New Delhi:
Opposition parties on Wednesday attacked Home Minister Amit Shah over his comments against India's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Congress leaders said no one has the right to insult those who fought against British rule and offered everything to support the freedom struggle.
However, BJP leaders claimed that what Mr Shah said in the Lok Sabha about former Prime Minister Nehru is correct and history needs to be told.
Mr Shah on Wednesday blamed Nehru's “two big blunders” – declaring a ceasefire without capturing all of Kashmir and taking the issue to the United Nations – for the suffering of the people of Jammu and Kashmir .
The Home Minister trained his guns on Nehru while responding to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act (Amendment Act) and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act (Amendment Act).
Reacting to Mr Shah's comments, Jairam Ramesh, Congress general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP, wrote on J&K in 1947 and 1948”.
“Dr Farooq Abdullah immediately called out the distorian posing as a pseudo-historian,” he said. Mr. Abdullah is the Chairman of the National Conference and represents Srinagar in the House of Representatives.
“These are tactics to derail Congress and INDIA's narratives and I will not fall into Mr. Shah's trap. His office should make him read Chandrasekhar Dasgupta's magisterial book, 'War and Diplomacy in Kashmir', which has peddled many such myths. exposed,” Mr. Ramesh added.
Describing Amit Shah's comments against Nehru as “absolutely incorrect”, Congress MP Manish Tewari told PTI that “with hindsight, with a six-by-six view, you can find fault in every decision of the government”.
“The ceasefire came about because the then government was advised by the Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army, General Roy Bucher,” he said, asserting that the ceasefire was “inevitable” at that time.
Mr Tewari said: “As for taking the matter to the United Nations, let us not forget that the world was emerging from the devastating Second World War, which had claimed the lives of millions and millions of people. The atomic bomb had been used for the first time.” He said that the United Nations was established as an institution to put an end to all future wars and that India had signed the UN convention even before it became independent.
“Therefore, at that time, the government sought the intervention of the United Nations to allow Pakistan to leave the territory it was illegally occupying. It was not a wrong decision,” the Anandpur Sahib MP added.
Congress Rajya Sabha member and Gujarat unit chairman Shaktisinh Gohil said no one has the right to make such comments against India's first Prime Minister, who fought against British rule and offered everything to support the freedom struggle.
“Whether it was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Nehru ji or Baba Saheb Ambedkar, they fought the British and offered everything they had, including ancestral property at the feet of Mahatma Gandhi, for the freedom struggle,” he said.
“Nehru and Patel were two sides of the same coin. The comment he (Amit Shah) made today is an insult to Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Nehru ji. No one has the right to do that,” he said, adding: Such comments at this time are an insult to the country, Sardar Patel, Nehru Ji and their policies. Such policies are not good for the country at all.”
Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari slammed Amit Shah for his comments and said, “We would not have got freedom if it had not been for Pandit Nehru, Mahatma Gandhi and other freedom fighters. What Nehru saved amid those adverse conditions (in Kashmir), thank you for that,” he added.
RSP leader and Lok Sabha member NK Premachandran said it was “quite unfortunate” on the part of central cabinet ministers who described the activities of India's first prime minister as Nehruvian blunders.
“They say these are the mistakes of the then Prime Minister (Nehru). It may be a mistake, but using the word blunder means it is a stupid mistake,” he said and asked, “Is this the way to tackle the first Prime Minister? minister of the country, freedom fighter and architect of modern India.” “I am not saying it is unparliamentary. Maybe there is no technical defect. But at the same time, we must maintain decorum and have mutual respect for each other, whether it is from the treasury benches or the opposition party,” Mr Premchandran told PTI.
Mr Abdullah said: “They have always had differences with Nehru. There is nothing new about it. They will never recognize Nehru's work. So it keeps happening. This is politics”.
BJP leader and Union Minister Giriraj Singh described Amit Shah's comments on Nehru as correct and asserted that 'luck' has returned to Jammu and Kashmir since the scrapping of Article 370.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)