On Gandhi Jayanti, #NathuramGodseZindabad Tweets Celebrating The Father of The Nation's Killer Nathuram Godse Make For Top Trend on Twitter; Dear Indians, We Should Hang Our Heads in Shame!

It is the birth anniversary of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, the Father of our Nation. Born on October 2, 1869, in Gujarat, Gandhiji is revered all over the world for his nonviolent philosophy of passive resistance. While we pay our tributes to one of the most outstanding leaders the country has ever known, there is this hashtag, #NathuramGodseZindabad (#नाथूराम_गोडसे_जिंदाबाद) which is celebrating the assassination of Gandhiji. This is not the first time that the admiration for Mahatma Gandhi’s killer has become so visible, so blatant especially during the observation of Gandhi Jayanti. For once, let us keep our political or religious ideologies aside, and stress on the matter that we are celebrating a man who killed an unarmed person, when he was on his way for prayer meeting, and that unarmed person is the Father of our Nation. With Derogatory Jibes at Freedom Fighter and 1st PM of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, Twitter Trolls Plunge Discourse to Another Low. 

In his final days, Gandhiji was holding prayer meetings across a stately lawn, behind Birla House, a mansion in Delhi, where he was staying. His fasting days were for Hindu-Muslim unity. Godse had a problem with this and disliked the idea of Mahatma Gandhi holding prayer meetings and also reading phrases from the Quran. According to him, you are either a Muslim or a Hindu before being a human. So, on a wintery evening of January 30, 1948, when Gandhiji was on his way for the prayer meeting, Godse stepped out from the crowd, greeting him and touched his feet. He then pulled out a Beretta and shot the frail 78-year-old three times in the upper body.

Godse believed that Gandhiji had betrayed the Hindus by being too conciliatory to Muslims-- a line that is still echoed by many Hindu nationalists and bigots who see Godse as a national hero and Gandhi as a traitor. It is a sign of how much our country has changed over the past years, unfortunately building up beliefs and ideologies which are against democracy and our country’s constitution.

On Gandhiji’s birth anniversary, a section of Twitterati is celebrating the man who assassinated the Father of our Nation, who was unarmed and in his whole life preached of non-violence and peace. This is an utter disappointment.

Twitterati Praising Nathuram Godse

As a country, we should hang our heads in shame. Your religious identities and beliefs could be different, but calling a person, who killed an unarmed old man, a hero and praising him for what he did shows how we support violence over everything else.

Celebrating Godse on Gandhiji's Birth Anniversary

Seriously?

In Case You Are Missing the Point!

Nathuram Godse is the name to be condemned, not celebrated. One cannot miss the similarities among many extremists and Godse. All of them essentially believe their religion is the supreme of all. If a murderer is a patriot, we would not have had any need for laws. Remembering 5 Addresses by Mahatma Gandhi on God, Non-Violence And Hindu-Muslim Unity to Observe His 151st Birth Anniversary.

If you think Godse is a hero of Hindu, think again. He killed a man who was the most devout practitioner of the faith. By killing Mahatma Gandhi, Godse harmed the very idea he wanted to dominate post-partition India. Ten days before he was killed, Gandhiji escaped an assassination bid by Godse and his gang and asked his supporters to have no hatred against the person responsible for the act.

Gandhiji died like a man blessed by divinity facing his hater and taking the bullets in his chest. He died standing. Gandhi is the greatest patriot in the history of India, a role model for Hinduism and a hero of humanity. Celebrating the great man's killer on his Jayanti is a national shame, nothing less.

(The opinions expressed in the above article are of the author and do not reflect the stand or position of LatestLY.) 

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 02, 2020 01:22 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).