Recently, a film titled “The Kashmir Files: unreported” was released and got impressive ratings from leading news outlets such as Punjab Kesari, India TV, Republic World, Times Now News etc. The film, though not appreciated by a certain section for their preconceived beliefs, not only takes you through the real events that unfolded during the 1990’s genocide of Kashmiri Hindus but also highlights bitter facts pertaining to the leadership and insensitive administration in power at the Center and the J&K state at that dark time.

Coincidentally, the Supreme Court of India recently while hearing a petition against the abolition of Article 370 noted that while the Article 35A took away three fundamental rights of J&K non residents, the Indian Constitution holds a higher position than the J&K Constitution endorsing the viewpoint of the center on the matter.

The question that arises next is, what were the circumstances behind the enforcement of this particular act? Was this the decisive driving force behind the ethnic cleansing of Hindus from the valley? What were the situations that led to the state of Jammu and Kashmir becoming the focal point of Pakistan sponsored terrorism? Could the footprints of the fanatism that sprouted in the valley in the 90s be traced back to 1947? More significantly, who were the real perpetrators who helped these fanatics from the Rajbhavan?

Fortunately,  all the answers to these complex queries or the problem pertaining to the ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus can be found in detail in the book “Nehru’s 127 major blunders” by Rajnikanth Puranik.

As Rajnikanth Puranik says in the preface of his book:

“….But for a series of major blunders by Nehru across the spectrum — it would not be an exaggeration to say that he blundered comprehensively — India would have been on a rapidly ascending path to becoming a shining, prosperous, first-world country by the end of his term, and would surely have become so by early 1980s — provided, of course, (that) Nehru’s dynasty had not followed him to power….”

He further says that:

“Other leaders too make mistakes, but Nehru can beat them all hands down. The number, the extent, and the comprehensiveness of the Nehruvian blunders can’t be matched. Comprehensive? Other leaders blunder in one or two or three areas. Not Nehru. His was a 360-degree coverage. He blundered in practically all areas (and sub-areas, and in very many ways): external security, internal security, foreign policy, economy, education, culture, it’s a long list……. Here is a very cryptic label to capture the essential Nehru: “Nabob of Cluelessness”.

In this article we will dwelve into details of the book to know whether Nehru and his blunders are solely responsible for the fate of Kashmir or are his decisions pertaining to Kashmir overhyped to show him in a bad light.

1. Appointing a British Governor-General after independence: The first blunder of Nehru was insisting that Mountbatten continue as the Governor-General of independent India. Why did he choose Mountbatten when at the same time his counterpart, Mohammad Jinnah swore-in himself as the Governor-General of Pakistan. Appointing Mountbatten as the Governor-General of India shows the colonial mindset of Nehru and his incapability to identify people. It is really simple to understand that Mountbatten was a representative of the British government and his primary obligations were to protect the interests of the British government and could have opted to provide secret information pertaining to country’s internal security to the his home base.
   Rajnikanth Puranik writes:“The commander in chief of both Pakistan and independent India were Britishers, Frank Walter Messervy and Lockhart both the officers in charge were reporting to the then supreme commander Claude Auchinleck who was also a britisher, Auchinleck used to report Mountbatten. It is evident that the trio Mountbatten, Lockhart and Auchinleck were very much aware and informed about the affairs of the J&K while at the same time the prominent Indian politicians were completely clueless about the affairs of Kashmir.”As per veteran journalist Kuldeep Nayyar:“After the accession, the Maharaja provided New Delhi with further evidence (plans with proper seals and maps) to prove that there was a ‘conspiracy by the Muslim League to establish a new Muslim state in Jammu and Kashmir’. It was prepared in the year 1945 itself.”
2. Refusing accession of the state of J&K in India: The next blunder committed by Nehru was the initial refusal of the Maharaja’s proposal of merging Jammu and Kashmir with India. Nehru not only refused but also put his own conditions before Maharaja Hari Singh. Andrew Whitehead wrote about this in his book ‘A mission in Kashmir’:“There have been suggestions that the Maharaja had decided in August 1947, or certainly by mid-September, that he had no option but to join India, and that he was just waiting for the best moment and the most advantageous terms.”

Puranik says:

“When in August–September 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh indeed offered Kashmir’s accession to India; most unbelievably, it was refused by Nehru, who first wanted Sheikh Abdullah to be freed and installed as the prime minister of the State—something not acceptable to the Maharaja. Was it not queer? The nation being favoured with accession laying down conditions, rather than the state agreeing to merge! Nehru’s ways, driven by his hubris, were indeed bizarre and alarming!! (In sharp contrast you had Jinnah offering a signed blank sheet along with his own fountain pen to Maharajas of Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, and Bikaner to put down their conditions for accession to Pakistan, saying: “You can fill in all your conditions.”)

