The Twitter handle of state-run telecommunications service provider Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited on Thursday endorsed a right-wing troll account’s tweet eulogising Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse. The tweet was deleted soon afterwards.

“Hindus nowadays are afraid of supporting Godse whereas Muslims feel proud to name their kids Taimur,” tweeted an account called NitaAmbaniFan. “Patriotism should run in your blood.”

MTNL’s official Twitter account shared this and said: “It is difficult to digest the truth.”

Nathuram Godse became a much-discussed topic during the General Elections after actor-politician Kamal Haasan called him independent India’s first terrorist. Haasan defended his statement despite facing severe backlash, saying every religion has extremists and his comment was a “historical truth”. Bharatiya Janata Party MP Pragya Thakur was criticised by political leaders, including her party leaders and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when she called Godse a patriot in response to Haasan’s remarks.

The reference in the tweet to Taimur is from when actors Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor in 2016 had named their son after the feared conqueror and founder of the Timurid dynasty. Their decision to do so had also stirred up a controversy.

The tweet by MTNL did not go down well with Twitter users. One user, Rofl Gandhi, took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, asking him to follow the MTNL Twitter handle since it follows him on Twitter and was also a supporter of Godse. One user asked the telecom service provider to change its name to “Official Nathuram Godse”.

“Divide the country later, first fix phone lines here that have been down for the past three days,” tweeted Aisi Taisi Democracy.

Also read:

  1. The Taimur controversy illustrates Hindutva’s self-inflicted neurosis regarding Islamic history  
  2. Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor learn the hard way that Taimur is not just another name  
  3. Kamal Haasan says Nathuram Godse was independent India’s first terrorist, and he was a Hindu