How Nehru portrayed an idol breaker as an art lover?
(The article was originally published on Indiafacts ) Jawaharlal Nehru—the first prime minister of India was also author of the numerous books specifically about history. History books written by Nehru matter a lot because these are books which are considered as the standard source for the one who is graduating in history or preparing for the prestigious civil services exams. Thus, distortions in such texts is dangerous as such bureaucrats often have no recourse to alternate ideas. They have to believe what it is written in the ‘ standard source’ . Now, instead of discussing the person, it would be more fruitful to discuss the argument itself. It is well established fact that Mahmud of Ghazni was an Islamic invader who invaded India, destroyed temples, looted huge amounts of wealth and converted people en-masse into Islam. Here is what Nehru writes about Mahmud of Ghazni in letter to her daughter Indira Gandhi: Of Mathura, Mahmud has given us a glimpse, which ...