Controversial BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur allegedly referred to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse as a “deshbhakt” during a debate in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday triggering protest by Opposition members. The comment came after she interrupted DMK MP A Raja, who was citing a statement by Godse on why he killed Mahatma Gandhi, during a discussion on the Special Protection Group (Amendment) Bill. “You cannot give example of a deshbhakt,” Thakur told Raja. Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla expunged her comment.
Later Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi claimed that she did not take the name of Godse or anyone else.
“According to Pragya Thakur, she has not said anything about or supported Nathuram Godse, she was only talking about Udham Singh,” said the Minister.
Joshi said when Pragya was speaking during the debate, the microphone was not on and it cannot be taken on record. “She has even explained this and told it to me personally,” Joshi said.
Reacting to her statement outside Parliament, Thakur said she would reply on Thursday. “Pehle usko poora suniye, mai kal dungi jawab (Listen to the whole thing first, I will reply tomorrow),” she said.
While the Opposition members protested the interruption by Thakur, the BJP members persuaded her to sit down. After which, the Speaker said only A Raja’s statement will be taken on record. Raja said that Godse himself admitted that he had nursed a grudge against Gandhi for 32 years before finally deciding to assassinate him. Godse, Raja said, killed Gandhi because he believed in a particular philosophy.
During the course of discussion on the Bill, Gaurav Gogoi of the Congress said that a member in the House has said that Nathuram Godse was a patriot and the member should apologise for the remark.
Reacting sharply to her comments, the Congress said it is a perfect representation of the ruling party’s “deplorable hate politics”.
“Repeatedly referring to Nathuram Godse as a ‘deshbhakt’ is a perfect representation of the BJP’s deplorable hate politics. Will PM Modi condemn Pragya Thakur’s remarks or continue to stay silent?” the party said on its official Twitter handle.
Even during the Lok Sabha election campaign, Thakur had described Godse as a patriot, triggering a huge political storm. “Nathuram Godseji deshbhakt the, hai, aur rahenge. Unko aatankwadi kahne wale log swayam ki gireban me jhaank kar dekhe. Chunav mein aise logon ko jawab de diya jayega. (Nathuram Godse was a patriot, is a patriot, and will remain a patriot. Those who call him a terrorist should look within and they will get a reply in this election),” she had stated while attending a roadshow.
She was replying to a question over actor-politician Kamal Haasan’s remark that independent India’s first “extremist was a Hindu”, a reference to Godse. However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the campaign, had said, “The remarks made about Gandhiji or Nathuram Godse are very bad and very wrong for society.... She has sought an apology but I would never be able to forgive her fully.”
“According to Pragya Thakur, she has not said anything about or supported Nathuram Godse, she was only talking about Udham Singh. He further said when Pragya was speaking during a debate in the Lok Sabha, the microphone was not on and it cannot be taken on record.