New Delhi: In a rare public address, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi lashed out at the BJP for what she said was an attempt to “vilify” and “denigrate, distort, demean, and defame” the first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru.
Speaking at an event to launch the Nehru Centre India at Jawahar Bhawan, Sonia said that while analysis and criticism of Nehru’s contributions were welcome, deliberate mischief with what he wrote and said was unacceptable.
“Let there be no doubt whatsoever that the project to vilify Nehru is the main objective of the ruling establishment today. Their goal is not just to erase him; it is actually to destroy the social, political, and economic foundations on which our nation has been founded,” the Rajya Sabha MP said without naming anybody, as per an India Today report.
Her remarks come days after defence minister Rajnath Singh’s stinging allegations that Nehru wanted to use public funds to build the Babri Masjid, but the move was blocked by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. The Congress had called the claim a lie and accused Rajnath of attempting to fuel polarisation.
Nehru and his policies have been the main target for the BJP since it came to power. The party has blamed Nehru for nearly all the ills that plagues the country today.
Sonia said in her address that the forces behind the “project” against Nehru neither had any role in the freedom movement, nor in the making of the Constitution.
“It is an ideology that long ago fanned an atmosphere of hate that ultimately led to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. His killers today continue to be glorified by their adherents… It is an ideology with a bigoted and viciously communal outlook. Its approach to nationhood is based on stoking prejudices of all kinds,” the former Congress president said.
She emphasised that it was natural that the life of a monumental figure like Nehru would be analysed and critiqued, but a systematic attempt to “demolish his multifaceted legacy” in a “crude” and “self-serving attempt” to rewrite history was unacceptable.
“While we welcome ongoing analysis of his contributions, what is not acceptable is the systematic attempt being made to denigrate, distort, demean and defame him. It has become a widespread practice to divorce Nehru from the challenges he faced and view him without a historical context,” she further said.
Sonia went on to say that the road ahead was not easy, but there was no option but to stand up and confront this “project” against India’s first prime minister.
