New Delhi: Attacking Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, his deputy L K Advani and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for raking up the foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi, Congress today (April 14, 2004) cited names of some personalities who were not born here and yet rose to occupy top positions and a prominent place in India.

"The examples presented here are only illustrative in nature and are not an exhaustive list of great Indian citizens who were not born within the geographical boundaries of India but they chose their destiny to live and die for India," a former BJP leader and currently a member of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) media team, J K Jain, told reporters.

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Giving examples, he said Maulana Azad, who was born in Saudi Arabia, was a front-ranking leader in India's struggle for freedom and he served as Congress president, a member of the Constituent Assembly and Parliament and a Minister in the Nehru Government.

Annie Besant, who was born in London, was a pioneer of Indian nationalism and rose to become the president of the Congress Party. She devoted her life to India. She died in India and asked for her ashes to be scattered on the Indian sea shore, Jain said.

Another example was that of Mother Teresa who was born in Albania. She took Indian citizenship and served the people of India. She received the Nobel Peace Prize as an Indian and made every Indian proud, he said.

"The points of attack (by BJP leaders) are like hot air balloons that need to be punctured so that truth may prevail," Jain added.