Nehru opposed government funds for Somnath temple as it was against the secular policy, Congress leader Piyush Babele said.
BJP slams Nehru over Somnath Temple 'hatred', alleges appeasement of Pakistan
MP Sudhanshu Trivedi claims the first PM opposed the shrine reconstruction in 1951 letters to Pakistani premier Liaquat Ali Khan to prioritise 'external appeasement'
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came up with a fresh attack on the Opposition Congress on Wednesday (January 7) over former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, saying the latter hated the Somnath Temple the most.
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It alleged the Congress leader refused to rebuild the Hindu shrine in Gujarat, which was plundered several times by Muslim kings such as Mahmud of Ghazni and Alauddin Khilji, after Independence, because of his appeasement politics, which even saw him glorifying Mughal invaders.
Nehru did not oppose Pakistani propaganda: BJP MP
In a series of posts on X, BJP national spokesperson and MP Sudhanshu Trivedi took on the country’s first prime minister, saying instead of countering the Pakistani propaganda or defending the country’s civilisational memory, he chose to “appease” Pakistan by dismissing the Hindus’ historic symbols and prioritising “external appeasement over internal self-confidence”.
Trivedi also cited letters penned by Nehru to corroborate his claim.
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“Somnath was plundered by Mahmud Ghazni and Khilji in the past, but in independent India, Pandit Nehru harbored the greatest hatred towards Lord Somnath,” he said.
He said the most “striking example” of this is a letter that Nehru wrote to the first prime minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, on April 21, 1951.
Addressing Khan as “Dear Nawabzada”, Nehru described the story of the Somnath temple gates as “completely false”, the BJP leader alleged, while attaching a screenshot of the letter written almost 75 years ago.
“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.
Also read: War of words in Rajya Sabha as Nadda tears into Nehru over ‘Vande Mataram’
“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?” the BJP leader asked.
Modi slammed Nehru on 'Vande Mataram'
Last month, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other leaders of the BJP tore into Nehru in Parliament during its winter session, accusing him and the Congress of dishonouring the National Song, 'Vande Mataram', by bowing to the Muslim League.
Repeated attacks on Nehru also saw Opposition MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the former’s great-granddaughter, asking the government to make time to debate Nehru and end the matter once and for all.
(With agency inputs)