Journalism of Courage
Alongside tributes for former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru on his birth anniversary Monday, a conversation about his role in the accession of Jammu and Kashmir played out on social media, with the BJP reiterating its oft-repeated claim that he had delayed it to “fulfill a personal agenda”.
Among the first to remember Nehru was Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who tweeted: “On his birth anniversary, tributes to our former PM Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Ji. We also recall his contribution to our nation.” Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy also extended their tributes.
However, as Union Law Minister Kiran Rijiju used the occasion to again raise questions regarding Nehru’s Kashmir legacy, other BJP leaders including Piyush Goyal, Sambit Patra tweeted in support. Calling the piece “scathing”, the party’s IT in-charge Amit Malviya said, “… (that) the Congress and its ruling dynasty puts Jawaharlal Nehru, and the later members of the dynasty, first and India later is a well-established fact, writes law minister Kiren Rijiju”.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Sonia Gandhi visited Shanti Van, the samadhi of Nehru in Delhi, to pay their tributes. Kharge said, “Pandit Nehru – the maker of modern India… India cannot be imagined without his tremendous contribution. A champion of Democracy, his progressive thoughts furthered India’s social, political & economic development, despite the challenges.”
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Congress general secretary communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh, who is walking with party leader Rahul Gandhi in the Bharat Jodo Yatra that is currently in its Maharashtra leg, tweeted about Nehru’s anniversary, and wrote: “Nehru continues to inspire & his relevance has only increased after 2014. 600 copies of Nehru’s iconic, The Discovery of India, will be distributed to Yatris today. (These were) brought by a volunteer who drove all the way from Delhi for 23 hours straight.”
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Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor said he “performed pushparchana before the portrait of Jawaharlal Nehru ji in the Central Hall of Parliament this morning”. While Speaker Om Birla, Kharge and other Congress leaders were present, he said, “No Central Minister or other BJP notable was present. Bipartisanship extinct!?”
After having stirred a row with his article on Nehru and accession of J&K, for CNN-News18 TV channel on October 27, Rijiju Monday chose to share a response to the opinion piece and tweeted: “What really happened? Why did Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru delay the accession of Kashmir into India and thereby give Pakistan an opportunity to invade it?” He went on to promise “the real story behind Nehru’s Panch-Bhool or 5 Blunders on Kashmir”, and claimed “Nehru rejected Maharaja Hari Singh’s plea to accede to India not just once, but thrice”.
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Hari Singh’s son Karan Singh had replied to this in an open letter, saying he had no knowledge about his father having offered accession before Independence.
At the time, Jairam Ramesh had taken on Karan Singh, saying he had not defended Nehru enough. On Monday, the Congress official Twitter account said, “Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru ji and Sardar Patel ji united the country with friendly relations and consultations, did not allow the country to be divided on the basis of religion… The same thing hurts the Sangh-BJP. Every lie spread against Hind ke Jawahar is being exposed.”
The Office of the J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, incidentally, was among those to offer its “humle tributes” to Nehru.
Former BJP leader Sudheendra Kulkarni, who was aide to former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, tweeted: “To the best Prime Minister India has had, my tribute on his birth anniversary.”
Among leaders of other parties, former prime minister H D Deve Gowda of the JD(S) in Karnataka, Ajit Pawar of the NCP and Aaditya Thackeray of the Uddhav Shiv Sena ofered their tributes to Nehru. Deve Gowda called him “a true secular democrat”.
Former Union Coal Secretary Anil Swarup tweeted: Some in the present generation will never be able (to) fathom the contribution of Nehru in the making of modern India. He had his frailties but he was truly an aman ka farishta. He thrived on love & not hatred.”
