BJP's Pragya Thakur Apologises For Calling Mahatma Gandhi Assassin Nathuram Godse A "Patriot"

বাংলায় পড়ুন தமிழில் படிக்க हिंदी में पढ़ेंAll India  Reported by Anurag Dwary, Edited by Deepshikha Ghosh

Lok Sabha elections 2019: Pragya Thakur said, "Nathuram Godse was a deshbhakt, is a deshbhakt and will remain a deshbhakt"

Updated : May 16, 2019 19:09 IST

Story Highlights

• Pragya Thakur was asked to respond to Kamal Haasan's comments
• Mr Haasan said Godse "first extremist of independent India, was Hindu"
• "Nathuram Godse was, is and will remain a deshbhakt (patriot)," she said New Delhi: 
  Nathuram Godse, the man who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, "was a deshbhakt (patriot), is a deshbhaktand will remain one," the BJP's Pragya Singh Thakur said today, adding to her growing list of controversial statements. After outrage over her remarks and the BJP distancing itself from it, Pragya Thakur apologised and retracted her statement, news agency Press Trust of India reported.
  The saffron-wearing Pragya Thakur, the BJP's candidate in Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, had been asked to respond to an ongoing controversy over south superstar-turned-politician Kamal Haasan, saying that "Godse, the first extremist of independent India, was a Hindu".The "Sadhvi" who is the main accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast was asked for a response in the context of allegations of "Hindu terror".
  "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 fitting reply in the election," Pragya Thakur told reporters8.Condemning her comments, the BJP said she should apologise. "BJP does not agree with this statement, we condemn it. Party will ask her for clarification, she should apologise publicly for this statement," party spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao said.
  Dubbed accused No. 1 in the Malegaon blasts in which six people were killed and more than 100 injured, Pragya Thakur was seen as the face of what was termed Hindu terror during the Congress-led UPA government's rule
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  In a highly polarised campaign in Bhopal, 49-year-old Pragya Thakur made controversial remarks like "cursing" Hemant Karkare, who died fighting terrorists during the 26/11 attacks, and bragging about participating in the demolition of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya.
  She was asked by her party to dial down her statements and even banned temporarily from campaigning by the Election Commission.