The Congress also claimed that the decision to cease fire had been taken based on the advice of the then army chief.
The Congress on Wednesday described as “erroneous” union minister Amit Shah’s remark that it was due to former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s “blunder” that Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK) came into existence. Responding to Shah’s claim that Nehru decided to announce a ceasefire when the Indian army was winning, the Congress said the two armies had struck a stalemate, necessitating the ceasefire.
The Congress also claimed that the decision to cease fire had been taken based on the advice of the then army chief. “I do not know what is the source of the home minister’s information but historically speaking, the then PM of India was given considered military advice by the then Commander in Chief of the Indian army General Roy Bucher and the advice was that the war with Pakistan had ground to a stalemate and therefore a ceasefire was imperative. The decision taken by the then Nehru Cabinet and he didn’t take it alone, it was a Cabinet decision,” said Congress leader Manish Tewari.
Congress leader Pramod Tiwari said India would have lost Srinagar but for the intelligence shown by Nehru. “It has become a habit of BJP to abuse Jawaharlal Nehru and put across wrong facts…You can say things today since Jawaharlal Nehru is not here to answer. If Jawaharlal Nehru had not used his intelligence and made efforts, we would not have Srinagar with us,” he said.
The Congress party’s INDIA ally, Farooq Abdullah claimed India would have lost Poonch and Rajaouri. “At that time, the army was diverted to save Poonch and Rajouri. If it had not been done, Poonch and Rajouri would have also gone to Pakistan…There was no other way than this, Lord Mountbatten and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had also suggested that this should go to the United Nations,” he said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedu said the BJP keeps cursing Nehru. “BJP is talking about 75 years old things… You have come to create history but are cursing others. You are cursing Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. And when you got a chance to create history by removing 370, what promise did you make to the people of Kashmir? Terrorist attacks will end. Terrorism will end, Kashmiri Pandits will return to their homes and elections will be held as soon as possible. Neither elections were held nor Kashmiri Pandit brothers and sisters are feeling safe…and the terrorist attacks have still not stopped,” she said.
Shah, speaking in the Lok Sabha, attributed the problems Kashmir has been facing for over the past 70 years to Nehru’s “two blunders”. “I stand in the House and say responsibly that Kashmir suffered for several years because of the two blunders during the tenure of PM Jawaharlal Nehru. The biggest mistake was that when our forces were winning, a cease fire was announced and PoK came into existence. Had the ceasefire been delayed by three days, PoK would have been a part of India. Second was the blunder to take our issue to the UN (United Nations),” he said.
