‘Let Me Quote Nehru Himself…’: Law Minister Rijiju Slams Jairam Ramesh's ‘Historical Lie’ on Kashmir

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks at his rally in Gujarat’s Anand district on October 10, indirectly blaming India’s first PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru as “one person” who could not solve the Kashmir issue while hailing Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, has started a war of words between the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The latest to join the argument was BJP leader and law and justice minister Kiren Rijiju who quoted “Nehru himself”, in his reply to a tweet thread by Congress’s Jairam Ramesh, to bust the “historical lie over accession of Kashmir”.

HOW IT ALL STARTED

“Sardar saheb persuaded all the princely states to merge with India. But another person handled this one issue of Kashmir… As I am following in the footsteps of Sardarsaheb, I have values of the land of Sardar and that was the reason I resolved the problem of Kashmir and paid true tributes to Sardar Patel,” said Modi.

Modi said if BJP workers got to talk to Congressmen, they should ask them whether they ever visited the world’s tallest Statue of Unity constructed in the honour of Sardar Patel. “It’s been several decades since Sardar saheb passed away. Now show some generosity and bow before Sardar saheb’s feet. They would not do so…,” he said.

CONGRESS’S REPLY

Responding to the allegations, Ramesh, in a Twitter thread, said: “Maharaja Hari Singh dithered on accession. There were dreams of independence. But when Pakistan invaded, Hari Singh acceded to India.”

“Sheikh Abdullah championed accession to India entirely because of his friendship with and admiration for Nehru, and his respect for Gandhi. Sardar Patel was okay with J&K joining Pakistan till Sept 13, 1947 when the Nawab of Junagadh acceded to Pakistan,” he said.

EXPLANATION BY RIJIJU, MALVIYA

In his reply to Ramesh, Rijiju said: “This ‘historical lie’, that Maharaja Hari Singh dithered on question of accession of Kashmir with India has gone on for far too long in order to protect the dubious role of J.L.Nehru. Let me quote Nehru himself to bust the lie of @Jairam_Ramesh.”

“…The first time Maharaja Hari Singh approached Nehru for accession to India was July 1947 itself, a full month before Independence. It was Nehru who rebuffed the Maharaja,” he said. “Maharaja had approached in July 1947 itself, like all other Princely States. Other states were accepted. Kashmir was rejected.”

He went to further add: “And @Jairam_Ramesh, not only did Nehru reject Maharaja Hari Singh’s request for accession in July 1947, but Nehru was dithering in October 1947 as well. This when Pakistani invaders had reached within kilometers of Srinagar.”

He summed it up saying: “Maharaja wanted to join India in July 1947 itself. It was Nehru who rejected Hari Singh’s request. Nehru conjured up some ‘special’ case for Kashmir & wanted ‘much more’ than mere accession. What was that special case? Vote Bank politics?”

He further asked: “Why was Kashmir made the only exception by Nehru, where the Princely ruler wanted to join India and yet Nehru wanted ‘much more’? What was that much more? Truth is, India is still paying the price for Nehru’s follies.”

Amit Malviya, BJP leader co-in-charge of West Bengal, too, replied: “Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had some of his deepest and most contentious differences with Jawahar Lal Nehru on the topic of Kashmir. He resented Nehru’s constant interference in matters related to Kashmir and its security which were issues under Patel’s domain.”

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