Nehru the cause of Kashmir problem?

Chhatarpur, Jan 14: Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has opened a can of worms on the burning Kashmir issue. His comments will pour oil into the already flaming problems Kashmir is facing.

He has commented that the whole of Kashmir could have been part of India if the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had not committed certain mistakes. "If Jawaharlal Nehru had not called for cease fire and the first war with Pakistan in 1947 would have continued for two more days, the entire Kashmir could have become part of India," Chouhan was quoted as saying while addressing a function of BJP yuva morcha at Khajuraho near Chhatarpur.

"Nehru made a historic mistake," he remarked.

He said that after independence, the work of incorporating the princely states with India was assigned to the then home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, but Nehru kept the Kashmir issue in his hand.

Terming the BJP yuva morcha activists as patriots, Chouhan said that they will surely hoist the tri-colour at Srinagar's Lal Chowk on January 26. Taking a dig at the people speaking in favour of Kashmir separatists, he said that they should have a place in jail.

PTI