New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while blasting the Congress and the Gandhi family in Rajya Sabha on Tuesday, said that it was the Congress that had sacked Hridaynath Mangeshkar, brother of late Lata Mangeshkar, from All India Radio (AIR).
Accusing the Congress of curbing freedom of expression, he said, “Today India is sad because of the demise of Lata Mangeshkarji… but let me tell you that during Congress’ rule in Goa, her younger brother, Hridaynath Mangeshkar, was removed from All India Radio in eight days as he recited some verses from Veer Savarkar’s poem.”
“What was his fault? He had only presented a patriotic poem by Veer Savarkar on AIR once,” Modi said.
“Hridaynathji had said in an interview that he once met Savarkar, who told him: ‘Do you want to go to jail for reciting my poem?’ But Hridaynathji recited it and within eight days he was sacked. This is what their (Congress) concept of freedom of expression was,” he said.
Modi also cited lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri, who he said was sent to jail in 1949 for criticising former PM Jawaharlal Nehru.
He also recalled Kishore Kumar, who “did not bow to Indira Gandhi during the Emergency and was banned from singing on radio”.
“The Congress’s problem is that it has never thought beyond its dynasty. The biggest threats to democracy are dynastic parties… and when the family becomes paramount, first casualty is talent.”
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