Nehru wanted Hyderabad referred to United Nations

In his blog Advani said that Panditji wanted to refer Hyderabad to the UN Security Council. He also said that Nehru called Patel a communalist.

New Delhi: Cashing in on the raging controversy over the claim to the legacy of Sardar Patel, when the differences between Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Patel are being played up in the public domain by the BJP, NDA Working Chairman L K Advani has come up with yet another startling revelation. Advani quotes from a book to say that when Sardar Patel was trying to deal with the issue of merger of the erstwhile Hyderabad State with the Indian Union, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru wanted the issue to be referred to the United Nations Security Council. Nehru had attracted flak for his earlier decision to refer the issue of accession of Jammu & Kashmir with the Indian Union to the UN Security Council.

In his latest blog, Advani said, “Panditji wanted to refer the Hyderabad issue also to the UN Security Council and he had strongly disapproved of Sardar Patel’s decision to send the Army into Hyderabad.”

Advani makes this point by referring to a report appearing in The Pioneer that spoke about a book in Malayalam by an IAS officer M K K Nair, titled, The Story of an Era Told without Ill-Will. “It appears that the book had been written in Malayalam. The news item in The Pioneer was based on that. The book was in the process of being translated into English. The translator, Gopa Kumar, has now addressed a letter to me and along with the letter sent me a copy of the translated manuscript, which he writes, would be published by the publishers soon after appropriate editing,” he states in his latest blog post.

Advani further writes, “Going through the relevant portions of the book, I find that the Cabinet meeting, which occasioned a sharp exchange between Nehru and Patel on the Hyderabad issue, took place shortly before the so-called Police Action actually took place in 1948. This was also a phase when Lord Mountbatten had left for London, and Rajaji had become Governor-General.”

M K K Nair writes in his book, “On April 30, 1948, Indian Army withdrew fully from Hyderabad. After that, Rizv and the Razakars began to behave licentiously all over the State. Mountbatten had left and Rajaji was the Governor-General. Nehru, Rajaji and Patel were all aware of the dangerous situation prevailing in Hyderabad. Patel believed that the Army should be sent to put an end to the Nizam’s wantonness. At about that time, the Nizam had sent an emissary to Pakistan and transferred a large sum of money from his Government account in London to Pakistan. At a Cabinet meeting, Patel had described these things and demanded that Army be sent to end the terror-regime in Hyderabad. Nehru, who usually spoke calmly, peacefully and with international etiquette, spoke losing his composure, you are a total communalist. I will never accept your recommendation.”

Rajaji invited Nehru and Patel to come to Rashtrapati Bhavan (then the Governor-General’s house). V P Menon was also asked to be present. As V P Menon was on his way to Rashtrapati Bhavan for the meeting, an ICS officer named Butch (from the State Home Ministry, who had conducted discussions for integration of Travancore and Kochi) stopped him and handed over a letter.