Congress accuses BJP of 'saffronising' education, distorting Indian history

The party tweeted a 48-second video claiming that 'children may not know who built the Taj Mahal or who killed Mahatma Gandhi'

NEW DELHI: A day after the nation celebrated its 69th Republic Day, the Congress party took to Twitter, accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of trying to distort historical facts and “saffronising Indian education” system.

The Congress tweeted a 48-second video on Saturday with the statement, “If the BJP has its way, our children may not know who built the #TajMahal or who killed #MahatmaGandhi,” followed by the hashtag #SaveOurHistory.

The video claims that the textbooks in Rajasthan – a BJP ruled state – has already deleted chapters on Jawaharlal Nehru and removed references to Mahatma Gandhi's assassination by Nathuram Godse. The party further claimed that the BJP is changing historical facts with statements such as Maharana Pratap defeated Akbar. According to historians, Akbar had defeated Maharana Pratap in the Battle of Haldighati in 1576.

If the BJP has its way, our children may not know who built the #TajMahal or who killed #MahatmaGandhi. #SaveOurHistory pic.twitter.com/AGWgSYYM7a — Congress (@INCIndia) January 27, 2018

The video was released hours after Congress released its list of 57 candidates for the upcoming Meghalaya state Assembly polls scheduled to be held on February 27, 2018. 

With the battle heating up for 2018 Assembly elections in eight states and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, both the parties have been taking potshots at each other on social media. 

Earlier on Saturday, the Congress party accused the government of indulging in "cheap politics" by allotting the Congress chief Rahul Gandhi a sixth-row seat at the Republic Day parade attended by leaders of 10 ASEAN nations.

Responding to it, the BJP slammed the Congress for picking up an "unwarranted controversy" and accused the Congress chief of behaving like a "super VVIP".

"The whole nation celebrated the Republic Day with great fervour yesterday (Friday), but the only jarring note in that celebration was the unwarranted controversy raised by the Congress party keeping its newly elected President at the centre," Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao told the media.