Headlines
Indira reference taken off Bihar's website as Congress objects
Patna, Jan 11 A reference to former prime minister Indira Gandhi's rule as "worse than British rule in India" on the Bihar government's official website was removed on Monday after strong objections from the state Congress.
Officials in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's office here said that he had directed the concerned authorities to remove the reference as the issue threatened to blow up into a controversy.
Earlier, Bihar Congress president Ashok Choudhary and other leaders said that the party was proud of Indira Gandhi and would take up the issue with Nitish Kumar.
"It is not only wrong but condemnable. We will take up this issue with the Bihar government," Congress spokesperson Sarbat Jahan Fatima said on Monday.
Another Congress leader Prem Chand Mishra said it was a serious issue.
Choudhary, who is also the state education minister, said it was highly objectionable if anything of the sort reported was mentioned on the government website.
"It was he (Jayaprakash Narayan) who steadfastly and staunchly opposed the autocratic rule of Indira Gandhi and her younger son Sanjay Gandhi. Fearing people's reaction to his opposition, Indira Gandhi had him arrested on the eve of declaring National Emergency beginning June 26, 1975. He was put in the Tihar Jail, located near Delhi, where notorious criminals are jailed," said a reference in the Bihar history section on the website.
It said: "Thus, in free India, this septuagenarian, who had fought for India's freedom alongside Indira Gandhi's father Jawaharlal Nehru, received a treatment that was worse than what the British had meted out to Gandhiji in Champaran in 1917, for his speaking out against oppression."
The Congress is part of the ruling Grand Alliance in Bihar, apart from Janata Dal-United and Rashtriya Janata Dal. The party won 27 seats in the 243-member assembly in the 2015 elections.
13 hours ago
Indian Americans caution US university on demand to display 'flag of Kashmir'
13 hours ago
Sadiq Khan re-elected as London Mayor despite criticism over rising crime rate
18 hours ago
Hundred million dollars to support Amritsar startups pledged by Indian-Americans
18 hours ago
Sikh activist's murder leads to three arrests in Canada
18 hours ago
Members of Congress from Indian-American communities send best wishes during AANHPI Heritage Month
19 hours ago
Rutgers University faces criticism from GOPIO over its policy of displaying the separatist Kashmiri flag on campus.
19 hours ago
Young child and elderly Indian couple killed in tragic Canadian collision
19 hours ago
The foreign minister of India has spoken out against Biden's "xenophobia" statement.
20 hours ago
UNGA president invokes Mahatma Gandhi to call for protecting journalists
20 hours ago
CMFRI holds awareness campaign on climate change for fishing communities
20 hours ago
President Murmu reaches Shimla for five-day visit
20 hours ago
K'taka CM chairs SIT meeting, orders immediate arrest of Prajwal Revanna
20 hours ago
Arvinder Singh Lovely and four others join BJP, days after quitting Congress