Srinagar, Feb 20: Cabinet Minister Satish Sharma on Friday said that Kashmir would not have survived the 1947 tribal invasion had Sheikh Abdullah not played a decisive role at that critical juncture.
Sharma was responding to remarks attributed to BJP-nominated Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Ali Khatana, who had alleged that Sheikh Abdullah and former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru facilitated the killing of Muslims during that period.
Rejecting the allegation, Sharma said such statements reflect a lack of understanding of history and advised the MP to study historical facts before making public assertions. He said the tribal invasion posed an existential threat to Kashmir and that Sheikh Abdullah’s leadership was instrumental in mobilising resistance and stabilising the situation.
Sharma maintained that political discourse should not be driven by selective interpretations of history and urged leaders to refrain from making statements that could distort historical realities.
He said Kashmir’s survival during the turbulent events of 1947 was shaped by complex political and military developments, and that oversimplified narratives do disservice to historical truth. [KNT]
