Mumbai: Blaming former prime minister late Jawaharlal Nehru for the Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (PoK), Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday said it would not have come into existence had Nehru not declared untimely ceasefire with the neighbouring country.
Targeting Nehru over “non-integration” of Kashmir with India, he said Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the country’s first home minister, should have handled the issue, instead of the then prime minister.
Addressing a rally here on the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir and to campaign for the BJP for the next month’s Maharashtra Assembly polls, he said, “The Congress sees politics behind Article 370 abrogation, we don’t see it that way.”
“The PoK wouldn’t have come into existence had Nehru not declared untimely ceasefire with Pakistan…Sardar Patel should have handled Kashmir, instead of Nehru handling it,” he said.
“Not a single bullet has been fired in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370,” he said.
The senior BJP leader said there was no unrest in Kashmir and in the coming days, “terrorism will be finished”.
Also read: Amit Shah’s political aim to recover PoK is not backed by India’s military capacity
Without taking any names, he said three dynasties which ruled Kashmir didn’t allow the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) to be set up there.
“Those who indulged in corruption in Kashmir now are feeling the heat despite the cold there,” he said in remarks laced with sarcasm.
He asked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and NCP chief Sharad Pawar to tell people whether they support or oppose removal of Article 370.
Addressing the gathering, he also expressed confidence that Devendra Fadnavis will again be the chief minister after the state polls next month.
The state Assembly elections will be held in a single phase on October 21 and results will be declared on October 24.
Actually many Indian military experts say that by winter of 1948, both Pak and Indian armies had fought each other to a standstill and were making very little progress. A very respected historian Air Marshal Subramanian says that the ARmy wanted to regroup and resupply itself for at least whole of winter and spring of 1949, if an attempt on POK was to be made. Pak was not weak in this region and there would have been many casualties on both sides. From a humanitarian view, the PMs of India and Pak came to the right conclusion to declare a cease fire. The BJP must also learn now that to keep conflicts going and losing our best men and women is better avoided . POK is no walkover as Lt Gen Panag has stated in his recent article in The Print.
Most important in any such discussion would be the wishes of the people concerned. The Indian Army was welcomed like a saviour by the people of East Pakistan / Bangladesh. That does not appear to be the case for PoK / GB.
These are the tantalising Whatifs of history. It would have been wonderful if the War of Independence of 1857 had succeeded, or if the Battle of Plassey, 1757 had gone the other way. Coming to the present, a video clip of Shri Saifuddin Soz, interviewed in Delhi, presents the Kashmiri perspective on recent changes, how the world looks from the Valley.
Unless we have evidence the video clip only presents Mr. Saifuddin Soz’s perspective. What the rest of Kashmir and the world thinks can be ascertained only by an opinion poll.