The BJP’s candidate for the Lok Sabha elections from Bhopal Pragya Thakur asserted her recognition of Mahatma Gandhi’s killer Naturam Godse not an assassin but a ‘patriot’. On Thursday she made a controversial statement about Nathuram Godse and said that those who considered him a terrorist should contemplate and he was indeed a ‘patriot.’ Pragya Thakur is a terror accused candidate of the BJP and is contesting from Bhopal in this election season.
The Opposition parties spared no time in condemning her for the controversial comments and even her own party the BJP was quick to distance itself from her remarks. She was also asked to issue a public apology by the party.
Pragya Thakur listened to the party leaders and issued an apology while withdrawing her remarks. The statement which had brought her amidst great controversy was –
‘Nathuram Godse deshbakht the, aur rahenge. Unko Atankwadi kehne wale log swayam ke girebaan main jhank kar dekhe. Abke chunav main unhe jawab de diye jaega.’
(Nathuram Godse was a patriot and will remain so. The people who call him a terrorist should contemplate on their own lives. Such people will be given a fitting reply in these elections.)
Pragya Thakur had issued the controversial statement as a response to Makkal Needhi Maiyam founder Kamal Hassan’s speech at an election rally earlier in the month where he had referred to Godse as a terrorist. After the statement raised great deal of public condemnation and the party itself was compelled to distance itself from its candidate’s remarks, she was compelled to issue an apology.
In response to the remarks issued by Pragya Thakur, the EC has asked the Madhya Pradesh Chief Electoral Officer to submit a report on the matter.
It is ironic that while the nation is celebrating one of the greatest moments in its democratic history- the 17th Lok Sabha elections, political leadership is stooping to such unprecedented levels. The acknowledgement of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin as a ‘patriot’ is not only an assault on his legacy but also a brutal attack on the freedom struggle and the vision of an independent India that leaders like Mahatma Gandhi died for. This certainly seems like a conspiracy to insult Gandhian principles and justify a crime that is deeply embedded in the nation’s conscience.
Moreover, this also compels us to ask whether we find ourselves with a political culture that celebrates violence, celebrates hatred and worships brutality. It is sad that in the absence of civil political dialogue, exhaustive and theoretically informed debates on ideology and an acknowledgement of diversity as imperative for democracy- we have reduced politics into a competition for assault and degraded use of language. Can the mere distancing of the party from the statement, the issuing of an apology or the condemnation of a statement be enough to cleanse the dirty roads of Indian politics? For how many years more will we justify a culture of violence?
