New Delhi, Mar 01: Terming insertion of the Article 370 in the Indian Constitution as one of the biggest “Nehruvian blunders”, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh on Saturday said that Jawaharlal Nehru’s ceasefire decision prevented the reclaiming of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).
Speaking at the PoJK Resolution Day event organised by the Jammu and Kashmir People’s Forum and the Mirpur PoJK Sacrifice Committee at the Indian Society of International Law Auditorium here, the Union Minister, according to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said, “When the Indian Army was on the verge of reclaiming the territory of Mirpur, now part of PoJK, in 1947 Nehru (the then Prime Minister of India) announced unilateral ceasefire.”
Dr Singh said the truce was declared without consulting the cabinet, as Nehru, in his attempt to be a “messiah of peace”, halted military operations when the Army needed just two more days to complete its mission.
He added, “Insertion of Article 370 (which provided special status to J&K) into the Constitution kept J&K on edge till August 5, 2019, when PM Modi-led government scrapped it. This temporary Article was one of the biggest Nehurvian blunders.”
The BJP leader went on to criticise Nehru’s decision to take Kashmir to the United Nations, calling it another “historical blunder”. “Taking the matter to the United Nations prevented India from reclaiming its territory,” he said.
The Union Minister declared that PoJK, Pakistan Occupied Territories of Ladakh (POTL), and China Occupied Territories of Ladakh (COTL) are integral parts of India and will remain so. “The government led by PM Modi is committed to reclaiming POJK,” he added. (KNO)
