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Criticising Defence Minister Rajnath Singh over his remarks on former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Congress MP Manish Tewari on Wednesday said that the Defence Minister's focus should be on India's strategic challenges and not on misrepresenting historical facts.
Tewari's remark came in response to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's claim that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to use government funds to build Babri Masjid, but it was the then Home Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who opposed the idea, as he was "truly secular". Speaking to ANI, Tewari said, "It would be better if Rajnath Singh focuses on India's strategic challenges. He is trying to distort and misrepresent history, which should be avoided." Remembering India's first Home Minister at the 'Sardar Sabha' organised in Gujarat's Vadodara, the Defence Minister said on Tuesday that Patel did not look to appease communities, unlike Nehru, who questioned the reconstruction of the Somnath Temple in Gir Somnath district. "Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was truly secular. He never believed in appeasement. When Jawaharlal Nehru spoke about spending government funds on the Babri Masjid issue, if anyone opposed it, it was one born in Gujarat, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who opposed it. At that time, he did not allow the Babri Masjid to be built with government money," Rajnath Singh said. The Defence Minister said that earlier parallels were drawn between the reconstruction of the Gir Somnath temple, but Patel rejected similarities between the two cases, highlighting that the Somnath temple was rebuilt with donations instead of government money. "Nehru raised the question of the reconstruction of the Somnath Temple. When the question was raised, then Sardar clarified that the Somnath Temple case was different; the public had donated Rs 30 lakh there, a trust had been formed, and not even a single penny of government money was used," Singh said. (ANI)
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