NEW DELHI: Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday “nationalism” and the slogan ‘ Bharat Mata Ki Jai ’ are being misused in the present day context to construct a “militant” and “purely emotional idea of India” that excludes millions of its residents and citizens.Defending the legacy of India’s first PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru at the release of an anthology of articles on and by Nehru — ‘Who is Bharat Mata? On History, Culture and the Idea of India’ — Singh said an understanding of the former PM’s political and intellectual journey is a “pre-condition for India’s survival as a democratic polity as a humane, compassionate society.”He referred to Nehru as a “great visionary” who shaped India as a modern nation state, an assertion which comes at a time when the ruling BJP has accused Nehru and Congress of partitioning the country on religious grounds and of not giving due credit to his contemporaries like Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Singh was also sharp in his criticism of the allegations levelled at Nehru. “If India is recognized in the comity of Nations as a vibrant democracy and, if it is considered as one of the important world powers, it was Pandit Nehru, who should be recognised as its main architect. Pandit Nehru was not only a statesman of high international standing, but a great historian and literary figure too. With an inimitable style, and a multi-linguist, Nehru laid the foundation of the universities, academies and cultural institutions of Modern India. But for Nehru’s leadership, independent India would not have become what it is today,” he said.He also alleged people insisting on criticising Nehru were driven by personal prejudices. “Unfortunately, a section of people who either do not have the patience to read history or would like to be deliberately guided by their prejudices, try their best to picture Nehru in a false light. But I am sure, history has a capacity to reject fake and false insinuations and put everything in proper perspective,” Singh said.Emphasising the utility of an anthology of Nehu’s work in the present day, Singh said it will show to the world and to India how Pandit Nehru and his idea of India “built on Gandhian principles, harmonising the past and the present free from communal discords”. This, Singh said, is the only way to promote the inevitable plurality of our country.“Nehru makes a very significant and time relevant remark on the dangers of leaderships falling into a trap and getting removed far away from the common people whom they are supposed to serve,” Singh said, quoting liberally from Nehru’s works in a loaded commentary on the bitter invectives exchanged between the ruling party and the principal opposition, over Nehru role as ‘father of modern India’.