New Delhi: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has been alleging since the day of India’s independence that it was because of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru that the issue of Jammu and Kashmir remained unresolved. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been more vocal than others to blame Nehru for it, though he never mentioned the name of the first Prime Minister of the country.
At a rally in Gujarat, Modi targeted the first Prime Minister without naming him. Modi said, “Sardar Saheb managed the merger of all the princely states with India but another person handled this one issue of Kashmir.” That is why it still is unresolved, Modi said, adding that he is following the footsteps of Patel.
Nevertheless, the Congress on Tuesday countered Modi’s claim, saying that the Prime Minister should check facts first before making any comments. The party blamed former ruler of J&K Maharaja Hari Singh for not acceding to India immediately after the independence. Singh took the decision only when the Pakistani invaders entered the state and tried to take it over.
Congress general secretary and in-charge of the party’s communication wing Jairam Ramesh cited Rajmohan Gandhi’s book, saying, “The PM has once again whitewashed REAL history. He overlooks the following facts only to castigate Nehru on J&K. All this has been documented well in Raj Mohan Gandhi’s book Sardar Patel. These facts are well-known to the PM’s new man in J&K.” Ramesh was referring to Ghulam Nabi Azad who quit the Congress and formed a political party.
Ramesh further said, “Maharaja Hari Singh dithered on accession. There were dreams of independence. But when Pakistan invaded, Hari Singh acceded to India, Sardar Patel was okay with J&K joining Pakistan till September 13, 1947 when the Nawab of Junagadh acceded to Pakistan.”
“Sheikh Abdullah championed accession to India entirely because of his friendship with and admiration for Nehru and his respect for Gandhi,” Ramesh said. He also quoted from Rajmohan Gandhi’s book – Patel: A Life – by Rajmohan Gandhi (page 439 and 591 (1991). The book also quotes letters written by Sardar Patel in connection with the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.
