Those outside 'family' were erased from public memory: Modi

Remembering Maulana Azad and Acharya Kriplani on their birth anniversary, Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Monday said that there are historical figures who have been erased from public memory just because they did not belong to a particular family.

"It is true that there are historical figures who have been erased from public memory just because they did not belong to a particular family," Modi wrote on his blog on the occasion of Acharya Kripalani and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad's 125th birth anniversary.

Taking a dig at dynastic politics, Modi asked, "Just because they did not belong to a particular family, should we erase them from public memory or remember them less?"

The history of India is the history or the struggle of countless men and women who devoted a lifetime to the clarion call of the motherland, he further wrote on his blog.

Modi's comments regarding the two freedom fighters comes amid the raging controversy between Congress and BJP on claiming legacy of stalwart freedom fighter Sardar Patel.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Modi had sparred over the legacy of Sardar at a public function here recently.

"Much has been made of our efforts to commemorate various historical figures, who have either been completely ignored or have not been adequately remembered in the history  books," Modi said.

Paying tributes to Azad, who was India's first education minister, Modi wrote "Maulana Azad will also be remembered for his steadfast opposition to partition of India. In 1912, he started the paper 'Al-Hilal', which did not hesitate from attacking the colonial rulers."

On Kripalani, Modi wrote "He was a man of deep principles and a commitment to serve the poorest of the poor. Acharya Kripalani embraced Mahatma Gandhi's leadership during the Champaran Satyagraha."

"Acharya Kripalani created history when he moved the first ever no-confidence motion against the Government of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in 1963," Modi further wrote.

Expressing anguish at the fact that stalwarts of the freedom struggle have been reduced to partisan political leaders, Modi wrote "There can be no greater disservice to our history than viewing these stalwarts through the narrow prism of political partisanship."

"It is high time we realise that these are leaders who transcended barriers of caste, community, creed or party lines. Their ideals and legacy are not for any party but for the entire nation to get inspired," Modi wrote, in an apparent reference to last month's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's statement that he was proud he belonged to the party to which Sardar Patel belonged.

Modi welcomed Centre's move to launch an online portal containing digital archives of Maulana Azad, but questioned the delay in launching it so far.

"An online portal on Maulana Azad will be launched on Monday by the Centre containing his digital archives. This is a welcome thing but one must also ask why was only lip service paid to his legacy all these decades? Should things like this not have come much earlier?" Modi asked.

Modi hoped for creating an India dreamt by several other stalwarts of the freedom struggle.