The Narendra Modi government is trying to ‘erase’ the memory of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by merging the flame at Amar Jawan Jyoti with that of National War Memorial, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said on Friday.
Prime Minister Modi was present in the House when the Congress leader was speaking and questioning the government on various issues while participating in the debate on Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address.
Mr Chowdhury accused the Modi government of “breaking” institutions for its personal gain and said taxpayers’ money was used to buy the Pegasus spyware for surveillance.
In the context of the Amar Jawan Jyoti that was built after the 1971 Bangldesh Liberation war, Mr. Chowdhury said it was Indira Gandhi who had “weakened” Pakistan and her contributions were etched in the hearts of people that cannot be erased or forgotten.
In the course of his speech, the Congress leader also pointed out that the Prime Minister Modi had spoken much less in Parliament than his predecessors Dr. Manmohan Singh and Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
He said while Dr Singh spoke 48 times in the House during his tenure, Vajpayee spoke 77 times.
He also flagged media reports on Chinese troops occupying Indian territory, and the kidnapping of an Indian youth from inside Indian territory at the Arunachal Pradesh border.
Law Minister Kiren Rijiju, who is from Arunachal Pradesh, countered him by stating that the boy was hunting in an area which is not demarcated and the Chinese troops had not entered the Indian side.
And on the issue of China occupying Indian territory, Mr. Rijiju said the Congress leader trusts foreign sources and not the Indian Army.
The Congress leader said the government shouldn’t just celebrate the various dates associated with religious icons and personalities but also imbibe their teachings. He alleged that “bogus depiction” of history was confusing the people and said “all Muslims should not be equated with Aurangzeb and all Hindus with Jaichand”.
Quoting Swami Vivekanand and Birsa Munda, Mr. Chowdhury said the government should take everyone along. “Communal harmony leads to peaceful existence”, he added. Referring to the proposed statue of Subhash Chandra Bose at India Gate, the Congress quoted Netaji’s daughter Anita Bose Pfaff and said the real tribute to Bose would be to live by his ideas.
