Saturday was 2nd October, the birthday of Mahatma Gandhi. On this day Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Varun Gandhi paid tribute to Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. It was actually his 152nd birth anniversary. On this day, he also slammed a counter-trend on Twitter being popularized by a section of Twitter. This section praised Nathuram Godse who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma.
Nathuram Godse Zindabad is among the top trends on Twitter on Saturday. This may come as a surprise to Twitter users but the micro-blogging website has an algorithm. This algorithm enables a particular topic to trend. Twitter said that the trends are served to users based on a combination of factors. These factors include the geographical location, the handles they follow, and their interests. But the trends tab – from where Varun Gandhi picked up the Godse trend – is based on a number of tweets posted on a particular topic or name. This tab is not customized for any user.
In an explainer, the micro-blogging website said, “This algorithm defines topics that are popular for a while or on a daily basis, to help you discover the hottest emerging topics of discussion on Twitter.” Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the nation in paying tributes to the legend Mahatma Gandhi. PM Modi paid floral tributes to the father of the nation at his place of cremation, that is, Rajghat. Several Union Ministers and other political also paid their tributes to the father of the nation. Amit Shah, Union Home Minister said many things. He said that Gandhi’s ideas of Swadeshi, Swaraj, and Swabhasha will continue to inspire the countrymen for a long time. Amit Shah tweeted, “The great life of Mahatma Gandhi was like a continuous national sacrifice, which inspired the whole world to walk on the path of peace and non-violence.”
In his tweet, Varun Gandhi said, “India has always been a spiritual superpower, but it is Mahatma who articulated our nation’s spiritual underpinnings through his being and gave us a moral authority that remains our greatest strength even today. Those tweeting ‘Godse Zindabad’ are irresponsibly shaming the nation.” The “lunatic fringe” must not be allowed to enter the mainstream, said Varun Gandhi who is not related to Mahatma Gandhi. He added, “We must not forget the respect that India has internationally is because of Mahatma Gandhi and the ideals that he represented. The people who are tweeting ‘Godse Zindabad’ should be named and publicly shamed.”