E-Paper
After Amit Shah blames Nehru for J&K issue, Jairam steps in: ‘Super-spreader of lies’
Congress MP Jairam Ramesh said Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, participated in discussions before including Article 370 in Indian Constitution as opposed to the time when demonitisation happened.
In latest salvo over Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru's role in the history of accession of Jammu and Kashmir with India, Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Thursday hit back at Union home minister Amit Shah after he blamed the country's first prime minister for the issues plaguing in the Union territory. Ramesh, who is currently partaking in the grand old party's ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, lashed out at the BJP veteran, calling him a “super-spreader of lies” like his “sahab” - referring to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
In a tweet, Ramesh said that Nehru did not “autocratically” include Article 370 in the Indian Constitution. “There was discussion that happened unlike the time when demonetisation came into effect. Patel (Sardar Patel), Ambedkar (BR Ambedkar) and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee did not object (to the formation of Article 370),” his post, roughly translated from Hindi, read.
Also Read | 'India paying for Nehru's follies': Kiren Rijiju vs Jairam Ramesh on Kashmir accession history
The Congress MP further stated that Sir Narasimha Ayyangar Gopalaswami Ayyangar, who had worked in Jammu and Kashmir, drafted Article 370 following which “no one resigned”. “Just like his sahab, Amit Shah is a super-spreader of lies,” Ramesh tweeted.
Ayyangar hailed from Tamil Nadu, and served as the prime minister of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir between 1937 and 1943. He was part of a 7-member drafting committee of the Indian Constitution appointed on August 29, 1947. Later, he drafted Article 370 that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
Ramesh's response comes after Shah on Thursday not only blamed Nehru for the issues in Jammu and Kashmir, but also credited Modi for solving them by removing Article 30 from the Constitution. Addressing an event to flag off the BJP's ‘Gaurav Yatra’ in poll-bound Gujarat, the Union home minister said that Congress used to taunt his party over the construction of the Ram Temple in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya, but work on it is now underway.
“Due to the mistake of Jawaharlal Nehru of inserting Article 370, Kashmir was in a mess. It could not be properly integrated with the country. Everybody wanted the removal of Article 370. Prime Minister Narendra Modi removed it in one stroke and completed the integration of Kashmir with the country,” Shah was quoted as saying by PTI.
Earlier this week, Modi also took a jibe at Nehru while addressing a rally in Gujarat. In a veiled attack, he said that while Patel persuaded all princely states to merge with India, another “handled…the issue of Kashmir”. Modi added that by following the “footsteps” of Patel, he was able to resolve the issue of Jammu and Kashmir.
