Pragya Singh Thakur calls Godse a patriot, rubbishes Kamal Haasan

BJP’s Bhopal candidate Pragya Singh Thakur on Thursday (May 16) called Nathuram Godse, who killed Mahatma Gandhi, a “deshbhakt” (patriot). “Godse was a patriot and will remain a patriot. People calling him a terrorist should look within and will be given a befitting reply in this election,” she said when asked to react to actor-turned-politician Kamal Haasan’s remark on Godse.

Thakur, who is an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, had earlier said the late Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare had been cursed to death in the 26/11 terrorist attack by her.

Haasan recently kicked up a furore with his remark on Godse when he said “independent India’s first extremist was a Hindu”. Even though his party later said his comments were “taken out of context”, Haasan faced an attack on Wednesday evening when slippers were hurled at the actor-turned-politician while he was campaigning in Tirupparankundram assembly constituency in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai.

Eleven people, including BJP workers and members of another outfit, Hanuman Sena, have been named in the police complaint. They reportedly threw the slippers towards the stage when Haasan was addressing the crowd. The slippers did not hit Haasan and fell on the crowd, said police.

Haasan had made the remarks on Nathuram Godse while campaigning for bypoll in Aravakurichi, which along with three other Assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu, are going to polls on May 19.

Kamal Haasan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam or the MNM, which has made a debut this national election, have fielded candidates from these seats.

“I am not saying this because this is a Muslim-dominated area, but I am saying this before a statue of Gandhi. Independent India’s first extremist (theeviravaadi) was a Hindu, his name is Nathuram Godse. There it starts.”