A day after BJP candidate from Bhopal, Pragya Singh Thakur, called Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin, Nathuram Godse, a patriot, a BJP spokesperson in Madhya Pradesh, Anil Saumitra, has created another controversy by saying that Mahatma Gandhi was Pakistan’s father of the nation. His comment, however, did not go down well with his party, which has suspended him from primary membership of the BJP.
In a Facebook post Saumitra said, “He (Mahatma Gandhi) was the father of the nation of Pakistan. India has produced crores of sons like him, some good and some bad”. Saumitra has been asked to submit a reply with the party on his controversial remark within 7 days.
While Saumitra Singh apologized for her utterance, he continued to defend his post. Talking to the local media in Bhopal Saumitra said, “There is no concept of ‘father’ of a nation in Indian culture, we are all sons of Bharat Mata. The word ‘father’ of the nation was coined by the Congress party and it has continued till date.”
Trying to justify his words that Mahatma Gandhi was Pakistan’s father of the nation, Saumitra said that Mahatma Gandhi helped in the creation of Pakistan, and helped both Jawaharlal Nehru and Mohammad Ali Jinnah.
Saumitra also said that BJP was the true follower of Gandhian tradition, like Swachhata Mission, Swadeshi, which the Congress party never followed.
Distancing themselves from Saumitra’s words, the BJP spokesperson Hitesh Bajpai said, “Our party president Amit Shah has made it clear that the party is against such statements. Explanations will be called from all those who have made such statements.
Rahul Gandhi has also reacted to the controversy over BJP leader Pragya Thakur’s statement on Nathuram Godse. “I finally got it. The BJP and the RSS…Are not God-Ke Lovers…They are God-Se Lovers,” he tweeted.
Congress spokesperson Pankaj Chaturvedi said BJP leaders have always tried to belittle Mahatma Gandhi in anyway possible, which includes glorifying Godse. Sometime back the Hindu Mahasabha tried to build Godse’s temple in Gwalior.The utterances are unacceptable to the people of the country and BJP also should condemn it.
First Published:
May 17, 2019 15:38 IST
Source: HindustanTimes