The Congress party and its coterie of sympathizers and trolls targeted the NDA Government at the center over a poster on the website of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) related to the ‘Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ where Jawaharlal Nehru was apparently missing.
The Congress party and its conglomeration of sympathizers and trolls accused the Narendra Modi government of attempting to undermine the legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru. Senior party leader Shashi Tharoor said, “It is not merely petty but absolutely ahistorical to celebrate Azadi by omitting the pre-eminent voice of Indian freedom, Jawaharlal Nehru. One more occasion for ICHR to disgrace itself.”
‘Secular’ patrakar Rajdeep Sardesai commented, “Nehru can be removed from an ICHR poster but his great contribution to the freedom movement and as a maker of modern India cannot be erased.”
Sardesai’s wife, Sagarika Ghose, echoed similar sentiments. She relied on BJP stalwart Atal Bihari Vajpayee to peddle her agenda.
Disgraced ‘journalist Rohini Singh too opined on the matter. “Jawaharlal Nehru was India’s first Prime Minister who spent nine years in jail during our freedom struggle. He set up our finest institutions and was one of the greatest statesman of the modern world. You can erase him from posters but you cannot erase his legacy,” said Singh.
Abusive troll Swati Chaturvedi rushed to aid the Congress party on the matter.
Arfa Khanum Sherwani, propagandist for The Wire who spends her idle time indulging in apologia for all sorts of Islamic extremists, decided to show more enthusiasm in battling the ICHR over the controversy than most Congress spokespersons during news channel debates.
Former Congress troll Saket Gokhale, who has joined the TMC since then, too was outraged over the perceived insult.
Did the ICHR really try to undermine the legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru?
In the aftermath of the controversy, the ICHR issued a statement asserting that “no one is trying to undermine his contribution”. Director (Research & Administration) at ICHR, Om Jee Upadhyay, said, “We are not diminishing anybody’s role. We are making several pages like this. People whose contribution to the freedom struggle was downplayed should also be highlighted. Savarkar was in prison for 10 years and but he is not remembered.”
The BJP shot back saying, “He should have listened to PM Narendra Modi’s speech when he mentioned Nehru’s efforts in the nation-building. Perhaps Congress leaders feel that a portrait in a publicity material is the only way of making those people remembered.”
The Government of India is planning to celebrate Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav – the 75th anniversary of India’s independence as a “people’s movement”. The Modi government has already started preparations for the 75th-anniversary celebrations and intends to organise several events to commemorate the historic event. The events will be managed by a national implementation committee which will be headed by Union Home Minister Amit Shah.
