Jairam Ramesh debunks Kiren Rijiju's claim that Nehru did not want Tawang in India, shares declassified telegram of 1951

Congress General Secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh on November 4 slammed the Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju for speaking out on "Nehru's role in Arunachal Pradesh being part of India"

The recent interview of the Union Minster's take on Nehru's role in Tawang with India Today NE which went on air had garnered huge reactions from the masses, however, it did not go well with the Congress party.

Earlier, in an interview, the Union Minister of Law claimed that India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru was upset with the inclusion of Tawang in India.

Speaking to India Today NE, the Union Minister said, "You cannot change history but one must not hide the history, it should come out".

"In 1951 when Daulat Ram Gopaldas, the then Governor of Assam introduced the Assam rifles to the Tibet officers in Tawang, but Pandit Nehru scolded him and asked with whose permission have you sent Indian force.. this is not what I am telling this is being documented", said Kiren Rijiju.

However, Congress on the other hand now has justified its stand on its 1951 argument on Arunachal and advocated with declassified documents on actions taken by then Prime Minister Pandit Nehru.

Jairam Ramesh in a series of tweets said, "Kiren Rijiju, the latest entrant to the Modi stable of distortions, now says Nehru did not want Tawang to be part of India. This utter lie is exposed by 2 top secret telegrams that were declassified in 2018."

Kiren Rijiju, the latest entrant to the Modi stable of Distorians, now says Nehru did not want Tawang to be part of India. This utter lie is exposed by 2 top secret telegrams that were declassified in 2018. Read on… 1/5

— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) November 4, 2022

Notably, as per Jairam Ramesh's tweet, the first telegram is dated March 11 1951, the then Prime Minister Nehru would have been seen as the External Affairs Minister, whereas, the second telegram is dated March 14 1951, which Nehru would have drafted or approved as the Minister concerned.

"As you are aware Tawang which was administered by Tibet, came to us under the Boundary Agreement of 1914 with Tibet..This explanation should be given verbally and not in writing as it is important to avoid any suggestion that our action needs justification... To Political Sikkim Only: We do not think it necessary to wait for a formal representation from Tibetan Government", stated the vision document.

Further, Jairam Ramesh claims that both of these telegrams are contained in Vol-I of India-China Relations 1947-2000: A Documentary Study edited by Avtar Singh Bhasin (2018).

Making his stand while advocating Nehru, Jairam Ramesh concluded that the raising of the Indian flag at Tawang in early February 1951 was a policy decision based on strategic considerations, however, the exact timing of the operation had been left by Nehru and others to local commanders.

However, Rijiju has dismissed the Congress party’s criticism that the law minister had been distorting history to malign Nehru and asserted that he was making statements based on publicly available authentic information.