On the day India paid tribute to its iconic leader Mahatma Gandhi on his 151st birthday, Hindu nationalists flooded the social media platform, hailing his assassin Nathuram Godse.
#NathuramGodseZindabad, or hail Nathuram Godse has been trending on Twitter.
Godse fatally shot Gandhi, who India formally calls the "Father of the Nation" on 30 January 1948 at a prayer meeting in New Delhi. The assassin was hanged on 15 November 1949.
Hardcore nationalists treat him as an icon and hail his assassination of Gandhi.
"In fact, honour, duty and love of one's own kith and kin and country might often compel us to disregard non-violence and to use force", reads a typical tweet.
In fact, honour, duty and love of one's own kith and kin and country might often compel us to disregard non-violence and to use force.#नाथूराम_गोडसे_जिंदाबाद #नाथूराम_गोडसे_देशभक्त_थे pic.twitter.com/sPp7wgAXMh
— shravan tiwari (@shravan75010884) October 2, 2020
Tweets hailing Godse have been swelling by the minute.
#नाथूराम_गोडसे_जिंदाबाद
— भैयाजी_कहिन (BJP) (@bhaiyaji_kahin) October 2, 2020
Who is Your Role Model..??
Follow @bhaiyaji_kahin#नाथूराम_गोडसे_जिंदाबाद #गोडसे_अमर_रहे
Retweet👇 Like👇 pic.twitter.com/rcrGXY3Yy9
#नाथूराम_गोडसे_अमर_रहे
— Ashish Kumar (@AshishK28129838) October 2, 2020
What he did was absolutely necessary at that time.
Otherwise india Hindustan nahi hota hai. #नाथूराम_गोडसे_जिंदाबाद pic.twitter.com/dy3NBiU5OT
Many Twitterians also expressed dismay at the public expression for the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi: "He was a coward, who did the cowardly act because of his bigotry", reads on tweet.
Folks who are trending #नाथूराम_गोडसे_जिंदाबाद;
— Advaid അദ്വൈത് (@Advaidism) October 2, 2020
Godse killed an unarmed old man at point blank range, tried to escape, and was tackled & pinned down by the Garderner of Birla house.
Calling Godse brave is Naive. He was a coward, who did the cowardly act because of his Bigotry.
In 2019, a lawmaker from the federal ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) created a flutter in parliament, when she hailed Godse as "Deshbhakt" or a patriot during a debate.
The lawmaker from Bhopal in central Madhya Pradesh, Pragya Singh Thakur however, apologised for her remarks after the main opposition Congress Party protested the conduct and the BJP distanced itself from her remarks.