Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday lashed into the previous Congress governments accusing Jawaharlal Nehru of curbing freedom of speech.
“They (Nehru government) curbed freedom of speech. They imposed restrictions on newspapers and press and went around the world showing a tag of being a ‘democrat’,” PM Modi said during an address in Rajya Sabha.
PM Modi attacked the Nehru-led Congress government for sending Majrooh Sultanpuri, a famous poet, to jail for supporting a workers’ strike.
“When Nehru was the prime minister, there was a workers’ strike in Mumbai. In that protest, famous lyricist Majrooh Sultanpuri sang a song… Because of the song, Nehru ji sent him to jail,” PM Modi said.
ALSO READ | UCC, Nehru’s Rule, Emergency: PM Modi’s Top Quotes During Address In Rajya Sabha
He further said that famous actor Balraj Sahni was arrested for participating in a protest. He added that Lata Mangeshkar’s brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar was expelled from Aakashwani for planning to run a poem on VD Savarkar.
“Famous actor Balraj Sahni was arrested for participating in one protest. So he was sent to prison. Lata Mangeshkar’s brother Hridaynath Mangeshkar tried to present a musical composition on Veer Savarkar on Aakashwani. For this reason, he was thrown out of Aakashwani,” he said.
Majrooh Sultanpuri, during a workers’ protest in Mumbai in 1949, had recited a poem criticising Nehru’s decision to include India in the list of the Commonwealth of Nations. The state government had then issued an arrest warrant and he was arrested in 1951 for a year.
Meanwhile, Balraj Sahni was also arrested in 1949 for “inciting violence during a Communist Party procession.”
The PM also said that actor Dev Ananda was asked by the government to support the Emergency. But, Dev Anand showed courage and declined to support the Emergency, he said.
“Because of this, Dev Anand’s movies were stopped from being broadcast on Doordarshan,” he added.
PM Modi also said that singer Kishore Kumar was asked by the Congress to sing a song for the party. “When he declined, for this reason, all of Kishore Kumar’s song stopped being played on Aakashwani,” he added.
The prime minister also attacked Congress for hating BR Ambedkar and said that the party never considered Baba Sahbe worthy of awarding Bharat Ratna.
“It is well documented how much anger and hatred Congress had towards Dr Baba Saheb Ambedkar. They never considered Baba Saheb worthy of the Bharat Ratna award. But today due to compulsions they are having to raise the slogan of Jai Bheem,” PM Modi said.
He added that the makers of the Constitution should be respected and the governments should take inspiration from them.
“But Congress immediately after the Independence tore apart the emotions of the makers of the Constitution,” he added.
