Blaming Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru for the loss of a significant part of Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan, Union Minister Dr. Jitendra Singh said on Monday that one of the major blunders of the first prime minister of India was to declare unilateral ceasefire precisely when the Indian Army was about to retrieve the areas of J&K captured by Pakistan which are now identified as Pakistan-occupied Jammu & Kashmir (PoJK).

He said the partition of India was the gravest blunder in the recent history of the world and a self-styled plan of a few ambitious individuals who allowed themselves to play in the hands of a divisive design of the British rulers.

The partition, said Dr Jitendra Singh, was vociferously opposed not only by Mahatma Gandhi but also across the sections of masses including many a Muslim intellectuals who constituted Progressive Writers’ Association. The two-nation theory which was given as an argument in support of partition also proved to be misguided as evident from the separation of the then East Pakistan to form Bangladesh.

While delivering “Brigadier Rajinder Singh Memorial Public Lecture” on “Accession of J&K’ organised by the Department of Defence & Strategic Studies headed by its Director Dr Virender Koundal in the University of Jammu, Dr Jitendra Singh said if only the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had allowed his home minister to handle Jammu & Kashmir in the same manner as Sardar was handling the other princely states of India, the history of Indian subcontinent would have been different and PoJK would have been a part of India.

The minister said Nehru, despite opposition from Gandhi and others, tacitly allowed Mohammad Ali Jinnah’s demand for partition to succeed.

Dr. Jitendra Singh said son of the soil Brigadier Rajinder Singh single-handedly fought with the enemy forces and repelled the invaders up to Uri but again the unilateral ceasefire declaration by the then prime minister Nehru led to partition of Jammu & Kashmir also. He said that such decisions of the Congress party and its rulers are still costing India for its land and resources.

He further said that the Indus Water Treaty has led to under utilization of our own water resources.

The minister, while elaborating another brunt of the partition, quoted the example of Article 370 which kept Jammu & Kashmir under developed for decades. He said that to oblige Sheikh Abdullah, the Congress government led by Jawaharlal Nehru not only antagonised Maharaja Hari Singh but also allowed  sentiments of separatism to be nourished by the Sheikh.

Maharaja Hari Singh was never at fault, said Dr Jitendra Singh, and argued that the delay in accession happened on account of dilly dallying by Nehru who wanted to impose Sheikh Abdullah on the Maharaja as well on the State.

The Memorial Lecture was organised by the Department of Defence & Strategic Studies headed by its Director Dr Virender Koundal  in the University of Jammu.