Nehru let north-east down during 1962 China war: Rijiju

Hyderabad, Oct 31: Union Minister Kiren Rijiju today attacked country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of "letting people of north-east region down" during the 1962 Indo-China war, while accusing the Congress of "forgetting" the "true heroes" Subhash Chandra Bose and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

"After 1947, more than 565 princely states were brought together by Sardar Patel but he did not get credit; those who failed, unsuccessful, they kept on writing history," the Minister of State for Home, hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, said at a function organised by the BJP on the occasion of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel jayanti celebrations here.

He said the Chinese seized his village during the war in 1962 and reached even up to Assam, while Nehru assured people of the region, then known as North East Frontier Agency (NEFA), that "we will save you" but later announced "surrender" to Chinese on All India Radio and "he (Nehru) said tata, bye, bye and left us".

Rijiju said patriotic people of the region, however, asserted at the time that India need not surrender and "we will not leave India and stood unitedly to remain with India".

"It's a matter of regret that our Prime Minister left us (let us down). Patel united the country; the other Prime Minister (Nehru) left the country, surrendered the country", the Minister said.

"This is history", he said alleging the Congress "kept the true history under wraps, kept praising itself and did not take the country in the right direction".

The Minister said most people were even kept in dark about October 31 being the birth anniversary of Patel by the Congress during its regime at the Centre. He termed it an "injustice" and a "big sin" against the "Iron Man of India".

Rijiju said many people are not able to digest the fact that the country now has a strong Prime Minister and government and they are engaged in unleashing "manufactured story" against the Centre claiming threat to secular fabric.

PTI