Naysayers and Nehru

Many ruling party politicians misquote him or fabricate his quotes. Social media platforms serve as battlegrounds for spreading conspiracy theories about him

- Snigdhendu Bhattacharya

EVEN sixty years after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru, his legacy appears to loom large over the country's contemporary political rhetoric. The ascendance of his 21st century successor, Narendra Modi, to the top post, has added to the political currency of the country's longest serving prime minister, albeit through purely fabricated or delicately twisted commentary.

Since 2014, when PM Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stormed to power at the Centre, on the one hand, there appears to be a widespread vilification campaign against Nehru, with top ruling party politicians blaming him for several post-Independence misfortunes in the country.

On the other hand, social media platforms like WhatsApp serve as battlegrounds for spreading conspiracy theories about Nehru, questioning his ancestry and personal life, alleging he was born in a brothel or was a womaniser.

However, as is the nature of slander, most of it is rooted in either misquoting or fabricating the late Prime Minister's quotes and speeches, or in words twisted out of context.

Take the case of Kiren Rijiju, a top BJP leader from Arunachal Pradesh and then the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, who, in November 2015, accused Nehru of surrendering territory to China during the 1962 war.

To back up his 'serious' charge, Rijiju quoted Nehru's statement, "My heart goes out to the people of Assam," after the fall of Bomdila, now in Arunachal Pradesh, during the Indo-China war. Rijiju contended that by expressing sympathy for Assam after Bomdila's fall, Nehru had virtually surrendered the territory to China.

However, the context of Nehru's statement at the time, is crucial.