A collective named Punjabi Mahasangh protested here on Sunday against Congress MP Imran Masood's "comparison" of Bhagat Singh with Hamas and demanded that he apologise by offering flowers to a statue of the freedom fighter.
Wearing black bands on their arms, protesters gathered at Bhagat Singh Chowk and raised slogans against Masood.
Yogesh Dua, president of Punjabi Mahasangh, said that on Friday, Masood on TV said Hamas members were just like Bhagat Singh, who sacrificed his life for the struggle for freedom.
"Hamas is an organisation that has killed innocent people and claims to be fighting for freedom. Bhagat Singh never killed anyone, and even if he threw a bomb, he did so symbolically to send a message to the British. Bhagat Singh never killed anyone. Hamas is a terrorist organisation," Dua said
BJP's IT cell department head Amit Malviya accused Masood of drawing the comparison as part of a "well-planned strategy" ahead of the Bihar Assembly election on November 6 and 11.
"Comparing Bhagat Singh to the terrorist organisation Hamas by Congress MP Imran Masood during the Bihar elections is part of a well-planned strategy. This is an insult to the people of Bihar. Bhagat Singh had a deep connection with Bihar," Malviya alleged in a post on X.
{{/usCountry}}"Comparing Bhagat Singh to the terrorist organisation Hamas by Congress MP Imran Masood during the Bihar elections is part of a well-planned strategy. This is an insult to the people of Bihar. Bhagat Singh had a deep connection with Bihar," Malviya alleged in a post on X.
{{/usCountry}}Masood later said he never drew any comparison and said that Shaheed-E-Azam, as Bhagat Singh was known, cannot be compared to anyone.
He told PTI, "Bhagat Singh cannot be compared with Hamas; no one can be, as the two are not the same. Bhagat Singh can never be compared to anyone. No one is comparable. This is wrong. I have clearly said that if a person kills another person, it is not a good thing. We do not support violence."
Masood alleged that the BJP was stoking strife by putting words in his mouth.
"The BJP people are selectively spreading this falsehood... I only said that Hamas is fighting for their land, just as Bhagat Singh fought for ours," he said.