ParliamentPosted at: Dec 1 2015 1:09PM Gandhi, Nehru wanted India to be secular, not a Hindu rashtra: JD-UNew Delhi, Dec 1 (UNI) Opposition Janata Dal (United) Member KC Tyagi today asked the BJP-led government why they wanted to make India into a Hindu nation which was contrary to the assurances given by Father of the Nation M K Gandhi and India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru at the time of Partition. ''This is a Hindu rashtra already...I would be happy if the government refutes my contention,'' he said speaking for secular beliefs that had been woven into the fabric of the nation by the Constitution's architects. Resuming the discussion on the 'Commitment to India's Constitution' on the 125th birth anniversary celebration of Dr B R Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha for the third day, the JD(U) Member also chided the government saying that they wanted to build a new India, but for that they needed a big heart. Taking on the present government for attempting to deny the crucial role played by Nehru in the freedom struggle and the years in incarceration that he spent, Mr Tyagi said ''you cannot deny this heritage. This is not the heritage of the Congress or Ghulam Nabi Azad -- but of the nation.'' Jammu and Kashmir's first chief minister Sheikh Abdullah, he recalled, was of the firm view that India could never become a theocratic state based on the assurances of Nehru and M K Gandhi and their inspiring leadership which was why the Kashmiri Muslims opted to stay with India. On Ambedkar embracing Buddhism, he pointed out that despite his and six lakh followers' renunciation of Hinduism, he never contemplated leaving India. Neither did anybody suggest that their opponents should be sent to Pakistan as today's leaders did, hitting out at voices in the ruling party displaying intolerance for dissent. Offering his party's support to the government on carrying out crucial economic and other reforms, he drew the line at the ''five to six ministers who were exceeding their limits''. Their comments were not ''the language of Gandhi, Atal Behari Vajpayee or Deendayal Upadhaya,'' he noted. Contrasting with the earlier times, he pointed out that today, there was barely any Muslim representation in the Union Cabinet barring Najma Heptulla and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi. More UNI SD RSA GC1310Tags: #Gandhi# Nehru wanted India to be secular# not a Hindu rashtra: JD-U