New Delhi: Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju on Sunday expressed his opposition to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, saying that his words in Parliament on the Chinese aggression in Ladakh and Arunachal had really pinched ‘our’ hearts, and had demoralised forces and the local people.
“Participating in a debate in Parliament over the Chinese aggression, the then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had said: ‘In those barren land and mountains of Ladakh and Arunachal, not even a blade of grass grows, why Parliament is wasting time,” said Rijiju, adding that it is a reality that China took over the entire western part of Arunachal Pradesh, which was a part of Assam in 1962.
“The Chinese had reached Assam in the foothills of Arunachal Pradesh, and the then prime minister Nehru had stated, ‘my heart goes out to people of Assam’, which amounted to surrendering of our territories to the Chinese,” said Rijiju.
According to Rijiju, the Chinese went back on their own and declared a unilateral ceasefire.
“This is a part of the history and we must come to term that if anything wrong has happened in history, we should accept it,” he added.
He said that he is just presenting facts, adding that the Congress, too, should not be intolerant about accepting something which is a fact.
“Arunachal people are the most patriotic. They remained solidly behind the nation despite so many Indian soldiers had lost their lives during the 1962 war. We continue to do that and I am proud of that,” said Rijiju, a Member of Parliament from the Arunachal West constituency.
“If a former prime minister has made some kind of unsavoury, demoralising remarks, what is wrong in accepting that? My point is that history can’t be changed. At same time, factual, historical and all kind of incidents must be brought before the nation. Our next generation has the right to know about the correct historical stories and incidents,” he said.
First Prime Minister of India Pandit Nehru, for whom I have the greatest respect, had caused a great heartburn to the people of Arunachal Pradesh, he added.
(With ANI inputs)