Express News Service
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday rebutted Prime Minister Modi’s claim that he was able to resolve the Kashmir issue by following the footsteps of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.Taking a dig at PM’s remarks on Nehru, Jairam Ramesh, the AICC general secretary in charge of communication, said the PM had overlooked facts to castigate Nehru and whitewash history. The Congress leader quoted from the book Patel: A Life by Rajmohan Gandhi.
“All this has been documented well in Rajmohan Gandhi’s biography of Sardar Patel. These facts are also known to the PM’s new man in J&K,” said Ramesh. His reference was to Ghulam Nabi Azad, who resigned from Congress and floated a new party.
In a veiled attack on Jawaharlal Nehru, the PM squarely put the blame on Nehru for not solving the Kashmir issue. He was speaking at a rally in Gujarat, ahead of the state Assembly elections. “Sardar saheb persuaded all the princely states to merge with India. But another person handled this one issue of Kashmir,” Modi said.
Countering the claims, Ramesh cited the book, which says that Vallabhbhai’s lukewarm response to Kashmir had lasted until September 13, 1947. “Sardar Patel was okay with J&K joining Pakistan till Sept 13 1947 when the Nawab of Junagadh acceded to Pakistan,” Ramesh cited from the book.
“That morning, in a letter to Baldev Singh, he had indicated that “if Kashmir decides to join the other Dominion, he would accept the facts. His attitude changed later that day when he heard that Pakistan had accepted Junagadh’s accession. If Jinnah could take hold of a Hindu majority state with a Muslim ruler, why the Sardar should not be interested in a Muslim majority state merging with a Hindu ruler,” it further read.
NEW DELHI: The Congress on Tuesday rebutted Prime Minister Modi’s claim that he was able to resolve the Kashmir issue by following the footsteps of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.Taking a dig at PM’s remarks on Nehru, Jairam Ramesh, the AICC general secretary in charge of communication, said the PM had overlooked facts to castigate Nehru and whitewash history. The Congress leader quoted from the book Patel: A Life by Rajmohan Gandhi.
“All this has been documented well in Rajmohan Gandhi’s biography of Sardar Patel. These facts are also known to the PM’s new man in J&K,” said Ramesh. His reference was to Ghulam Nabi Azad, who resigned from Congress and floated a new party.
In a veiled attack on Jawaharlal Nehru, the PM squarely put the blame on Nehru for not solving the Kashmir issue. He was speaking at a rally in Gujarat, ahead of the state Assembly elections. “Sardar saheb persuaded all the princely states to merge with India. But another person handled this one issue of Kashmir,” Modi said.
Countering the claims, Ramesh cited the book, which says that Vallabhbhai’s lukewarm response to Kashmir had lasted until September 13, 1947. “Sardar Patel was okay with J&K joining Pakistan till Sept 13 1947 when the Nawab of Junagadh acceded to Pakistan,” Ramesh cited from the book.
“That morning, in a letter to Baldev Singh, he had indicated that “if Kashmir decides to join the other Dominion, he would accept the facts. His attitude changed later that day when he heard that Pakistan had accepted Junagadh’s accession. If Jinnah could take hold of a Hindu majority state with a Muslim ruler, why the Sardar should not be interested in a Muslim majority state merging with a Hindu ruler,” it further read.