3. Announcing Plebiscite in UN: Nehru declared, first from the broadcasting house and then in the UN, that the accession of the state of J&K shall only be accepted after a plebiscite. Astonishingly, neither Maharaja Hari Singh nor the people of J&K including the minorities Hindus were demanding this. It looks foolish; that when the Maharaja himself had already signed the accession of the state with india and the masses too were not putting a substantial protest against the accession, the prime minister himself declared a plebiscite. Nehru, convinced by Mountbatten to raise the issue of plebiscite under the guidance and association of United Nations, had opted to do so. It is documented that both Sardar Patel and Bhimrao Ambedkar had opposed the move but their efforts proved  futile. Nehru announced the plebiscite from broadcasting house on October 28, 1947, and repeated his call for the same on November 02, 1947. Furthermore, he ensured that the matter was listed before the UN on January 01, 1948.

Veteran Congressman DP Mishra while narrating the move wrote:

“Soon after, I heard Nehru’s voice on All India Radio at Nagpur, committing the Government of India to the holding of plebiscite in Kashmir. As from my talk with Patel, I had received the impression that the signature of the Maharaja had finally settled the Kashmir issue. I was surprised by Nehru’s announcement. When I visited Delhi next, I pointedly asked Patel whether the decision to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet. He sighed and shook his head. it was evident that Nehru had acted on Mountbatten’s advice, and had ignored his colleagues.”

Another prominent personality, Sita Ram Goel wrote:

“Pandit Nehru promised a plebiscite in Kashmir without consulting any of his cabinet colleagues or even Mahatma Gandhi. I refer … to the Memorandum which the CPI [Communist Party of India] had submitted to the British Cabinet Mission and in which Kashmir was described as a separate nationality which should be given the right of self-determination to the point of becoming a sovereign State. The CPI had denounced Kashmir’s accession to India as an imperialist annexation in early 1948. The Indian army in Kashmir had been described as an army of occupation in all official Soviet publications at that time. So Pandit Nehru’s communist conscience suffered persistent pricks. He not only promised a plebisite but also ordered the Indian Army to stop its triumphant march into Pakistan-occupied Kashmir …”

In this way, Nehru promised a plebiscite which was neither in minds of the ruler, nor the masses, nor the newly emerging state leadership.

4. PoK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir): a gift to the enemy country: The next blunder made by Nehru came during the first Indo-Pak war that was initiated by the Pakistanis with a sole aim of capturing Kashmir in October 1947. The war lasted till January 01, 1949, though surprisingly when the Indian troops were in an advantageous position, Nehru ordered the troops to roll back and declared a cease-fire.

MO Mathai, the then private secretary to Nehru, wrote:

“Nehru… ordered a ceasefire in Kashmir at a time when our forces were in a sound position and poised to roll back the enemy. Nehru’s decision, which was impulsive, was a grievous error much resented by the armed forces. Nehru’s was an imitative and an absorptive mind… Essentially, Gandhi’s was an original mind, while Nehru’s was a second-rate one. He was all heart and less mind. This is reflected in his books also.” (Mathai: reminiscence of the Nehru age).

As per a report, the ceasefire decision was remote-controlled by Mountbatten, who was by then back in England — such influence Mountbatten still exercised over Nehru. General SPP Thorat wrote regarding this:

“Our forces might have succeeded in evicting the invaders, if the Prime Minister had not held them in check, and later ordered the ceasefire… Obviously great pressure must have been brought to bear on him by the [former] Governor-General… Panditji was a great personal and family friend of Lord Mountbatten.” (‘India’s Bismarck: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’.

5. Article 370: Puranik Says:

“Nehru implemented article 370 on the insistence of Sheikh Abdullah ignoring the concerns raised by two senior most leaders Ambedkar and Patel who vocally opposed the move and expressed their unhappiness over Nehru’s decision.”

He further writes:

“Nehru had brought in Gopalaswami Ayyangar as a Minister without Portfolio to look after the J&K affairs. Before visiting Europe, Nehru had finalised the draft provisions relating to J&K with Sheikh Abdullah, which later became Article 370. He had entrusted Gopalaswami Ayyangar with the task of piloting these provisions through the Constituent Assembly…… His presentation provoked angry protests from all sides. Most were opposed to any discriminatory treatment for J&K. The proposal of Article 370 was torn to pieces by the Constituent Assembly.”

The house was against this article, but leader being a leader had implemented that article against all ‘odds’ and antagonism.

It is important to dwelve into the history and understand these blunders the ill effects of which are being faced by our country till today.

BR Nanda in his book “The Nehrus: Motilal and Jawaharlal” opines that after observing his patterns of misinformed decisions and mistakes one can easily relate to NB Khare’s assessment of Nehru “English by education, Muslims by culture, and Hindu by an accident of birth”. For describing Nehru’s deeds and personality in a nutshell one can rely upon the statement of a British journalist “…a man of echoes and mimicry, the last viceroy rather than the first leader of a liberated India.”