The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday launched a fresh attack on the Congress, alleging that India\u2019s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru opposed the reconstruction of the Somnath temple after Independence due to what it described as \u201cappeasement politics\u201d.<\/p>\n
In a series of posts on social media platform X, BJP national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha MP Sudhanshu Trivedi alleged that while the Somnath temple was plundered by invaders such as Mahmud of Ghazni and Alauddin Khilji in the past, it faced opposition in independent India from Prime Minister Nehru.<\/p>\n
Trivedi claimed that Nehru did not support the rebuilding of the Somnath temple and instead prioritised what the BJP termed as \u201cexternal appeasement\u201d over preserving India\u2019s civilisational and cultural heritage. He further alleged that Nehru glorified Mughal invaders and downplayed historic Hindu symbols.<\/p>\n
The BJP leader cited a letter allegedly written by Nehru to Pakistan\u2019s then Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan on April 21, 1951, as evidence. According to Trivedi, Nehru addressed Khan as \u201cDear Nawabzada\u201d and described reports about the reconstruction of the Somnath temple as \u201ccompletely false\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomnath was plundered by Mahmud Ghazni and Khilji in the past, but in independent India, Pandit Nehru harboured the greatest hatred towards Lord Somnath,\u201d Trivedi said in his post.<\/p>\n
He alleged that by writing to Liaquat Ali Khan, Nehru attempted to reassure Pakistan that no such reconstruction was taking place. \u201cPandit Nehru, in a way, surrendered to Liaquat Ali Khan by stating that nothing like the reconstruction of the Somnath temple was happening,\u201d Trivedi claimed.<\/p>\n
Questioning Nehru\u2019s intent, Trivedi asked what compelled the then Prime Minister to write to the Pakistani leadership on the issue. \u201cWhat exactly was Pandit Nehru\u2019s fear from Liaquat Ali Khan that he felt the need to write him a letter about the Somnath temple?\u201d he said, alleging that it reflected \u201cblind appeasement politics\u201d.<\/p>\n
The Congress party has not yet responded to the BJP\u2019s allegations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday launched a fresh attack on the Congress, alleging that India\u2019s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru opposed the reconstruction of the Somnath temple after Independence due to what it described as \u201cappeasement politics\u201d. In a series of posts on social media platform X, BJP national spokesperson and Rajya Sabha […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,31,37],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-3870","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-international","8":"category-national","9":"category-politics"},"yoast_head":"\n