New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks at his rally in Gujarat’s Anand district on October 10, “Indirectly blaming India’s first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru on the Kashmir issue saying that he could not solve the Kashmir issue and On the other hand Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was praised on this issue. After this a war of words started between the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The latest to join the argument was BJP leader and Law and Justice Minister Kiren Rijiju, who responded to a tweet thread by Congress’ Jairam Ramesh for busting the “historic lie on Kashmir’s accession”. cited.
Modi said, “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 Sardar Saheb, I have values of Sardar’s land and that is why I solved the problem of Kashmir and paid true tribute to Sardar Patel.”
Modi said if BJP workers want to talk to Congressmen, they should ask them if they ever visited the world’s tallest Statue of Unity, built in honor of Sardar Patel. He said, “It has been many decades since Sardar Saheb passed. Now show some generosity and bow at the feet of Sardar Sahib. They won’t do that.”
Responding to the allegations, Ramesh said in a Twitter thread: “Maharaja Hari Singh took note of the merger. There were dreams of freedom. But when Pakistan invaded, Hari Singh joined India.
He said, “Sheikh Abdullah entered India solely because of his friendship and admiration with Nehru and his respect for Gandhi. Sardar Patel was fine with Jammu and Kashmir joining Pakistan till September 13, 1947, when the Nawab of Junagadh joined Pakistan.”
In his reply to Ramesh, Rijiju said: “This ‘historic lie’, which was deferred by Maharaja Hari Singh on the question of Kashmir’s accession to India, has gone too long to protect the dubious role of JL Nehru. I quote Nehru himself to expose the lies of Jairam Ramesh.
He said, “For the first time Maharaja Hari Singh approached Nehru for entry into India, only in July 1947, a month before independence. It was Nehru who reprimanded the Maharaja.” “The Maharaja, like all other princely states, made contact only in July 1947. Other states were accepted. Kashmir was rejected.
He further added: “And @Jairam_Ramesh, Nehru not only refused the request for the coronation of Maharaja Hari Singh in July 1947, but Nehru also deferred in October 1947. This happened when the Pakistani invaders had reached within a kilometer radius of Srinagar.
He summarized it by saying: “The Maharaja wanted to join India in July 1947 itself. It was Nehru who declined Hari Singh’s request. Nehru coined some ‘special’ case for Kashmir and wanted ‘much more’ than just annexation. What was that special case? Vote bank politics?
He further asked: “Why did Nehru make Kashmir the only exception, where the princely ruler wanted to join India and still Nehru wanted ‘too much’? What was that much? The truth is that India is still paying the price for Nehru’s stupidity.
West Bengal BJP leader co-in-charge Amit Malviya also replied: “Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had some of his deepest and most controversial differences with Jawaharlal Nehru on the subject of Kashmir. He opposed Nehru’s continued interference in matters relating to Kashmir and its security, which were under Patel’s jurisdiction.
(with agency input)