A furious Congress seeks PM’s apology

Nehru family Wikipedia pages maliciously altered to reflect Muslim ancestry

On the Internet there are several websites that portray Jawaharlal Nehru’s ancestors as being Muslims. Many such sites give elaborate details of how Nehru’s paternal grandfather Pandit Gangadhar Nehru was actually a Muslim by name Ghiyasuddin Ghazi. That story is not new to many Nehru dynasty detractors.

But what comes as a surprise now is that the official Wikipedia pages of Jawaharlal Nehru were edited in an anonymous manner (without using login name and password) by adding content that gives specifics on Nehru’s ancestors that say they were Muslims.

There were references to Nehru’s alleged affair with Edwina Mountbatten, wife of first governor general of Independent India. The Wikipedia pages of Pandit Motilal Nehru (son of Gangadhar Nehru) and father of Jawaharlal Nehru were also altered to reflect this aspect.

The anonymous ‘editor’ supposedly used a Government of India website IP which is provided by the National Informatics Centre. The malicious changes to the Wikipedia pages were tweeted by @AnonGoIWPEdits - the Twitter handle of the software that was created by Pranesh Prakash.

However, these alterations were deleted by Wikipedia volunteers. The Opposition which fears that the BJP government at the Centre is hell bent on saffronisation of history seems to have got ammunition to fire away at the Modi sarkar on this mischievous tweeking of the Nehru family pages on the well respected reference site Wikipedia.

A furious Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala directly took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying “Wikipedia pages of Jawaharlal Nehru, Motilal Nehru were altered. What is worse is that it was done from a government IP and from National Informatics Centre."

He said “Will PM answer how were Wikipedia pages of former Prime ministers and Congress leaders altered through a government IP?" Demanding an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the misleading changes that were made in the Wikipedia pages of Jawaharlal Nehru and his forefathers, the Congress Party on Wednesday asked whether the National Informatics Centre (NIC) is now engaged in a sinister attempt to convert lineage of the country's first prime minister and carry on with the propaganda of the sangh parivar.

Surjewala said the Prime Minister must initiate corrective measures in this regard and added that a criminal case must be lodged under the necessary provisions of the IT Act and the Indian Penal Code. "There was an attempt to alter the Wikipedia pages of first prime minister of India Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, former president of Indian National Congress and his father Pandit Motilal Nehru and his father Pandit Gangadhar Nehru...

What makes the case even worse that this was done from a government ID. What is even more intriguing and sinister is the fact that this attempt was done not only from a government ID and Internet Protocol with government address but was done from NIC, the National Informatics Centre or the software solution provider of Government of India," said Surjewala.

"Indian National Congress demands that on one hand Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi is launching digital India, on the other hand agency responsible for digital India is altering the lineage of the first prime minister of India, former Congress presidents and their ancestors.

Will Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi answer to the nation how Internet Protocol ID of Government of India and NIC was being used for this sinister malicious attempt. Will Prime Minister and the minister in-charge answer whether such a sinister attempt was being made with their consent and concurrence," he added.