'Gandhi or Godse?' A choice ex-justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay couldn't make

Gandhi or Godse? This was the question asked of controversial former Calcutta High Court judge Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who appeared for an interview on the Bengali news channel ABP Ananda less than 24 hours after joining the BJP on 7 March.

During the rapid-fire round of the interview, the anchor asked Gangopadhyay a series of quick questions involving one of two choices. In a clip from the interview that has since gone viral on social media, the anchor asks the judge, "Gandhi or Godse?" To which his response is: "I won't answer this right away, I need to think about it."

In answer to whether he would choose Rabindranath Tagore's poem Bharat Teertha or Veer Savarkar's book Hindutva, however, Gangopadhyay firmly opted for Tagore, just as he chose secularism when asked whether he wanted a secular India or a 'Hindu rashtra' India.

Which may seem strange to some, given that Godse considered Savarkar his mentor, and both owed allegiance to the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha, the radical right-wing outfit which continues to celebrate 30 January, the day Gandhiji was killed, by paying tribute to Godse.

So for the retired judge to unhesitatingly opt for Tagore vis-à-vis Savarkar and yet hesitate when it came to Gandhi vs Godse may seem odd, but not to those familiar with Bengal politics.

A large section of Bengal's population — particularly descendants of those displaced by Partition in 1947, when East Pakistan was carved out of Bengal — continue to irrationally hold Gandhiji responsible for agreeing to the division of the province, and the sufferings of millions of Bengalis.

Therefore, Gangopadhyay's hesitation in dismissing the Mahatma's killer would probably make sense to some Bengalis, though social media has overwhelmingly expressed outrage over his response.

The (voluntarily) retired judge, who endeared himself to all opponents of the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) during his tenure by passing a series of landmark judgments that went against the state, also spouted a few more gems in his interview, mostly of the stereotyped kind.

"I contemplated the choices before me. I believe in God, hence I didn’t join the CPI(M); the Congress is a family-centric party... it’s only the BJP which has been fighting Trinamool’s corruption, so I joined them," he said.

On chief minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee's nephew, too, his attack ran along expected lines. "Where has he (Abhishek Banerjee) come from? What track record in politics does he have? I have heard of people like Bobby Hakim (Kolkata mayor Firhad Hakim) and (TMC leader) Madan Mitra, but not him.

"In Bengal politics, it’s not that easy to establish yourself… I have seen leaders like Hare Krishna Konar of CPI(M), (Congress stalwarts) Prafulla Sen, Atulya Ghosh or even Priya Ranjan (Das Munshi) or Subrata (Mukherjee)."

On the chief minister herself, Gangopadhyay issued a backhanded compliment. "Yes, I have held Mamata in respect as an opposition leader. She was a real street fighter and fought the then ruling party (Left Front coalition) by risking her life, but as an administrator, I would give her a big zero."

He signed off with, "I am ready for personal attacks, but plan to use my sense of humour to counter them. However, as an educated middle-class Bengali, I will not be able to lower my discourse beyond a certain level."