Hindu Mahasabha says no RSS link, eulogising Nathuram Godse for decades
Hindustan Times | ByS Raju, Meerut
Nov 17, 2015 11:48 AM IST
The Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha (ABHM), which on Sunday commemorated the day Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse was hanged as ‘Balidan Diwas’, claims it has no links with the BJP or the RSS.
The Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha (ABHM), which on Sunday commemorated the day Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse was hanged as ‘Balidan Diwas’, claims it has no links with the BJP or the RSS.
Nathuram Godse assassinated the Mahatma in New Delhi on January 30, 1948, as he held the latter responsible for India’s partition and the creation of Pakistan.(Getty Image)
The organisation, which also launched a website in Meerut to mark Godse’s death anniversary, says it has been celebrating the occasion for over four decades.
The people of Meerut felicitated Godse’s brother, Gopal, in 1977, says Ashok Sharma, the Mahasabha’s central working committee member. Gopal Godse went on to contest the general election from the city in 1989, securing over 14,000 votes.
Clearing the air on the Mahasabha’s affiliation, Sharma said, “We are a separate organisation and have no association with the BJP or the RSS.” He also said the Jan Sangh, the BJP’s earlier avatar, was formed by those leaders and activists “who did not have the courage to face the backlash following Gandhi’s assassination”.
Godse assassinated the Mahatma in New Delhi on January 30, 1948, as he held the latter responsible for India’s partition and the creation of Pakistan.
The Mahasabha eulogises Godse due to his avowed committment to Hindu rashtra (a theocratic Hindu state). He was hanged on November 15, 1949.
The Mahasabha, claiming to be one of the oldest Hindu organisations in India, demanded that “true facts behind Gandhi’s assassination” be included in school syllabi. “It would help students understand the circumstances which lead to Gandhi’s assassination,” says Abhishek Aggarwal, Mahasabha’s city president.