The Prime Minister said, "This is the 60th anniversary year of Goa's Liberation. Goa wouldn't have been under foreign rule till so late if similar steps had been taken the way Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel made strategies for Junagadh and Hyderabad."
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has once again invoked Jawaharlal Nehru in his speech while countering the Opposition onslaught, this time in the Rajya Sabha. On Tuesday, the Prime Minister seemed like making an election campaign speech when he sought to drag in Nehru over the issue of liberation of Goa.
The Prime Minister said, "This is the 60th anniversary year of Goa's Liberation. Goa wouldn't have been under foreign rule till so late if similar steps had been taken the way Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel made strategies for Junagadh and Hyderabad."
Citing newspapers at that time, the Prime Minister claimed that "Pandit Nehru was only concerned about his international image. For his vested interest, he ignored Goa and took no steps when Goans were shot at. The then PM had denied help to the Satyagrahis which led the state to be under foreign rule for 15 more years."
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PM Modi further claimed that Nehru insulted the Satyagraphis. He quoted Nehru's speech on Goa on August 15, 1955, from the Red Fort. Nehru had said, 'Let no one be under any illusion that we will take military action there. Goa does not have any force. The people inside want someone to create such a situation and make noise so that we will be forced to send the army. Those who are going ahead there can gladly go there. But remember this as well, those who call themselves Satyagrahis must remember the principles of Satyagraha.'
PM Modi lamented the arrogance shown towards those who fought for the freedom of the country. The people of Goa can never forget this attitude of Congress. Refusing to help the Satyagrahis was the oppression of the Congress against Goa."
Congress track-record on freedom of expression
The Prime Minister also criticised Congress over its track record of curbing freedom of expression when "people do not agree to one family".
He recalled. "Majrooh Sultanpuri and Prof Dharampal were both jailed for criticising Nehru. Kishore Kumar did not bow to Indira Gandhi during Emergency and he was banned from singing on the radio."
"Congress's thinking looks to have been hijacked by urban Naxals. This is a worrying issue. For that, they are now saying that history is being changed," PM Modi said, adding, "We are just improving their memory - if for some people, history is only about a family, we can't do anything about it."
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