New Delhi: Congress MP Imran Masood has denied that he compared freedom fighter Bhagat Singh to the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
In an interview with PTI, the lawmaker from UP’s Saharanpur said the BJP was putting words in his mouth, and that he didn’t draw any comparison between Bhagat Singh and the Hamas.
However, during a discussion on the unexpected attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Masood did insist on drawing a parallel between Bhagat Singh and Hamas.
Masood stirred a controversy, saying that Bhagat Singh and Hamas were both fighting for their land.
The Congress MP got agitated during the podcast when the interviewer said Hamas was a terrorist organisation. “Was Bhagat Singh a terrorist as well?” Masood snapped back.
When Masood was asked if he was making a comparison between Bhagat Singh and Hamas, he replied, “Haan bilkool.”
Masood went on to substantiate his point by saying that like Hamas, Bhagat Singh also fought for his land.
“Bhagat Singh made the supreme sacrifice for his land. Israel is the occupier. For you, Hamas is a terrorist organisation. I believe Hamas is fighting for its freedom. You are looking at their 250 hostages they (Hamas) had taken, but you are not looking at 1 lakh people Israel has killed,” Masood said.
To @PTI_News Imran Masood says he never compared Bhagat Singh & Hamas claiming the BJP is putting words in his mouth. But in the actual interview @SushantBSinha challenged him multiple times “are you comparing Bhagat singh to Hamas” – he replied “yes” – not once but twice. pic.twitter.com/LyXQkSQUgX
— Abhijit Iyer-Mitra (@Iyervval) October 24, 2025
The BJP pounced on Masood, accusing him of eulogising terror groups and insulting India’s freedom fighters. “Boti Boti Imran Masood compares Hamas to Bhagat Singh ji. This is an insult to all freedom fighters,” BJP’s national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla posted on X.
“Left & Congress eulogise terror groups and undermine all our heroes to make Gandhis look great. Earlier, Kanhaiya Kumar compared Bhagat Singh ji to Lalu Yadav! This isn’t the first time! Congress had earlier too insulted Bhagat Singh ji! They did this with Chandrashekhar Azad ji, Savarkar ji, Patel ji, Birsa Munda ji,” Poonawalla added.
In his defence, Masood said there can’t be any comparison between two persons. “I had said it’s not good when humans kill fellow humans.. but I didn’t make any comparison.. Bhagat Singh ji is a martyr, his ideology is completely different,” Masood later claimed, trying to control damage.
