A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked Jawaharlal Nehru in his speech in Parliament – suggesting that the Congress leader thought Indians were lazy and of low intelligence, and that the party “never trusted India’s potential” – Priyanka Gandhi Vadra slammed the PM of “misrepresenting” Nehru’s speech.

Calling it “shameful” and reflective of the “bitterness” in the minds of the BJP towards the freedom movement, Priyanka said in a social media post, “Did Pandit Nehru, the guardian of India’s consciousness, consider Indians lazy?”, going on to share the audio recording of the speech.

She also said that Nehru said what he did at a time when India was struggling to come out of the years of exploitation of British Raj. “There were millions of deaths due to famine and starvation. If the Prime Minister of such a country tells his people that they have to stand on our own feet, work hard, and compete with the developed countries. Is that a crime? If the Prime Minister of a newly independent country inspires its people to become self-reliant, is it an insult to the people?” Priyanka said.

Modi was referring to the speech Nehru delivered on Independence Day, 1959, in Hindi. The year was marked by statehood agitations over language, while July 31 saw the dismissal of the first elected Communist government, in Kerala, by use of Article 356.

This is the full speech:

“Dear sisters, brothers and friends,

We are gathered today again to celebrate the anniversary of our freedom… It’s been 12 years… in the thousands of years of this country, it is too little time… In these 12 years, you, us, all the people of Hindustan have tried to come out of the past, the problems of the past, the poverty of the past… It was a difficult task, more difficult than getting the country out of slavery, because it needed ridding ourselves of our weaknesses and the thousands of burdens we were carrying… What happened, didn’t happen, is before you… A lot of good things happened, a lot of bad things happened… and things also happened which weakened us or reflected our weakness…

A lot of these difficulties arose out of natural disasters… but many among us also took wrong steps. In their greed, selfishness, they forgot where the good of the country lay… Today too you are caught up in difficulties, such as inflation. Many things are out of our control, though eventually we will rise above them…

But today is the day that we should specifically look back at what we are, what we want to be, what path we want to take… We need to recall the time of 12 years back, when our great leader Gandhiji was with us, and we would look up to him… How far do we remember those things…

The first thing before us is to keep the country united, because if we allow ourselves to be divided, whether on grounds of region, language, caste, religion… it dissipates our power, we fall, we can’t get ahead…

The second thing is, what has always been our purpose? It is economic, social, to rid Hindustan of poverty… But at the end of the day, how do you measure these things? Gandhiji showed us one way… The people who are already ahead, we don’t have to worry too much about them… They are well-equipped to take care of themselves, make themselves heard. But the common people, who are usually silent, especially those who live in villages, who will look after them?… You and I have the good fortune to live in Delhi, but Delhi city is not Hindustan, it’s the Capital of Hindustan.

Hindustan is made up of lakhs of villages, and till these lakhs of villages rise… Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta can’t take Hindustan forward. That is why we have to keep these villages in mind, how they develop… They will grow with your and our efforts, but at the end of the day, they will grow because of their own efforts, strength, trusting themselves… The problem we are facing at this time is that our people have stopped trusting themselves, they feel someone else will come to help…

It’s become a habit to see if government officials will help, the government will help… That is why schemes have been made, community development etc, which can be revolutionary for India, for the world, if they work well…

(But) The momentum has to come from within, it can’t be imposed from above… It is a big question before us that the people, whether in cities, villages, we stand on our feet… The government must help the administration, officials in every way possible, but the country doesn’t develop because of officials alone; it does so due to its own efforts…

In fact, my wish is that the government role is minimal, that the people take their reins in own hands…

Look at the khushaal (prosperous) countries, how are they prosperous? It is due to their efforts and hard work, be it America, Europe or some Asian countries… In our country, that habit of working very hard is not common. It’s not our fault, habits develop as per circumstances. But the fact remains that we do not work as much as the people of Europe, America, Japan or Russia… So, we too can grow with hard work and intelligence, there is no other alternative… Because the world runs on the hard work of people, whether it is the farmers, the labourers, the shopkeepers or the artisans…

I was pleased to see that recently Punjab increased its working hours, it will benefit the state… We have so many holidays that no other country can compete with us on the same… Holidays are good, but too much of them can make one weak, dilute the habit of working…

As you know, we are on the threshold of the Third Five Year Plan… We have seen two, seen their benefits… big iron factories are coming up, big things are being manufactured… these will breathe a new life into every corner of the country, for new plants, new industrialists, new jobs for lakhs of people… all towards creating a solid monument to a new, prosperous Hindustan…

I want you to understand that the Third Five Year Plan will bring no time for leisure either… We can’t grow without hard work and facing problems head on. Those who don’t, they fall behind, their country falls behind…

So we again have a test before us, a challenge… the world’s eyes are on us, as to what the country that once gave us Mahatma Gandhi will do… It’s not just about the big schemes, the factories, the farms… but that while doing these important things, how we do them. Should we do it holding our heads up, proudly, or hanging our heads in shame, taking the wrong path?…

This was the main message of Gandhiji for us too…

So in this 13th year of our country, let’s walk together holding our heads high, hand in hand, in step, with the resolve to meet our goals.

Jai Hind!”