New Delhi, January 22: Right-wing group Hindu Sena on Tuesday celebrated the 118th birth anniversary of Queen Victoria, crediting the late British monarch for liberating India from "Muslim invaders and terrorists". An event was organised by the Sena in the national capital to "pay tributes" to Queen Victoria for ending Bahadur Shah Zafar's rule in 1857.

Vishnu Gupta, the president of Hindu Sena, said the war of 1857 -- pitting an array of princely states against the British East India Company -- was the "1st independence in truest sense". The war, he added, ended the tenure of Muslim sultanate in India, which stretched for nearly a 1,000 years on combining the Tughlaq and Muslim rules. Mohan Bhagwat Takes RSS Critics by Surprise, Says 'No Hindutva if We Don't Accept Muslims'.

The group blamed the Congress for "wrongly" portraying the British rule as an era of slavery, asserting that the colonial regime avenged the "atrocities" committed by Muslim rulers against the Hindu majority.

Gupta further told reporters that the Sena considers the British era as a period which catalysed growth and infrastructural development in India. The Sena, however, condemned certain incidents including the Jallianwala Bagh massacre.

In a press release issued after the event, the Sena blamed the Congress and the Communists for criticising the British out of proportion. "After partition of India, Congress and Communists have been teaching wrong history to us because Britishers knew if true history would be taught no one would vote for Congress," the statement said.

The Hindu Sena had earlier been in news in January 2016, when it allegedly vandalised the Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) in Delhi. In the same year, they drew flak after threatening to disrupt the performance of Pakistani singer Ghulam Ali, scheduled in the national capital. In 2017, two members of the group attempted to manhandle CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury while was addressing a press conference.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 22, 2019 07:38 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).