Sitharaman in RS: Congress banned books, movies criticising Nehru-Gandhi family; jailed Majrooh Sultanpuri, Balraj Sahni

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Monday accused the Congress party of having a record of curtailing freedom of speech and banning books on the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru.

“Majrooh Sultanpuri and Balraj Sahni were both jailed in 1949. During one of the meetings organised for the mill workers in 1949, Majrooh Sultanpuri recited a poem that was written against Jawaharlal Nehru, and therefore, he had to go to jail. He refused to tender an apology for the same and was jailed,” Sitharaman said, initiating the two-day debate on the Constitution, which completed 75 years on November 26, in the Upper House on Monday.

“Congress's record of curtailing freedom of speech didn't confine it to these two people. ‘Nehru’, a political biography written by Michael Edwards in 1975, was banned. They also banned a film called ‘Kissa Kursi Ka’ just because it questioned Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and her son,” she said.

The final week of the Winter Session of Parliament commenced on Monday with the two-day debate on the Constitution in Rajya Sabha. The debate was held in Lok Sabha on Friday and Saturday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi replied to the debate on Saturday.

Modi spoke in LS on Saturday.

In a speech that lasted about two hours, the prime minister launched a scathing attack on the Nehru-Gandhi family, alleging that the Congress leaders from Jawaharlal Nehru to Rajiv Gandhi left no stone unturned in hurting the Constitution.

“The Supreme Court in 1950 had ruled in favour of the Communist magazine ‘Cross Roads’ and the RSS organisational magazine ‘Organizer.’ But in response, the (then) interim government thought that there was a need for a first Constitutional amendment brought in by Congress, which was essentially to curb freedom," Sitharaman said.

The debate on the Constitution is being held in Rajya Sabha against the backdrop of a bitter political face-off that marred the ongoing Winter Session of Parliament, with the INDIA bloc moving a motion seeking the removal of Rajya Sabha chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar.

The session in Parliament, which began on November 25, will continue till December 20.