‘Nehru never kept his promise on Kashmir’

Vaiko says Cong. failed to hold plebiscite

August 09, 2019 01:28 am | Updated 01:28 am IST - CHENNAI

BANGALORE, 06/04/2013: General Secretary of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kalazhagam Y. Gopalaswamy (Vaiko) arriving at Press Club of Bangalore to address Media on April 06, 2013. 
Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

BANGALORE, 06/04/2013: General Secretary of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kalazhagam Y. Gopalaswamy (Vaiko) arriving at Press Club of Bangalore to address Media on April 06, 2013. Photo: V. Sreenivasa Murthy

Despite coming under attack from State Congress leaders, MDMK general secretary Vaiko on Thursday reiterated his stand that the Congress betrayed the people of Kashmir, saying it never kept its promise to hold a plebiscite in the valley.

“The then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru promised a plebiscite in 1947 and made Hari Singh sign the agreement for the annexure of Kashmir with India. Later, he imprisoned National Conference leader Sheikh Abdulla. India’s representative in the United Nations, M.C. Chagla, told the UN that three elections conducted in Kashmir amounted to a plebiscite. There could be no greater betrayal than this act of the Congress,” Mr. Vaiko told The Hindu when asked what prompted him to hit out at the Congress in the Rajya Sabha.

Mr. Vaiko also took the position that he was not elected to the Upper House with the support of the Congress MLAs, though he came from a family of Congress.

Recalling his meeting with Sheikh Abdullah, Mr. Vaiko recalled Sheikh Abdullah as saying “There is no place either for gratitude or friendship in the dictionary of the Congress.”

‘A bloodbath’

Mr. Vaiko also castigated the BJP government, saying it had created a threat of bloodbath in the country.

“Innocent people will be killed on both sides,” he said.

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