Nehru rejected Maharaja Hari Singh’s plea to accede to India not just once but thrice, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju calls out Nehru’s blunders again

15-Nov-2022

Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on the eve of Pt. Jawahar Lal Nehru’s birthday on Monday called out his blunders that he made during accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India. In a series of tweets, he said "Nehru rejected Maharaja Hari Singh’s plea to accede to India not just once but thrice,”. He said, “‘Friend First, India Second’ is what defined Nehru’s initial Kashmir policy in 1947. It led to tragic consequences for which India paid a price for seven decades.”

Union Law Minister made these remarks in an opinion piece for the News18 portal, which he shared on his twitter handle.

Rijiju wrote, "Nehru was aware even in June 1947 that all that Hari Singh wanted was to join the Indian dominion. Nehru stated as much in his note to Mountbatten (the last viceroy of India).

Hari Singh's government actually approached Indian leadership in July 1947 (per Nehru's own statement) to join India but Nehru declined.

Undeterred, Hari Singh tried again, this time through M.C Mahajan, now PM-designate of Jammu and Kashmir, personally approached Nehru to join India in September 1947. Hari Singh, by this time, had agreed to most demands made by Nehru, accepted to change the administration of Kashmir but only requested that it be done after accession. Nehru still remained adamant and wanted the administration change - installation of Abdullah - first and accession later.

Hari Singh made a further concession and released Sheikh Abdullah from prison on September 29, 1947 as he had been arrested on 20 May 1946 for giving a ‘Quit Kashmir’ call against Hari Singh in a bid to revolt against him.

Armed with this concession, Hari Singh's government again approached Nehru to accede to India on October 20, 1947. Nehru refused again through a letter on October 21, and this time put in writing what he actually wanted - installation of Abdullah to head a provisional government. Nehru was very clear in his sequencing. Abdullah first, accession later.

Further, while holding Nehru responsible for his wrong handling of the Kashmir issue, Rijiju claimed that Nehru moved the UN under the wrong Article after Pakistan's invasion, thereby making it a party to the dispute instead of an aggressor. He added that Nehru let the "myth" of an UN-mandated plebiscite perpetuate and created the "divisive" Article 370 of the Constitution.

Rijiju also targeted Hari Singh’s son Karan Singh for his response to Rijiju’s article which he wrote on Jawaharlal Nehru’s 'Panch Bhool’ or ‘Five Blunders’ on Kashmir. He said , “His response to my article is really disappointing as he completely skipped the other four blunders of Nehru suo moto insisting that the accession was provisional, moving the UN under wrong Article after Pakistan’s invasion, thereby making it a party to the dispute instead of an aggressor ; letting the myth of an UN mandated plebiscite perpetuate ; and creation of the divisive Article 370.

He further wrote that Karan Singh represented a "sanitised history, resorted to poor wordplay, and , that too, in a roundabout way to somehow extricate Nehru”.

Further he wrote that it was time for the citizens of the country to rebuff attempts to falsify history and stand true to the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. The people of this region, along with the rest of India, deserve to know the truth of what actually happened during those tumultuous months and years.