Nehru, Left historians distorted history by portraying Ghazni as 'mere plunderer': BJP

New Delhi, Jan 5 (PTI) The BJP on Monday attacked the Congress on 1,000 years of Somnath temple's first destruction by Mahmud of Ghazni, saying this day is important to "remember and understand" how Jawaharlal Nehru and Leftist historians distorted history by portraying the Muslim invader as a mere plunderer and that he was not a "religious fanatic".

BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi said that priests of the temple and the king of that time had pleaded Mahmud of Ghazni to spare the 'shivalinga' in lieu of lakhs of gold coins but he rejected the offer and broke it, saying he wanted to be known as a "murtibhanjak (iconoclast)" instead of a "despicable person" who engaged in trade with "idol worshippers".

"A historian, who had accompanied Mahmud Ghazni, has mentioned this episode in his writings. This demolishes all the theories that the Leftist historians and others gave, distorting the history," the BJP Rajya Sabha MP told a press conference at the party headquarters here.

They projected Mahmud Ghazani as the person who was not a religious fanatic and that he came to India with the sole objective of "making money", he charged.

"In our history, it is taught that whatever Mahmud Ghazni did at Somnath temple was only for earning wealth and that he had nothing to do with his religious feelings," he charged.

Trivedi alleged that the book, 'The Discovery of India', authored by the first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, is the source of all the distortions made in the history relating to Mahmud of Ghazni's invasion and attack on the Somnath temple.

"Nehru stated in his book that Mahmud Ghazni was far more a warrior than a man of faith. Like many other conquerors, he used to exploit the name of religion for his conquest. India was to him just a place from where he could earn treasures and materials," he said, reading from the first prime minister's book.

"Nehru also wrote that Mahmud Ghazni was such a lover of art that after seeing the beauty and architecture of the buildings from Mathura to Delhi, he said overwhelmingly that they must have been built by 'jinns', not human beings," the BJP leader said.

That is why it is important to remember the day today to understand how a very "disgusting joke" had been played with India's "respect and identity", Trivedi added. PTI PK KSS KSS