BJP blames Nehru for 1962 debacle in Sino-India war

Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Ravi Shankar Prasad, on Tuesday, squarely blamed former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru for the 1962 debacle in the Sino-India War of 1962.

"The report of Henderson Brooks has not come out properly, but in parts. It holds Jawaharlal Nehru responsible, and rightly so. The humiliation, the defeat which India suffered in 1962, was the direct outcome of the way Jawaharlal Nehru, under the pressure of his defence minister V.K. Krishna Menon, ignored the concerns of the Indian armed forces, and they were left to fend for themselves in a state of complete unpreparedness. The nation still feels the pain of that humiliation," Prasad said.

The BJP leader also attacked Nehru's leadership skills, comparing him with Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's legacy.

"The BJP would like the entire report to be made public so that more than 50 years thereafter the entire nation must know as to who did what wrong. Surely, Jawaharlal Nehru has to account a lot for that defeat. Maybe, the time has come, that the future generations must know who secured the nation more, was it Jawaharlal Nehru or, Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel," Prasad added.

A section of the confidential Henderson Brooks report that critically reviewed India's defence preparedness and strategies during the 1962 war with China has been released online by Australian journalist Neville Maxwell.