Word: nehru
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1950-1959
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Patriot's Card. Nehru let Krishna Menon defend himself, and the lean, vinegary minister went swiftly on the offensive. He refused to answer attacks on his integrity or patriotism and snapped: "When the time comes when I have to carry a card of patriotism, it will not be worth it." He taunted those opponents who challenged his qualifications with the acid remark that government ministers, "rightly or wrongly, are not appointed by the opposition." Krishna Menon told Parliament that troop movements toward the border, "consistent with our resources," had taken place, and boasted that Indian armament production had nearly...
Closing the debate, Nehru first gave support and tribute to Krishna Menon as a man who was sometimes wrong ("I know his faults"), but who had, nevertheless, "the deepest patriotism." Of himself, Nehru said dramatically: "If this house thinks my manner of carrying on in this situation is not adequate, then the honorable members are free to choose another Prime Minister." The result was a thunderous voice vote of confidence which drowned out the one or two "Noes" of stubborn dissenters...
...Instead, Nehru made a counterproposal of his own, suggesting to the Chinese that the proper course "would be for you to withdraw from Longju" on India's northeastern frontier, and pledging that Indian troops would not then reoccupy the border post. As for Ladakh, in Kashmir, where the Chinese have seized some 9,000 square miles of Indian territory, Nehru proposed that Indian troops pull back to the west of the line that China claims is the boundary, while Chinese troops retire to the east of the line claimed by India...
Chou En-lai's note had fulminated in the Communist manner against the "sinister" forces "searching for "every chance to disrupt the great friendship between India and China." Unimpressed, Nehru coldly pointed out that "the cause of the recent troubles is action taken from your side of the border," and concluded grimly that "we have to face the realities of a situation, and the present situation is that relations between our two countries are likely to grow worse...
...Nehru's unexpected and untypical sternness won him instant approval from India's press and public. The Hindustan Times, recently his most bitter critic, declared it was "unreservedly in agreement" with Nehru's policy, and that the proposals offered to China were "sane and practical and give none of our rights away." There were still demands that Nehru fire Krishna Menon, India's lean and irascible Minister of Defense, whom many Congress Party leaders blame for Nehru's past disregard of Red China's encroachments. Loyal to his friends as always, Nehru answered sharply...