NEW DELHI: Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah defended the first PM of the country, Jawaharlal Nehru after Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday blamed Nehru for "two major blunders" — one of them for taking the Kashmir issue to the United Nations — saying that there was no other way but to take up the issue with the UN.
Speaking to the reporters here, the National Conference (NC) President said that Lord Mountbatten and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had also suggested that this should go to the United Nations. "There was no other way than this; Lord Mountbatten and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had also suggested that this should go to the United Nations," Abdullah said.
He further said that Poonch and Rajouri would have also gone to Pakistan if the army was not diverted to save the regions. "At that time, the army was diverted to save Poonch and Rajouri. If it had not been done, Poonch and Rajouri would have also gone to Pakistan," he added.
In a fiery session in the Lok Sabha, Shah made headlines by claiming that if Jawaharlal Nehru had taken the right steps, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) would be an integral part of India today.
Amit Shah deemed Jawaharlal Nehru's decisions during his tenure as prime minister, particularly the announcement of a ceasefire and involving the Kashmir issue in the United Nations, as historic blunders that inflicted significant suffering on Jammu and Kashmir.
Replying to a debate in the Lok Sabha on the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation (Amendment) Bill and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation (Amendment) Bill, Shah said if Nehru had taken the right steps, a large chunk of territory would not have been ceded and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir would have been part of India.
"I support the word that was used here—Nehruvian blunder. Because of the blunder that was committed during the time of Nehru, Kashmir had to suffer. With responsibility, I want to say that the two big blunders that happened during the tenure of Jawaharlal Nehru happened due to his decisions, because of which Kashmir had to suffer for years," Shah said.
"Kashmir had to suffer due to Nehruvian blunders. One was that when our Army was winning and as soon as the Punjab area was reached, a ceasefire was declared and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was born. If the ceasefire had been declared three days later, PoK would have been part of India," the home minister said.