Pragya Thakur apologizes for calling Nathuram Godse a patriot

New Delhi: Sadhvi Pragya Thakur, MP elected from Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh aplogised conditionally in court for calling Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi a patriot in the Lok Sabha. She made the statement previously too, and was issued a warning notice by the BJP to keep her comments in check. However, Pragya repeated her mistake in parliament again, which resulted in her being removed from the parliamentary defense panel and banned her from attending BJP meetings until further notice.

Her statements caused an uproar in the lower house and many opposition leaders pushed for censure motion against the MP, which the Lok Sabha speaker rejected.

This afternoon, the MP apologized in court for her statements and said her remarks were misquoted. She said she apologizes to anyone hurt because of her statements. On Thursday, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi tweeted: "Terrorist Pragya calls terrorist Godse, a patriot. A sad day, in the history of India's Parliament."

Pragya lashed out at Gandhi and said he was not a terrorist, and that the court has acquitted her. In a bizarre statement, she said the terrorist statement "insulted her as a woman." She further added that calling her a terrorist is an attack on her dignity.

When opposition leaders still protested against the MP leader, Lok Sabha speaker Om Birla stated: "Not only this nation but the world follows principles of Mahatma Gandhi. We shouldn't politicise this issue (BJP MP Pragya Thakur referring to Nathuram Godse as 'deshbhakt' in LS). If we do, it'll be before the world. So, I said that the remarks won't be recorded. This House doesn't permit to glorify the matter of assassination of Mahatma Gandhi whether in this House or outside. Yesterday, the defence minister gave clarification on behalf of the government. The MP (Pragya Singh Thakur) has apologised too," he added.

Pragya Thakur is an accused in the Malegaon Blast Case of 2006.