On the 75th anniversary of Kashmir’s accession to India, the BJP fielded Law Minister Kiren Rijiju to assert that the “blunders” committed by India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru have been undone by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While Rijiju recounted the five “Nehruvian blunders”, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh released a synopsis of events around the time of accession to say, “this should be read by pseudo historians and peddlers of lies like Kiren Rijiju and his ilk”.
In a video released by the BJP, Rijiju said, “What our first PM Nehruji did with Kashmir has caused so much tragedy, it has drained the nation’s wealth, it has taken unaccounted lives of jawans and civilians. Because of that blunder, Kashmir has unnecessarily become a disputed issue when there is no issue. It is an integral part of India. It is very important that we set a correct narrative. The blunders committed by Nehruji have been corrected by Modiji. When it comes to history, we cannot tweak it. I have simply put out the facts. Blunders committed by Nehruji have been undone by Modiji.”
Historic lie
The Law Minister said a historical lie has been perpetrated for the past seven decades that Kashmir was also among the princely states that created problems and Maharaja Hari Singh, the then ruler of the state, was dilly-dallying on joining India. He said it was Nehru who created these problems “in order to fulfil his personal agenda”.
A summary of events released by Jairam Ramesh contradicted the Law Minister, calling him a “peddler of lies”. The summary said Maharaja Hari Singh was, in fact, thinking of creating a “Dogristan, an independent entity wedged between the dominions of India and Pakistan whereas it was Nehru’s resolve that brought Kashmir to India. “Nehru was convinced that Kashmir was worth fighting for and he wanted an interim government based on the Mysore model. In Mysore, the leader of the popular party was asked to choose his colleagues, he himself being the Prime Minister,” said the summary released by Jairam Ramesh.