Hindu nationalist shoots Gandhi effigy in 'reenactment' of his assassination

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. In a video shot in January in the city of Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh, Ms Pandey, her husband Ashok and about a dozen other Hindu Mahasabha members wearing saffron, can be seen gathered around an effigy covered with a printed full-length image of Gandhi. The video also purportedly showed Ms Pandey garlanding a statue of Gandhi’s assassin, Nathuram Godse, a Hindu nationalist who was hanged in 1949 for murdering the independence leader. Since the video was widely shared on social media and sparked an inevitable outrage, police have detained or lodged cases against nine Hindu Mahasabha members, including Ms Pandey and Mr Pandey, a party spokesperson. Support free-thinking journalism and attend Independent events While Mr Modi has occasionally called upon the legacy of Gandhi, since 2014 his party has elevated Hindu nationalist leaders from the past and drawn less focus to the historic role of Congress figures such as Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first prime minister.