Advani blames Nehru for Kashmkir dispute

ISLAMABAD—Accusing successive Congress governments of ‘’inept handling’’ of internal security, senior BJP leader L K Advani on Sunday said that the ‘’faulty’’ policies of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru are responsible for the Kashmir problem. ‘’The issue of integration of states after Independence was handled cleverly by Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel but Nehru, who took charge of handling the Jammu and Kashmir issue, failed in his endeavour ,’’ he said addressing a function organised to release a special internal security edition of RSS monthly ‘Rastradharma, NDTV reported.’
Advani alleged that the Congress’ mishandling of internal security led to the border dispute with China and ‘’India had to face the defeat’’ in 1962. He also attacked the Congress for ‘’failing miserably’’ in dealing with terrorism and the Naxalite problem and was going in for a deal with the US due to which the country would lose its nuclear autonomy. Claiming that Bharatiya Jan Sangh was the first party that demanded conducting nuclear tests in its convention at Banaras in 1966, Advani said after the first nuclear test in Pokhran 1974, the Congress ‘’could not muster the courage to conduct further tests’’.—APP