Patriotism “said Samuel Johnson is the last refuge of the scoundrel. In India, there has been an overwhelming debate on patriotism over the years. It became the national discourse after BJP came to power in 2014. Now there is a contesting idea of rating Nathuram Godse as a patriot.
For me, I am adamant on my opinion of defining Mr Godse, simply as put by other’s as well :
“Nathuram Godse, a boy trapped in confusion of sexuality, as he was brought up as a girl during his earlier period because of vernacular myths, his parents were cordoned off, a boy whose ingrains built on the idea of exclusion, a boy, for whom religious extremism was above all humanity, and finally a person, who culminated, to be the first terrorist of independent India “
Recently, a controversial BJP candidate Pragya Thakur contesting from Bhopal issued an insane and shocking statement:Nathuram Godse was a patriot and will remain so. People calling him a terrorist should introspect. They will be given a befitting reply in these elections].
A terror accused is glorifying the first terrorist of India and by this one can easily see the morphology and methodology of politics that’s taking place in India.This statement is clearly against the very foundations of such a nation. A person who has such understanding of history is asking for votes to represent them in Indian Parliament.
Rahul Ghandi is continuously asked to tender an apology whenever any of his aides makes some awkward statement, but here none of media houses is running after Pragya for her preposterous remarks. They should equally demand an apology from Narendra Modi or Amit Shah.
This is not the first time a BJP contestant has made such a repugnant remark. Earlier during the five years of BJP regime, there has been multiple such attempts to glorify Godse.
The affection of the Hindu Mahasabha Madhya Pradesh for Mahatma Gandhis assassin Nathuram Godse is well-known. Six months after setting up a Godse temple in Gwalior, the right-wing group celebrated his birth anniversary on 19th May in Bhopal.
The Godse worshippers gathered under a railway overbridge called Veer Savarkar Setu in the state capital with a garlanded picture of Gandhis murderer and were distributing sherbet (sweetened drink) to the people passing by.
It is also a fact that this campaign to glorify Godse and demonise Gandhi has caught speed with the ascent of a right-wing government at the centre (since 2014).Remember how BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj stirred a huge controversy when he called Godse a nationalist and a patriot on the floor of the house. In October 2014, a Malayalam mouthpiece of the RSS had said that Nathuram Godse should have killed former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and not Gandhi. The writer was none other than a BJP leader who had contested Lok Sabha elections.
It’s very disturbing to see such attempts to push the pseudo patriotism and to turn a terrorist into some sort of patriot.
I don’t know where India is headed to, but muted reaction to such statements aimed at demonising Mahatma Gandhi and exonerating Nathuram Godse of his crime amounts to their endorsement from the mainstream India.
Tawfeeq Irshad Mir
Srinagar
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