In Gwalior, a library for Godse to prove his 'nationalism'

Now, a library in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior will stand testimony to what the Akhil Bhartiya Hindu Mahasabha thinks is “nationalism” of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse, in a not-the-first attempt by right-wing outfits to idolise the killer of Father of the Nation.

Christened Godse Gyanshala, the library, which has on its shelves literature on how Godse had plotted Gandhi’s assassination, and his speeches and articles, was opened “to instil true nationalism that Godse stood for in today’s ignorant youth,” according a Mahasabha leader. It was inaugurated at the Mahasabha’s office at Daulat Ganj, Gwalior.

The Mahasabha’s vice-president Jaiveer Bharadwaj said that the library was opened to “put before the world, the true nationalist that Godse was.” “He stood and died for an undivided India. The purpose of the library is to instil true nationalism that Godse stood for in today’s ignorant youth,” he added, according to reports.

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Stating that Godse had oppose the Partion of India, Bharadwaj said Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohammad Ali Jinnah had divided the country to fulfil their desires to govern a nation.

The library dedicated to Godse was decided to be built in Gwalior since it was where the assassination of Gandhi was plotted and a pistol was also purchased. Earlier, the Gwalior Mahasabha office had opened a temple dedicated to Godse on their premises but it was removed after Congress opposed it.

Meanwhile, the state’s protem Speaker Rameshwar Sharma had also called the Partition a “mistake by Mahatma Gandhi”. “It was Mahatma Gandhi’s mistake that Mohammad Ali Jinnah succeeded in dividing India into two parts,” reports quoted him as saying in Bhopal.

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Godse, who had shot the Father of the Nation dead from point blank range on January 30, 1948 and was later sentenced to death, has always been a right-wing idol. So much so, a Mahasabha leader had in 2019 shot at a Gandhi effigy to mark his death anniversary and garlanded the statue of his Godse, in UP’s Aligarh.

Attempts to revive Godse as a national idol has been on for quite some time with his name becoming a top trend on Twitter even on Gandhi Jayanti. Not to be forgotten that BJP MP Pragya Thakur had called the Hindu extremist a “patriot” leaving her party red-faced; she had later withdrawn the remark.