On Gandhi Jayanti, His Assassin Nathuram Godse Is a Top Trend On Twitter

On Gandhi Jayanti, Nathuram Godse trended on Twitter | Image credit: Reuiters/Twitter

On Gandhi Jayanti, Nathuram Godse trended on Twitter | Image credit: Reuiters/Twitter

On January 30, 1948, Nathuram Vinayak Godse, a religious extremist and political activist, shot Gandhi three times in the chest at point-blank range.

Buzz Staff

On the 151st birth anniversary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a man who devoted himself to the dharma of non-violence and love, ghosts of past hate refuse to die down.

Even as Indians marked 2nd October, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi with tributes and heartfelt messages, trends on Twitter showed that many were still holding a candle for Nathuram Godse, the man who shot Bapu.

On January 30, 1948, Nathuram Vinayak Godse, a Hindu extremist, and political activist, shot Gandhi three times in the chest at point-blank range.

Vinayak, who was once a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and Hindu Mahasabha, was sentenced to death on November 8, 1949, after a year of explosive court hearings. He was hanged on November 15 of the same year.

While Godse's act has been widely criticised by the world, many have time and again cited Godse in a fair light, including BJP MP Pragya Thakur who in 2019 raised hell after referring to the assassin as "deshbhakt".

Even as BJO distanced itself from the comment and Gandhi's birthday was honoured by President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi who on Friday paid floral tributes Delhi's Rajghat where Gandhi lies interred, Godse trended on social media all day.

Many of the tweets notably came from bot accounts that on other days tweet about "Justice for Sushant", following the death by suicide of actor Sushant Singh Rajput.

Many took to the microblogging site to call out the trends, even as the 55,000 tweets under the #Godse hashtag and "Nathuram Godse Zindabad". Congress MP Shashi Tharoor said, "We know who has enabled this trend & whose face is hypocritically masked. I have no doubt Gandhi's India will prevail over Godse's.

This is not the first time that Godse's name has been used to attack the legacy of Gandhi in recent times. Earlier in May, A man from Sidhi district, claiming to be a member of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) - student outfit of the BJP - cloned a Rs 10 currency note replacing Mahatma Gandhi's image with that of Godse.

Before that on November 15, 2019, the death anniversary of Godse, the Hindu Mahasabha in Gwalior observed the 70th ‘Sacrifice Day’ of Nathuram Godse on Friday where the chief guest hailed Godse for assassinating Mahatma Gandhi.

Mahasabha members reportedly gathered at its office and performed 'aarti' of Godse and Narayan Apte, the co-conspirator who too was hanged for Gandhi's assassination.

Next Story