Kashmir suffered for years due to Nehru’s 2 major blunders: Shah

New Delhi: Home Minister Amit Shah on Wednesday blamed India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s “two major blunders” -- declaring a ceasefire without winning the entire Kashmir and taking the issue to the United Nations -- for the sufferings of the people of 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 Punjab area was reached, ceasefire was declared and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir was born. If the ceasefire would have been (declared) three days later, PoK would have been part of India,” the home minister said.

The ceasefire made without winning the entire Kashmir was one “blunder” and the other was taking the issue to the UN. There was an uproar by the opposition benches over the remarks on Nehru and they staged a walkout but returned later. After their walkout, BJD leader Bhartruhari Mahtab said the home minister should also talk about the “Himalayan blunder”, a reference to Nehru’s actions leading up to the war with China in 1962. Shah quipped that his talking about two blunders had upset the opposition benches and if he had used the phrase “Himalayan blunder”, they would have resigned.