Mehbooba Mufti slams Pragya Singh Thakur's remarks on Nathuram Godse

Mehbooba Mufti

Jammu and Kashmir: PDP leader and former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir and Mehbooba Mufti on Thursday slammed at the BJP and said she takes pride in being termed 'anti-national' if a Hindu fanatic Nathuram Godse, who gunned down the father of the nation, is being hailed as a nationalist. "I take pride in being called an anti-national when a Hindu fanatic who gunned down Gandhi ji is hailed as a nationalist," Mufti wrote on her Twitter handle.

Mehbooba Mufti also said, "aisi nationalism aur desh bhakti humaray bas ki naheen. Yeh aapko mubarak. (Such kind of nationalism and patriotism are not our cup of tea. Congratulations to you!). Her response comes in the wake of BJP's candidate Pragya Singh Thakur's remarks terming Nathuram Godse, the man who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, as a 'deshbhakt' (patriot).

Former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister and National Conference leader Omar Abdhullah also condemned Pragya's remarks on Godse. "If the killer of the father of the nation is a patriot does that make Mahatma Gandhi anti-national?" queried Abdullah in his twitter post. Earlier in the day, when questioned about actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan's remark that India's first terrorist was a Hindu (in reference to Godse), Thakur had said, "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 had said. Haasan, the chief of political outfit Makkal Needhi Maiam, had said, "I am not saying this because many Muslims are here. I am saying this in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue. The first terrorist in independent India is a Hindu, his name is Nathuram Godse."

Soon after her comments stoked controversy, BJP strongly condemned the statement made by Pragya Thakur and said she should apologize publicly for terming Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse a 'true patriot'. "We completely disagree with the statement made by Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur about the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi ji. We strongly condemn this particular statement. The party will ask her for clarification, she should apologize publicly for this statement," BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao had told media.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh,said, "Modi ji, Amit Shah ji and the state BJP should give their statements and apologize to the nation. I condemn this statement, Nathuram Godse was a killer, glorifying him is not patriotism, it is sedition."

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Edited by mid-day online desk with inputs from Agencies