Congress convener seeks more info on Modi’s imprisonment over Bangladesh’s Liberation

South Asia

TBS Report
27 March, 2021, 06:45 pm
Last modified: 27 March, 2021, 07:05 pm
Patel asked for a copy of all the relevant documents proving that PM Modi was arrested during the freedom struggle of Bangladesh and in which jail he was kept

Saral Patel, convener of the Indian National Congress (INC), under the Right to Information Act (RTI) sought detailed information on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's arrest and imprisonment over Bangladesh's freedom.

Narendra Modi on Friday, while attending the Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh's Independence and Bangabandhu's birth centenary, claimed that the Bangladesh Liberation War holds a special place in his political career since he was imprisoned for staging a Satyagraha, or peaceful protest, in support of Bangladesh.

"The independence movement of Bangladesh was a significant moment in my journey too... My colleagues and I had done a Satyagraha in India... I was barely in my early twenties. I even had the opportunity to go to jail during this Satyagraha in support of Bangladesh's struggle for freedom," he said at the National Parade Square in Dhaka on Friday.

The remark has since then created a stir amongst many, including India's Parliament Member Shashi Tharoor. 

However, The INC convener Patel took the matter to a new stage when he tweeted that he had filed the RTI with the Public Information Officer of the Prime Minister's Office on Friday probing PM Modi's remark. 

Patel asked for a copy of all the relevant documents proving that PM Modi was arrested during the freedom struggle of Bangladesh and in which jail he was kept.

Another Congress leader, Jairam Ramesh, posted a cartoon mocking PM Modi's remarks.

Narendra Modi is now in Bangladesh on a two-day state visit to join the ongoing celebration of "Mujib Borsho", the centenary of birth of Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman that coincides with the country's 50th anniversary of independence.

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