The grand old party of India- Indian National Congress seems to be still stuck in the past fermenting the hysteria about the alleged contribution of Nehru-Gandhi parivar into nation’s development, despite the fact that the people of the country has moved away from these legacies.
A similar propaganda got propped up today after senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh credited Nehru-Gandhi dynasty for the integration of the country at a time when Congress has been reluctant to take a stand on the critical issue of revoking special status to Jammu and Kashmir by abrogating controversial Article 370 and bifurcating the state into two Union territories.
While Congress party fears to take a stand on the issue and panders to the sentiments of Pakistan, controversial Congress leader Digvijaya Singh in a tweet has sung the praise of the first family of the party as he claimed that it was former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was the one who gave us Goa and his daughter Indira Gandhi gave India the state of Sikkim.
Further, Singh claimed that it was the leadership of Indira Gandhi which “bifurcated” Pakistan to help create Bangladesh.
It goes to the credit to Pt Nehru who gave us Goa and Smt Indira Gandhi who gave us Sikkim. Don’t forget it was Indira Gandhi ji’s leadership which bifurcated Pakistan and helped to create Bangladesh.
— digvijaya singh (@digvijaya_28) August 6, 2019
In a hurry to deflect from the issue of Article 370, Digvijaya Singh resorted to rhetorics when he claimed that Nehru was responsible for the independence of Goa, and Indira Gandhi was responsible for freeing up Sikkim. Neither of his claims regarding Goa or Sikkim is completely true.
The Goa liberation movement, a movement during the 1940s sought to end Portuguese colonial rule in Goa had begun much earlier than Jawaharlal Nehru became the Prime Minister of the country. With the effort of parties like United Front of Goans and Azad Gomantak Dal, India was able to annex the Goa from Portuguese, contrary to claims of Digvijaya Singh.
Further, Sikkim was an independent kingdom which had retained guarantees of independence from Britain when it became independent and such guarantees were transferred to the Indian government when it gained independence in 1947. On 14 April 1975, a referendum was held in which Sikkim voted to merge with India. Sikkim became the 22nd Indian State and on 16 May 1975, and Sikkim officially became an Indian state.
By bringing equivalence to the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir and the breaking up of Pakistan to form Bangladesh, Digvijaya Singh has yet again toed the line of Pakistan by hinting that Jammu and Kashmir belonged to Pakistan and India has no right to bifurcate its own state.
Earlier in the day, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhry, the Congress party’s leader in Lok Sabha kicked up a storm in the Assembly today after he parroted the lines of Pakistan by questioning the government whether Article 370 and the state of Jammu and Kashmir was an internal matter. He questioned how can matters related to Jammu and Kashmir be ‘internal matter’ if it is being monitored by the UN since 1948.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhry also questioned the legality of the union government to make laws on the region of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhry further demanded an explanation from the government on whether Kashmir is a bilateral issue or not.
An infuriated Amit Shah had to respond in the Lok Sabha to make it clear that PoK is an integral part of India and should never be considered separate from Jammu and Kashmir. He asserted that we will lay down our lives for it.
After remaining silent for a whole day, Congress president Rahul Gandhi finally arrived on Twitter to oppose the recent decisions of the Modi government on Jammu and Kashmir. Rahul Gandhi opined that the government’s decision violates the constitution and that the nation is made up of people, not plots of land. However, he did not clarify whether he or his party supported or rejected abrogation of Article 370 and bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Congress leadership time and again resorts to hysteria whenever they are unable to take a reasonable stand on any issue. In fact, even in 2019, Congress party has to fall back to the ‘glory’ of its erstwhile leaders like Nehru and Indira Gandhi to claim some kind of moral victory.
