ICHR Poster Row: Top Official Calls Congress Backlash 'Unnecessary', Says Other Creatives Will Feature Nehru

The ICHR poster features photographs of Gandhi, Netaji Bose, Bhagat Singh, BR Ambedkar, Vallabhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, Madan Mohan Malviya, and VD Savarkar while Nehru's picture is missing.

New Delhi: Amid controversy over excluding Jawaharlal Nehru's image from a poster celebrating the 75th year of India's independence, the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR) put forth its position over the issue calling the attacks "unnecessary".

Other posters being released in the coming days will feature the first prime minister, it contended.

Dismissing criticism on the issue, a top ICHR official said: "We are not trying to undermine anyone's role in the movement", news agency PTI reported.

The official added that the poster was one of the many released as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations.

Congress which had attacked ICHR over the exclusion, questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on the issue and demanded that he rise above his prejudices to intervene.

Opposition parties have alleged that omitting the photo of India's first prime minister was a deliberate move.

Indian Council of Historical Research is an autonomous body under the Ministry of Education and has been running a series of lectures and seminars on the theme of the Independence struggle under the "Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav" celebration.

"This is only one of the posters released as part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrations. There will be several others and Nehru will be featured in them... controversy around this is unnecessary," the ICHR official said, as quoted by PTI.

Arvind Jamkhedkar, whose tenure as ICHR Chairman ended in March this year, said not mentioning Nehru could be inadvertent on part of the council.

"It could be inadvertent. Nobody can miss a person like Nehru when we talk about freedom struggle. It could be due to carelessness but definitely not deliberate. No political motives should be seen behind it. I reiterate this must not be deliberate," he said.

The Ministry of Education is yet to appoint Jamkhedkar's successor.

Opposition parties have been criticising the government over Pdt. Jawaharlal Nehru's photo not featuring in the ICHR poster.

"Why is Prime Minister silent on omission of Nehru's picture from ICHR's celebration of India@75. This goes against all facts and authentic history. We know PM wants to obliterate Nehru's legacy, but this is unconscionable! He must rise above his prejudices and tell ICHR to fix it," Congress leader Jairam Ramesh said.

Hitting out at ICHR over the controversy, veteran leader P Chidambaram termed the explanation given as ludicrous.

"ICHR Member-Secretary's explanation for the omission of Jawaharlal Nehru from the first digital poster to celebrate 75 years of independence is ludicrous," he wrote on Twitter.

"After bowing down to prejudice and hate, it is best the Member-Secretary shuts his mouth," he added.

Congress general secretary KC Venugopal also said, "Petty politics once again! May I remind the ruling dispensation that any celebration of our nation's glorious freedom movement is ahistorical without the mention of the progressive and undeterred contributions of Nehru ji. You may omit his name, but can never erase his ideas".

Several other Congress leaders, including Shashi Tharoor, Gaurav Gogoi and Pawan Khera have taken to social media sharing the poster which features photographs of Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh, BR Ambedkar, Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Rajendra Prasad, Madan Mohan Malviya and VD Savarkar while Nehru's picture is missing.

(With Agency Inputs)