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.
