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Hindu right-winger arrested for re-enacting Gandhi assassination | |
(35 minutes later) | |
A leader of a fringe Hindu right-wing group in India has been arrested after a video of her shooting an effigy of Mahatma Gandhi went viral. | A leader of a fringe Hindu right-wing group in India has been arrested after a video of her shooting an effigy of Mahatma Gandhi went viral. |
The Hindu Mahasabha had organised an event to "celebrate" the 71st anniversary of Gandhi's assassination. | The Hindu Mahasabha had organised an event to "celebrate" the 71st anniversary of Gandhi's assassination. |
In the video, Pooja Pandey shoots the effigy with an air pistol after garlanding a picture of Nathuram Godse, who shot the independence leader. | |
Gandhi has long been seen as too moderate by some right-wing Hindus. | |
Police had been seeking Ms Pandey's arrest since the video, believed to have been released by her group, emerged last week. | |
Two police teams were deployed to track her and her husband, who also features prominently in the footage. | |
They had already made several other arrests in connection with the video which was shot on 30 January - the day Gandhi was killed. | They had already made several other arrests in connection with the video which was shot on 30 January - the day Gandhi was killed. |
"We arrested nine people within a week and are searching for two more suspects in the case," police officer Neeraj Jadaun told the BBC. | "We arrested nine people within a week and are searching for two more suspects in the case," police officer Neeraj Jadaun told the BBC. |
Godse, who shot Gandhi in the chest three times at point-blank range on 30 January 1948, was an activist with nationalist right-wing groups, including the Hindu Mahasabha. | Godse, who shot Gandhi in the chest three times at point-blank range on 30 January 1948, was an activist with nationalist right-wing groups, including the Hindu Mahasabha. |
Hindu hardliners in India accuse Gandhi of having betrayed Hindus by being too pro-Muslim, and even for the division of India and the bloodshed that marked Partition, which saw India and Pakistan created after independence from Britain in 1947. | |
This is not the first time the controversial fringe group has tried to glorify Godse and celebrate Gandhi's assassination. | |
In 2015, the group announced plans to install statues of Godse across six districts in the southern state of Karnataka, sparking protests across the state. | In 2015, the group announced plans to install statues of Godse across six districts in the southern state of Karnataka, sparking protests across the state. |