By PTI

NEW DELHI: The Hindu Sena, a right-wing group, Tuesday paid tributes to Queen Victoria on her 118th death anniversary here and said she "freed India from the autocratic rule of the Mughals".

The organisers of the event at Jantar Mantar here said it was the first time they paid tributes to the Empress and credited her with "uniting the princely states of India in 1857".

Surjeet Yadav, the national spokesperson and vice-president of the Hindu Sena, claimed, "India would have disintegrated into thousands of pieces had it not been the Britishers, who under the Queen, united a large number of princely states into one entity in 1857."

He also claimed that "the Britishers gave what we have today, be it the law, railways, roads, communication networks, schools, buildings, etc."

"The Britishers did not destroy our temples like the others did. They gave us the law which we follow even today," Yadav said.

"Leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru could raise their voice because it was not an autocratic government. They gave Indians the first taste of freedom by allowing local self-governance in 1882," he said.

He claimed the imperial army strived for equality among all castes in India.

"They (the Britishers) formed the Mahar Regiment. Earlier, in Bengal presidency, only people belonging to upper castes were allowed to enlist in the army," he claimed, adding "if there is a gentlemen race in the world, it's is the British".

The Hindu Sena had celebrated the birthday of US President Donald Trump with a cake weighing 7.1 kg in New Delhi in 2017.