We all know Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of India! But how many of you know how eligible was he to become the PM of India? Probably we never bother about it! We accept what comes our way and how the things are! Without introspecting the real cause and attributes of any such persona. Actually, we are too busy earning our livelihood and making our both ends meet. We do not have time to get into such stuff.
But if you want to live a peaceful life, keeping a watch on the issues that impact our nation, its integrity and our overall life is necessary! Taking you back to the history of freedom of India, let’s understand the real character and the perspectives of Jawaharlal Nehru –the so-called hero and freedom fighter of India! There are various horrendous decisions made by him in his lifetime; here are a few which have actually put the integrity of Indian on stake! The entire nation is paying for his mistakes till date without actually holding him responsible for the same!
Congress is still surviving and there is nobody to ask them about these mistakes and instead, in some states, they are still enjoying the support of people at large! Isn’t it ridiculous!
- The Deceitful Character
Do you know if the policy of Congress was to be followed at that time of independence, Nehru wouldn’t have become the first PM? In 1946 the Indian National Congress had to elect its president who was expected to become the PM of India too! With a majority, the working committee voted for Sardar Patel undisputedly. When Nehru realized that he was not going to lead the Congress and the Prime Ministership was also a far-fetched dream, using his tactful and deceitful mind he approached Mahatma Gandhi and convinced him to compel Sardar Patel to withdraw from the nomination race. In fact, he also warned Gandhi that if he was not elected Congress party would break. This threat was actually devastating for Gandhi. As British were about to hand over the charge of India to Congress Party, and any dispute in the party might give them a reason to rethink their decision.
Eventually, Sardar Patel nominated Nehru withdrawing his candidature from the race due to Mahatma Gandhi who convinced him that because of two reasons Nehru would be a better candidate for leading the party and the nation. Those two reasons were his education that he had taken from Cambridge University and his closeness with Englishmen that would help him to deal with Britishers. This way Nehru using his shrewd mind and aristocracy won the leadership of Congress party and India both not due to his popularity and leadership traits. He unanimously was never elected by the Congress party members. He has always been a persona non grata even in his own party.
This is what has become the trend in Congress since then! Whether anyone likes or not, only the family member of Nehru is expected to lead the party forever! This is the true example of political dynasty – dumb, unintelligent and ignorant and without any foresightedness.
- The Kashmir Conflict – His Biggest Gift
Kashmir issue is the greatest blunder done by Nehru. He was confident that being a Kashmiri Pandit he was more aware and eligible to tackle the issue of Kashmir which engulfed India into repeated war and mass killing. During British rule, some of the regions were run by princes. During the partition, Kashmir was ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh. Because of its location, Kashmir was given the privilege to decide which country to join – India or Pakistan or to remain independent. The Maharaja was Hindu while most of its subjects were Muslim. Maharaja could not decide hence chose to remain independent. Then Pakistan sent some tribesmen to create trouble in Srinagar.
Maharaja Hari Singh appealed military help from India and signed Instrument of Accession and fled to India. This was the first war over Kashmir between India and Pakistan. On Nehru appeal, UN intervened and asked Pakistan to remove its military from Kashmir. A ceasefire was agreed with 65% of land under Indian control and rest with Pakistan. The land that Pakistan snatched from Indian in this fight remained with them and its border was called Line of Control. Kashmir was given a special status under Article 370 of Indian constitution.
Due to Nehru’s appeal for UN intervention led to this situation. Indian military would have driven the Pakistani intruders from Kashmir and would have captured the entire land. But later on, UNO declared Kashmir “disputed land” which made it almost impossible for Indian force to overthrow Pakistani troops. Now it has become a bone of contention for both the countries.
- Hindi Chini Bhai Bhai Concept
Nehru had blind faith in China and he had always supported and promoted China in various international platforms especially when it comes to securing a permanent seat in United Nations Security Council. In 1954, India and China concluded the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence in which India accepted Chinese ownership in Tibet. It was the second biggest blunder done by Nehru. He displayed full faith on China that backstabbed him.
Considering this policy of coexistence China revised its map and displayed some 120,000 square kilometers of Indian land as theirs. This created a tension in the western border of Ladakh. By following the “forward policy” to force the Chinese troop out of India territory Nehru tried to drive Chinese force out of Indian Territory which Chinese army blocked. This led Nehru to announce war against China to drive them back to their territory. Before this, China attached India instead of waiting to be attacked. Without any preparation and without analyzing and considering the strength of the neighbor country, Nehru decided to fight which ended in a ceasefire on 20th November 1962 by China.
He failed to arrive at a diplomatic solution with China as well. Had he promoted India to secure a permanent seat at UN instead of China, India would have been in a more commanding position than China and would have shown them their place. Although there were various other factors too that let to this far this is the most crucial one. This was his second great mistake for which India is still paying and every now and then China keeps flexing muscles to India even today also. Mr. Modi is trying to build international pressure on China when it comes to the standoff in the Doklam plateau. Courtesy to Nehru for pushing Indian people into this inferno!
We will come up with two more episodes of Nehru’s blunders that India is still paying for years and nobody knows how long we will keep paying! Your suggestions and comments are welcome to correct and add to the historical facts that I mentioned above if any. It’s just an effort to unearth the true face and unhealthy perceptions of Congress and its leaders before those people who are living in this misunderstanding that Congress is a party working for the people of India. Their real face is another way around!
This is a sponsored post by Ravindra Fauzdar – Vice President Bhartiya Janta Party Yuva Morcha (BJYM), Faridabad. He is also the President of Haryana Tennis Ball Cricket Association, and Vice President of Haryana State Ball Badminton Association. He can be reached at email@example.com, and https://twitter.com/RavindraFauzdar.