BJP recalls Nehru's 'blunders' on Kashmir, Congress calls BJP leaders 'WhatsApp nursery' students
The BJP said that the country had to pay a heavy price for special provisions being granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370. The opposition party, however, lashed out at the ruling BJP over the targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir and sought the Centre's apology for it.
FollowThe Bharatiya Janata Party on Thursday tore into the Congress party over "blunders" committed by India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru with regard to Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had corrected them by nullifying Article 370.
Also Read: Jawaharlal Nehru's role in Kashmir: BJP, Congress spar over Twitter
Briefing the media on the 75th anniversary of the region's accession, BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia claimed that Nehru committed five blunders, including delaying action on then-J&K ruler Hari Singh's accession proposal. The BJP said that the country had to pay the price for it as this allowed Pakistan to capture a part of the region (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir)
The BJP cited Nehru's statement in which he states that the king had first proposed the accession idea in July 1947 but the former dithered and allegedly prioritised his and his friend's (Sheikh Abdullah) interests over the country's.
Lashing out at the Congress, Bhatia said that 'there would be no part of the state under Pakistan's occupation if timely action was taken. The Congress since then suppressed the truth and spread lies about the issue.'
Nehru then took an "internal issue" to the United Nations, making Pakistan a party, he said, while also denouncing him for floating the idea of a plebiscite despite there being no provision for it in the Independence Act under which hundreds of princely states merged with India.
He further said that the country had to pay a heavy price for special provisions being granted to Jammu and Kashmir under Article 370.
Claiming that then home minister Vallabhbhai Patel was against measures pushed by Nehru, he said there would probably be no 'jihadi terrorism' if Jammu and Kashmir were merged with the country like other princely states.
Prime Minister Modi has corrected the blunders, and his strong leadership is now showing the way to the world, he said.
To further embarrass the Grand Old Party, Bhatia also quoted Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury's comments in Lok Sabha in 2019 when the debate on the resolution about Article 370 nullification was going on. Chowdhury had then questioned the government's stand that the Kashmir issue was India's internal issue and claimed that the issue was in the United Nations.
The BJP has sought an apology from the Congress party for its blunders, Bhatia said, while also targeting the party for Kashmiri Pandits' forced migration following the outbreak of militancy.
BJP leaders students of 'WhatsApp nursery'
Responding to the BJP's onslaught, the Congress raised the issue of the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from south Kashmir's Shopian district and sought a white paper from the Narendra Modi government on the plight of the minority community during its eight-year rule.
The opposition party also lashed out at the ruling BJP over the targeted killings of Kashmiri Pandits in Jammu and Kashmir and sought the Centre's apology for it.
Asked about Union Minister Kiren Rijiju's article titled 'the 75th Anniversary of Five Nehruvian Blunders on Kashmir', Congress said BJP leaders, who are students of 'WhatsApp nursery', need to revisit their history classes.
Congress Spokesperson Pawan Khera wondered why the targeted killings stopped during Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's tenure, and 75 per cent of the people participated in the democratic elections process.
