New Delhi, Jan 7 (PTI) The BJP on Wednesday launched a fresh attack on the Congress, alleging that while the Somnath temple was plundered by Mahmud of Ghazni and Alauddin Khilji in the past in independent India, the country’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, hated Lord Somnath the most.
In a series of posts on X, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi alleged that Nehru did not want the Somnath temple rebuilt after Independence due to his “blind appeasement politics,” which led him to glorify even Mughal invaders.
Instead of countering Pakistani propaganda or defending India’s “civilisational memory”, Nehru chose to “appease” Pakistan by downplaying historic Hindu symbols and prioritised “external appeasement over internal self-confidence”, the BJP Rajya Sabha MP charged, citing letters of the first prime minister.
“Somnath was plundered by Mahmud Ghazni and Khilji in the past, but in independent India, Pandit Nehru harboured the greatest hatred towards Lord Somnath,” Trivedi said.
He said the most “striking example” of this is a letter by Nehru to then prime minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, on April 21, 1951.
Nehru addressed Khan as “Dear Nawabzada” and described the story of the Somnath temple gates as “completely false”, the BJP leader alleged.
“Pandit Nehru, in a way, surrendered to Liaquat Ali Khan, writing that nothing like the reconstruction of the Somnath temple was taking place,” he said.
“What exactly was Pandit Nehru’s fear from Liaquat Ali Khan that he felt the need to write him a letter about the Somnath temple? What else was this if not blind appeasement politics and the glorification of Mughal invaders?” he asked.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters later, Trivedi clarified that the BJP does not have “anything personal” against India’s first PM.
“The opposition (to Nehru) is ideological and pragmatic. Like Narendra Modi, who is not an individual but an institution, Nehru is also not a leader but a symbol of an idea,” he said.
But, Trivedi said, the reminder of the Somnath temple issue and Nehru’s approach towards its reconstruction is “significant” today to apprise people of the country with the “terrifying and horrific” ideas of Nehru, which were hidden under several layers of cover.
The “same mindset” that existed back then is still visible in the Congress today, he alleged.
“Love for the Muslim League mindset is still there because there is an alliance with it, agreement with China’s communist party and a fierce attack on Sanatan-Hindu dharma are still there,” Trivedi said, attacking the Congress.
“What was happening back then is happening today. Therefore, its relevance and implications are very serious,” he added.
Trivedi alleged that Nehru did not want the Somnath temple to be restored and wrote to his cabinet ministers as well as then President Rajendra Prasad and Vice President Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, questioning the need for the reconstruction of the Somnath temple, discouraging them from attending the inauguration ceremony,” Trivedi claimed.
Nehru also wrote to all chief ministers twice, complaining about the construction of the Somnath temple and stating that it had “damaged India’s image abroad”, he charged.
Trivedi also took a swipe at Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, saying she wanted BJP leaders to say everything about Nehru once and for all but “the funny thing is that the family is still around”.
“And, they keep asking us why we keep talking about (Nehru again and again),” he added in an apparent reference to Priyanka Gandhi’s remarks during a debate in the Lok Sabha during the Winter Session.
The BJP leader said there are two ideologies in the country today, one which believed that “Bharat was never a country” and that it can not survive as a country, while the other is the idea of “one Bharat and great Bharat, with all diversities, which is shining and progressing” under Prime Minister Modi’s leadership.
He added that this is why Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that the country needs to be freed within 10 years from “Macaulay’s mindset”, which influenced Congress governments and Nehru. PTI PK PK SKY SKY
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