Nathuram Godse or Gond: Name catches BJP, Oppn by surprise

The Opposition and the ruling party locked horns in the Madhya Pradesh state assembly on Thursday on if the country had a great man named Nathuram Gond.

During the Zero Hour, Ajay Singh, leader of Opposition, pointed out to Speaker Dr Sitasharan Sharma that a book in Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism highlighted Nathuram Godse and Ravana as great persons.

On Wednesday, the Opposition had cornered the state government by raising the issue of how Gond tribals were wrongly described in a geography book meant for MA students in a Jabalpur college. ‘Gond’ was described as ‘cow killer’ and ‘beef eater’. The government had to announce an inquiry and the book was withdrawn.

On Thursday, Singh said it was unfortunate that Godse had been presented as a ‘mahapurush’ (great personality). Similarly, Ravana also had been depicted as a great personality.

Former home minister Babulal Gaur, who took away the book from the hands of senior Congress leader Govind Singh, said that Ajay Singh had mentioned a wrong name. It was not Nathuram Godse but Nathuram Gond. But there is no mention of a Nathuram Gond in the list of great persons either in India or MP.

Lajpat Ahuja, rector, Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University, said the name Nathuram Gond was not mentioned in a book but in a research paper, which might have been a result of a survey done by the researcher among tribals.

The Kerala cabinet on Thursday sanctioned ₹56.76 crore for paying compensation to those people who suffered health problems due to environment and water pollution caused after aerial spraying of the pesticide, endosulfan, in cashew plantations in Kasargod district.

The family of persons who died completely bed-ridden or mentally challenged due to exposure of the pesticide would be given ₹5 lakh each.

The government had decided earlier to give ₹3 lakh each to cancer patients and physically challenged persons in installments and as per that, two installments had already been made.

The amount sanctioned on Thursday was for paying the third installment.