Still it is most unfortunate that persons down below should think that there is gulf between us,” Sardar Patel wrote to Nehru in 1947. Still it is most unfortunate that persons down below should think that there is gulf between us,” Sardar Patel wrote to Nehru in 1947. (Shankar: My Reminiscences of Sardar Patel, 1974, p. 127)According to historian Rajmohan Gandhi, author of a definitive biography of Patel, “Vallabhbhai’s lukewarmness about Kashmir had lasted until September 13, 1947”. (Gandhi: Patel: A Life, 1991, p. 439)However, Gandhi has written, Patel’s attitude changed later that same day — when he heard that Pakistan had accepted Junagadh’s plea for accession. ): Sardar Patel Centenary Volume 2, p. 62)In the last week of September 1947, Nehru passed on reports to Patel that forces in Pakistan were “making preps to enter Kashmir in large numbers”.

Source: Indian Express February 11, 2018 19:48 UTC