature. This is not a ‘lunatic fringe’ & is definitely not her ‘personal opinion’, it is the BJP standing by independent India’s first terrorist. In few years, Sri Sri Godse will also be recommended with a Bharat Ratna,” Owaisi tweeted, mocking the BJP. The Congress too slammed the remarks of Pragya Thakur, saying it shows the BJP people are the true descendants of Godse. “They call Godse a patroit and martyrs like Hemant Karkare as ‘traitors’. Culture of violence and insulting martyrs is in the DNA of BJP,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said at a press conference.
