In his address to the nation on the 76th anniversary of India’s independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi reiterated his odd formulation that India suffered through slavery for a thousand years. Around three months back as well, while addressing the joint session of the American Congress on 23 June, he said India was celebrating the 75th anniversary of independence after “a thousand years of foreign rule in one form or another”. The constant refrain about a thousand years of foreign rule contradicts historians’ accounts and the freedom fighters who struggled against actual foreign rule—of the British, who first arrived in India in the 17th century.
Nehru on Foreign Rule Over India
India’s first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, had dismissed the proposition that foreign rule over India could be traced to the pre-British period and encompass the Mughal era. He argued that Britain appointed the British Governors-General or Viceroys to perpetuate its control over India as a colony, while Mughal emperors
— source newsclick.in | S N Sahu | 17 Aug 2023