Nehru, Patel hanging remark: Javadekar blames confusion of punctuation in his quote, posts clarifications on Twitter

Union Minister of Human Resource Development Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday issued clarifications over his statement on freedom fighters and said there was a confusion of punctuation in his quote made during the Tiranga Yatra in Madhya Pradesh.

Earlier on the day, some media reports quoted him saying, "The fight for independence that began in 1857 ended 90 years later when we threw the British out. We salute freedom fighters. Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Sardar Patel, Pandit (Jawahar Lal Nehru), Bhagat Singh and Rajguru who were hanged.”

Javadekar was addressing a public meeting during the Tiranga Yatra launched to mark India's 70th Independence Day in Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh.

Later, Javadekar posted four tweets on Twitter and said he was amused with the news. He also said he paid his respect to all the freedom fighters since 1857.

Here are the tweets Javadekar posted after the controversy on Tuesday-

# I am amused with the news. I paid my respect to all the freedom fighters since 1857.

# I mentioned leaders like Gandhi, Nehru, Subhash Bose. It was a full stop.

# In the next sentence I recounted those who were hanged, jailed and suffered at the hands of the British.

# There was no confusion in the minds of those who listened. I hope this removes all confusion.