Amit Shah revealed a wartime weakness in Adhir Chowdhury of the Cong in 1962.
Opposition leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury forgot that then-Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru discussed the Chinese offensive on November 8, 1962, by which time the PLA had captured Aksai Chin and Tawang had been defeated, in his call for an urgent debate on alleged Chinese transgressions across the LAC.
It is the responsibility of the opposition to criticise the current government in Parliament and in the public. Its duty is to serve as a mirror for the current administration, as was made clear during last week’s debate in Parliament over the vote of thanks for the President’s speech.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the opposition for using dishonest facts rather than political hyperbole and muckraking to undermine his administration in his response to the motion of gratitude. Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the leader of the Indian National Congress in the Lok Sabha, made this abundantly clear in his response when he asked a debate on Chinese violations of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the eastern sector, citing a report.
In a debate on the repeal of Article 370, 35A, and the division of Jammu and Kashmir on August 6, 2019, the same seasoned legislator and parliamentarian embarrassed his own party by asserting that Article 370 was not an internal matter and citing UN oversight dating back to 1948, the Shimla Agreement, and the Lahore Declaration to support his claim.
Home Minister Amit Shah pressed the opposition leader on both the China and Article 370 claims since it was obvious that Adhir Chowdhury’s claims and reasoning were lacking. The opposition leader was criticised for his article 370 remarks in 2019, but his characterization of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s request for an early debate in Parliament to discuss the 1962 India-China war was inaccurate because he urged the Modi administration to address Chinese violations on the 3488 km Line of Actual Control (LAC).
It will be fascinating to notice when the Third Lok Sabha discussed the China intrusions into Indian territory during the 1962 conflict, as the military tension with China is still present in the wake of the PLA violation in East Ladakh in May 2020. It is important to keep in mind that out of the 494 members of the Lok Sabha at the time, J. L. Nehru, the prime minister, controlled 73% of the House. On November 8, 1962, a discussion in the Lok Sabha took place after India had lost the Aksai Chin and even abandoned the Daulet Beg Oldi station in the western sector.
The Tawang sector was losing ground as a result of the Chinese’s constant attacks over the McMahon line in the eastern sector. By October 24, 1962, Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh was under PLA control and the Indian forces had fled to Se La and Bomdi La.
Even though then-PM Nehru claimed during the debate that the Indian Army was making every effort to drive out the invaders, the PLA attack against started on November 17, 1962, and by the time a cease-fire was declared two days later, the Indian Army had abandoned even Tezpur in the wake of the PLA offensive.
While Home Minister Amit Shah chided Opposition Leader Chowdhury about the timing of PM Nehru’s 1962 debate, the truth is that after the belligerent Chinese Army’s transgressions in May 2020, both armies disengaged from the trouble spots after a series of in-depth conversations between the military commanders. Though the Opposition’s responsibility is to criticise the treasury benches and Parliament is free to discuss any matter of national and international interest, sensitive subjects like China and Pakistan should be better investigated to avoid helping India’s main foes.