After his recent controversial remarks criticising former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief K S Sudershan on Sunday praised Indira Gandhi for her courage and determination, and her role in the creation of Bangladesh out of Pakistan.
He also criticised India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, saying the 'English-minded' PM was responsible for the ills facing the country.
"Indira Gandhi was a lady of firm determination unlike today's central leadership which lacks the same," Sudershan said at the Sangh Shiksha Varg on the bank of river Gomti in Lucknow.
"With courage and determination, she managed to get Bangladesh separated from Pakistan in the 1971 war," the RSS chief said.
Sudershan's remarks assume significance as they come in the backdrop of his criticism of Vajpayee's performance as prime minister and his assessment that he was not among the best of prime ministers India has had.
Criticising Nehru, the RSS chief said, "If we go to the root of the problems being faced by the country, we find that Nehru is responsible for it."
Sudarshan said Nehru was 'English-minded' and the erstwhile British Raj wanted their 'own man' at the helm as prime minister so that their interests were protected.
"Nehru had said, 'I would be the last Englishman to rule India'," Sudarshan claimed.
Contending that the RSS was being misprojected as anti-Muslim, Sudarshan said the Muslims should not be called a minority as India was their home and their roots were in this country.
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