Thread by @neelakantha

#Nehru died this day 56yrs ago
A week earlier he'd sent #SheikhAbdullah to Karachi to meet/negotiate with the #Pakistani military dictator #AyubKhan
Sheikh rushed back upon Nehru's death
The three men ever shared what was cooking
Such hush-hush freelancing continues over #Kashmir

#Nehru indeed is the original sinner in our headache over #Kashmir
But the mindset to deal with this headache, across govts parties and leaders has remained Nehruvian:
Integration through soft separatism
A secular facade to reward bigotry
Hand over democracy to rank autocrats

#Nehru the interim PM did not defend J&K against the #Pakistani attack till the #Maharaja appointed #Sheikh
He let Sheikh rob the elections to stuff his own men in the Constituent Assembly of J&K
All others' nominations were cancelled to 'elect' unopposed 73 NC members out of 75.

It was #Nehru's stubbornness that led India's constituent assembly allowing for Art370
To agree with #Sheikh dictated terms of 'Delhi Agreement' was his monumental blunder
Slipping in Art35A, pulling wool over the eyes of our Parliament and President, an unforgivable treachery

He was beholden to the #British for all the background manuvering in handing over the power to him.
In turn, he made the last viceroy our 1st Governor General.
He retained the British as the head of Indian Army till 1949, Air Force Chief till 1954 and the Chief of Navy till 1958.

#Nehru is known to have said that #India didn't need an Army.
He actually thought that police was good enough.
JLN declined the offer on Gwadar,
gift-wrapped 40% of J&K to #Pakistan through a unilateral ceasefire in 1949
and let China take away more than a quarter of J&K in 1962

#Nehru is not only a fit case of stripping him off the #BharatRatna that he brazenly awarded to himself.
He should be posthumously tried, for high treason, for his crimes of omission and commission.