Ramachandra Guha, a Nehru-Gandhi family loyalist and also a popular fiction writer masquerading as a ‘historian’, on Thursday had to face massive embarrassment after Foreign Minister S Jaishankar gave a befitting reply to ultra-left wing author after he accused the former diplomat of peddling fake news.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, on Wednesday, citing a book had said that the first Prime Minister of India Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru did not want Sardar Patel in his Cabinet in 1947. He said he learnt about it from VP Menon’s autobiography.
In a series of tweets, S Jaishankar said that Nehru omitted Patel from the initial Cabinet list and it was a subject for much debate.
Learnt from the book that Nehru did not want Patel in the Cabinet in 1947 and omitted him from the initial Cabinet list. Clearly, a subject for much debate. Noted that the author stood her ground on this revelation. pic.twitter.com/FelAMUZxFL
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 12, 2020
The Minister had also stressed that exercise of writing history for politics in the past needs honest treatment. Citing VP Menon’s biography, Jaishankar said, “When Sardar died, a deliberate campaign was begun to efface his memory. I know this because I have seen it, and at times, I fell victim to it myself.”
Read: ‘Historian’ Ram Guha gets it wrong, attempts to carry out ‘surgical strike’ on our intellect
However, Jaishankar’s revelation of truth seems to have hurt Nehru-Gandhi Parivar loyalists like ‘Gandhi-fiction’ writer Ramachandra Guha. Citing an article written by another self-proclaimed historian and intellectual, Nehru-Gandhi loyalist Srinath Raghavan, Guha called Jaishankar’s earlier statement as a myth and ‘advised’ Jaishankar to leave this job to the BJP IT cell.
This is a myth, that has been comprehensively demolished by Professor Srinath Raghavan in The Print.
Besides, promoting fake news about, and false rivalries between, the builders of modern India is not the job of the Foreign Minister. He should leave this to the BJP’s IT Cell. https://t.co/krAVzmaFkL— Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) February 13, 2020
Congress leader Shashi Tharoor, too, was quick to cite the same source from Shekhar Gupta’s ThePrint to prove VP Menon wrong.
Sorry meant to tag @DrSJaishankar & @srinathraghava3 on this
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) February 13, 2020
External Minister Jaishankar, who usually ignores such troll attacks, however, responded to fiction-writer Ram Guha’s tirade. Taking a subtle dig at Guha’s credentials, External Affairs Minister said, “Some Foreign Ministers do read books. Maybe a good habit for some Professors too. In that case, strongly recommend the one I released yesterday.”
Some Foreign Ministers do read books. May be a good habit for some Professors too. In that case, strongly recommend the one I released yesterday. https://t.co/d2Iq4jafsR
— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) February 13, 2020
To that, Guha shared an archive letter from 1st August 1947 where Nehru invited Patel to be part of the cabinet.
The letter of 1 August where Nehru invites Patel to join the first Cabinet of free India, calling him the “strongest pillar” of that Cabinet. Can someone show this to @DrSJaishankar please? pic.twitter.com/N6m1mOr7SF
— Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) February 13, 2020
However, how does this letter negate VP Menon’s claims is for everyone else to guess.
