Thread by @knowthenation

The OutLiar @Swamy39

For years Subramanian Swamy has made tall claims on how he was instrumental in opening up Kailash Mansarovar route in 1981. He claims he was handpicked by Morarji Desai to negotiate with the Chinese in '77 & arranged for Vajpayee's visit to China in '79

1/n

Swamy claimed that in his 1981 meet with then Chinese President Deng Xiaoping, he negotiated to open the Kailash Mansarovar route, to which China agreed

Swamy also claims that he himself 'led' the 1st group of 20 Pilgrims in 1981

[P.S. Don't miss the translator in the pic]

2/n

In an article in The Hindu, Swamy claimed he was chosen by Morarji Desai because he knew how to speak in Mandarin

Many of his followers claim that Swamy was challenged to learn Mandarin in a year & he learnt it in just 3 months

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Can he speak Mandarin? Well, at least 1 phrase.

"Fear the foreigner who speaks Chinese'

He has repeated the same story (& the same phrase in Mandarin) at different occasions over the years & continues to do so

No wonder he needed a translator when he met Deng Xiaoping!

4/n

As opposed to Swamy's claims, it was Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the then External Minister who had played a pivotal role in reaching out to the Chinese in '79 & discussing the reopening of the Kailash Mansarovar route

[Column by Rup Narayan Das, IDSA Senior Fellow]

5/n

"As a consequence of Vajpayee's visit, the Chinese subsequently reopened Kailash & Mansarovar in Tibet to Indian pilgrims" [Problems of Communism, 1st Published 1989]

Wonder why no credit to Swamy? Vajpayee could not even speak a phrase in Mandarin, right?

6/n

Renowned Kannada novelist S.L. Bhyrappa visited Kailash Mansarovar in 1981 too

Bhyrappa in his autobiography 'Bhitti' [Published in '96] described how Swamy hijacked the credit for reopening Kailash Mansarovar

7/n

Bhyrappa also described instances which proved that 'Badmash' Swamy did not know Mandarin & was NOT leading the Mansarovar trip as he claims

Also Bhyrappa mentions Swamy's poor health as the reason behind a helicopter arrangement for him, but Swamy's version is far from it!

8/n

In Swamy's version, however, he claims that a military helicopter was arranged to drop him to Delhi not because he was ill but so that he could celebrate his birthday with his daughters!

Strangely, this story does not make Swamy look any good, does it?

9/n

This is the full transcript of @Swamy39's meeting with Deng Xiaoping. This was provided by Swamy to India Today.

Nowhere could we find the slightest mention to 'Kailash Mansarovar'!

You can read the full transcript here too: indiatoday.in/magazine/speci…