As the Congress celebrates its 131st Foundation Day on Saturday, two articles published by the party’s Mumbai unit have caused a stir as it blamed Jawaharlal Nehru for the state of affairs in Kashmir, China and Tibet. In another article, controversial remarks were made on party chief Sonia Gandhi. The unsigned articles were published in the December issue of ‘Congress Darshan’ Hindi edition.
In one write-up, it was stated that Nehru should have listened to freedom fighter and former home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s views on international affairs. The content editor of the journal, Sudhir Joshi, was later sacked. Congress leader and journal’s editor Sanjay Nirupam apologised for the articles.
The article on Sardar Patel stated: “Despite Patel getting the post of deputy prime minister and home minister, the relations between the two leaders remained strained, and both had threatened to resign time and again.”
If Nehru had embraced Patel’s foresight, many problems in the international affairs would not have arisen, it added.
The article cited a letter that Patel reportedly wrote in 1950 to caution Nehru against China’s policy towards Tibet and where “Patel described China as unfaithful, and a future enemy of India”.
“Had Patel been heard (by Nehru) then, the problems of Kashmir, China, Tibet and Nepal wouldn’t have existed now.
Patel opposed Nehru’s move of taking the Kashmir issue to the UNO,” stated the article, adding, “Nehru did not agree with Patel’s views on Nepal.”
Mumbai Regional Congress Committee chief and editor of the journal Sanjay Nirupam said he is not involved in the day-to-day functioning of the magazine and was unaware of the article.
“I do not agree with the article. It seems to have been sourced, but I don’t know who the writer is,” Nirupam, who in his earlier stint with Shiv Sena edited Hindi newspaper ‘Dopahar Ka Saamana’, said, adding that corrective measures would be taken.
An unexpected criticism of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in a Congress mouthpiece in Mumbai evoked a mixed response across the political spectrum, including in Jammu and Kashmir, on Monday.
The ruling BJP rejoiced over the controversial article published in Congress Darshan with its Union Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar saying “the truth cannot be hidden for long.”
“The article reveals what many people think about the Congress. It has also brought out the hidden truth about Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to the fore that the Congress never did justice to him which he was entitled [to],” Mr. Javadekar said.
Apart from passing a jibe at Congress president Sonia Gandhi for her father’s alleged association with fascists, one of the key arguments in the article is that Nehru went ahead against the will of Congress stalwart Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and registered the Kashmir dispute in the United Nations in 1947.
Speaking to The Hindu, senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said the write-up lacked the correct historical perspective. “Pandit Nehru led us through delicate national and international tensions. Today, we all are proud to be living in a powerful India and it is because of his policies.”
Kashmiri separatist leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq disagreed with the article as well as with the BJP’s response and defended Nehru’s move. “It was a well thought-out decision that went against the interests of Pakistan,” said Mr. Farooq.
“Nehru’s outreach to the U.N. was to tell the world that Pakistan was an invader,” he said.
