Sir — This refers to the article, “Fatal charm that has left India bleeding” (December 3) by Rajesh Singh. It is a fact that on the eve of the Defence Committee on December 20, 1947, Jawaharlal Nehru had instructed the Chief of Army Staff to plan for a pre-emptive attack to keep all of Kashmir in India. But it was louis Mountbatten who soiled the plan and scuttled the move.
It was really strange that Nehru was influenced, encouraged and inspired by the crafty and adroit diplomacy of Mountbatten, who had in fact desired for the problem to fester. He advised Nehru that Kashmir was a fit case for the UN. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was fiercely opposed to the puerile and preposterous proposal. Nehru paid no heed to the Sardar’s wise counsel.
Former Home Secretary Madhav Godbole is absolutely right in writing in his book, The God Who Failed, that had Sardar Patel been the Prime Minister, Pakistan would have had no chance of occupying our area, which is now Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. India was militarily capable of retaining and retrieving territory occupied by Pakistan, which constituted one-third of whole Kashmir. There would have been no Kashmir problem and no Article 370.