So Pragya Thakur outed herself today saying that Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, was a ‘Desh Bhakt’ and will always remain a ‘Desh Bhakt’ for her. It was a studied, well-considered statement. Dug up from the depths of her psyche. A core belief.
The same Pragya Thakur, who is a terror accused. The same Pragya Thakur who was hand-picked by the BJP as their Bhopal candidate. The same Pragya Thakur who insulted another brave martyr, police officer Hemant Karkare.
The same Pragya Thakur may walk into India’s Parliament. What a travesty that would be.
The Mahatma guided and motivated millions of disempowered Indians to take on the might of the British Empire. He won us our freedom without ever needing to throw a stone as a part of his struggle. The genius of non-violent struggle was shot dead by a fanatic called Nathuram Godse just months after he delivered India her freedom. Our Parliament symbolises that freedom. Such a shame that someone who idolises Bapu’s assassin, has every chance of actually entering that building.
When Pragya was nominated as BJP’s Bhopal candidate, PM Modi defended her, saying the Congress is defaming her by labelling her a terrorist. Poor Pragya!
After the Karkare comment too, Pragya was defended by the BJP that her comment was triggered by torture that she allegedly faced at the hand of the police. Poor Pragya.
And now this!
The BJP has been sensible and has condemned her statement, even saying that she has apologised. Till the time this write-up was published, no apology from Pragya was in the public domain in any manner. We will include that, if and when that happens.
But will an apology cut it? Sorry, not at all. Apologies haven’t cut it even in the case of a Mani Shankar Iyer, for instance.
What will cut it is expelling Thakur from the BJP. Barring her from entering Parliament even if she wins in Bhopal. But, surely, no chance of that.
Public outcry on Twitter is one-sided. People are appalled. Here are a few samples below.
I can think of only one man who would forgive Pragya Thakur. The Mahatma himself. Unfortunately, we are all lesser than him.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)