BJP lawmaker Sakshi Maharaj said Nathuram Godse is a patriot. However, he later retracted.
A lawmaker Sakshi Maharaj, today embarrassed his party the ruling BJP by describing Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse as a "patriot."
Amid outrage at his comment, he soon retracted, saying, "I don't consider Godse a patriotic person. I take back my words if I said something by mistake. I didn't say that Godse was a patriotic person."
He had earlier said, "I feel Nathuram Godse was a patriot just as Mahatma Gandhi was."
The opposition Congress demanded that a case of treason be filed against Sakshi Maharaj. Mahatma Gandhi's grandson Tushar Gandhi said, "Sakshi Maharaj is at least honest enough to come out and say what's in his heart... The government should endorse what Sakshi Maharaj has said, they shouldn't be double faced."
The government sought to distance itself from the new controversy, which was brought up in Parliament by Congress lawmaker Husain Dalwai who alleged that Godse was honoured at a function in Maharashtra recently. "It is absolutely wrong and the government should arrest them. Why is the government silent on the issue?" he asked.
Congress members protested loudly alleging that the function was organised among others, by the Bajrang Dal, an organisation affiliated to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS, the BJP's ideological mentor.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Venkaiah Naidu emphasised in the Rajya Sabha that, "There is no question of honouring such people. There is no question of the government doing it."
He also said, "We should leave the matter there, but defaming an organisation is not acceptable."
Nathuram Godse, a right-wing activist, had shot the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi thrice in the chest at point blank range on January 30, 1948. He was hanged in November 1949.