The Congress party has accused Union Home Minister Amit Shah of putting across wrong facts in the house regarding India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and outrightly rejected his claim that Kashmir suffered for several years because of Nehru’s “two blunders”. Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said that it has become a habit of the BJP to abuse the country’s first prime minister and asserted that India would have lost Srinagar had Nehru not used his intelligence.
“It has become a habit of BJP to abuse Jawaharlal Nehru and put across wrong facts…You can say things today since Jawaharlal Nehru is not here to answer. If Jawaharlal Nehru had not used his intelligence and made efforts, we would not have Srinagar with us,” he said.
Another Congress leader Manish Tewari also questioned Amit Shah’s claims and said that the decision to announce the ceasefire in the 1947 war with Pakistan was taken by the then Nehru Cabinet on military advice given by the then Commander in Chief of the Indian Army General Roy Bucher.
“I do not know what is the source of the home minister’s information but historically speaking, the then PM of India was given considered military advice by the then Commander in Chief of the Indian Army General Roy Bucher and the advice was that the war with Pakistan had ground to a stalemate and therefore a ceasefire was imperative. The decision taken by the then Nehru Cabinet and he didn’t take it alone, it was a Cabinet decision,” said Manish Tewari.
On Shah’s second blunder claim, National Conference leader and the Congress party’s INDIA ally Farood Abdullah claimed that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had also suggested taking the issue to the United Nations.
“At that time, the army was diverted to save Poonch and Rajouri. If it had not been done, Poonch and Rajouri would have also gone to Pakistan…There was no other way than this, Lord Mountbatten and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had also suggested that this should go to the United Nations,” he said.
What Amit Shah had said in Lok Sabha?
Speaking in the Lok Sabha during the Winter Session of Parliament today, Amit Shah blamed Nehru for the problems Jammu and Kashmir has been facing for the last 75 years and pointed out two of his decisions.
“I stand in the House and say responsibly that Kashmir suffered for several years because of the two blunders during the tenure of PM Jawaharlal Nehru. The biggest mistake was that when our forces were winning, a ceasefire was announced and PoK came into existence. Had the ceasefire been delayed by three days, PoK would have been a part of India. Second was the blunder to take our issue to the UN (United Nations),” he said.