Actor Swara Bhaskar, who has been a fierce critic of the Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, growing fascism and and the rise of Hindutva, tweeted about the assassination of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi on his 71st death anniversary.
Bhaskar wrote: “Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30th January 1948 by a man who believed in the hateful ideology of Hindutva. The assassin was a fanatic, blinded by hate. Not a patriot.”
Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated on 30th January 1948 by a man who believed in the hateful ideology of #Hindutva .. The assassin was a fanatic, blinded by hate.. NOT a patriot. #NeverForget pic.twitter.com/t68qn3vkXC
— Swara Bhasker (@ReallySwara) January 30, 2019
Bhaskar’s tweet comes in the time of great ideological divide — a considerable chunk of Indians have now taken to the revivalism of Nathuram Vinayak Godse, Mahatma Gandhi’s killer, as a hero. Godse, for years, had been fuelled by Hindu fundamentalist forces such as the Hindu Mahasabha and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
The recasting of Godse as a cultural hero is already in works. And people who champion this fundamentalist and murderer have found digital blessings from the present regime. An Alt News report from October last year noted that PM Modi follows a lot of Godse revivalists.
Amit Malviya, the BJP IT Cell head, in 2015 shared Godse’s final address to the court, “Why I Killed Gandhi,” adding, “Nathuram Godse had his reasons to assassinate MK Gandhi. A fair society must hear him out too.”
That “the assassin was a fanatic, blinded by hate, not a patriot,” is a lesson many are yet to learn.
Also read: How Newspapers in India And Across The World Reported The Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi