NEW DELHI: Congress party countered Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “appeasement” charges against first Prime Minister of India Jawaharlal Nehru during the Vande Mataram debate in Lok Sabha on Monday.Terming PM Modi “the Master Distorian”, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed three questions.
- Which Indian leader formed a coalition in Bengal in the early 1940s with the person who moved the Pakistan resolution in Lahore in March 1940? It was Syama Prasad Mookerjee.
- Which Indian leader applauded Jinnah in Karachi in June 2005? It was LK Advani.
- Which Indian leader praised Jinnah in his book 2009? It was Jaswant Singh.
Speaking in the Lok Sabha after PM Modi’s remarks, Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi accused PM Modi of blaming Nehru several times. “Operation Sindoor – Pandit Nehru Ji’s name 14 times and Congress’s name 50 times. 75th Anniversary of the Constitution – Pandit Nehru Ji’s name 10 times and Congress’s name 26 times. 2022 President’s Address – Pandit Nehru Ji’s name 15 times. 2020 President’s Address – Pandit Nehru Ji’s name 20 times. With great humility, I wish to say to Narendra Modi Ji and his entire system. No matter how hard you try – you won’t be able to put even a single black mark on Pandit Nehru Ji’s contributions,” he said.PM Modi accused Nehru of agreeing to Muslim League’s demands that “‘Vande Mataram’s background in the Anand Matth can irritate Muslims.”“The Muslim League had started to strongly oppose Vande Mataram. Muhammad Ali Jinnah raised a slogan against Vande Mataram on 15 October 1937 from Lucknow… Despite giving a strong and befitting reply to the Muslim League’s baseless statements, Nehru started investigating Vande Mataram. Five days after this, Nehru wrote a letter to Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose mentioning that he agrees with the feeling of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and wrote, ‘Vande Mataram’s background in ‘Anand Matth can irritate Muslims’,” he said.“After this, Congress stated that, from 26 October onwards, in Bengal, the use of Vande Mataram will be analyzed… Unfortunately, on 26 October, Congress compromised on Vande Mataram. They bifurcated the song. The reason behind the decision was of social harmony, but history has it that Congress had knelt before the muslim league. This was their way to appease minorities… Later, Congress had to kneel and agree to the partition of India...Congress policies are still the same, and along the way, the Indian National Congress has become the Muslim League Congress (MLC). Even today, Congress and its allied parties oppose Vande Mataram and try to create controversy around it,” he added.The Lok Sabha began a special discussion marking 150 years of Vande Mataramwith Prime Minister Narendra Modi opening the debate and Rajnath Singh set to conclude it. The Rajya Sabha will discuss the topic on Tuesday, led by home minister Amit Shah.
