Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Nehru & Edwina

At last, the truth on Kashmir is out. In her interview to Karan Thapar, Lady Pamela Hicks has admitted that her father, Lord Mountbatten, influenced Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to refer the Kashmir issue to the U.N. through his wife Edwina. While what Mountbatten did was in tune with the British policy of divide and rule, Nehru’s action of succumbing to pressure from Edwina has resulted in Kashmir becoming an eternal problem for India.

K.R.P. Gupta,
New York

While it does not bother me whether Nehru had a platonic relationship with Edwina or not, what bothers me is that Nehru could be influenced through Edwina. The thought that the Prime Minister committed the single largest blunder in independent India’s history because he was in love is shocking! While we cannot take Lady Pamela’s word as final on the issue, such revelations are disturbing to say the least.

S. Sudhir Kumar,
Hyderabad

I was quite appalled on reading the interview. It should have focussed on the author’s experience in India and the book. Instead, it dwelt on her mother’s relationship with India’s first Prime Minister.

That respected journalists should be probing into people’s personal lives is disheartening. What Nehru did in his personal life was his business, just as it is in the case of any other citizen of India.

Ashwini Kachapeswaran,
Mercer Island, Washington

It is disheartening to note that purely personal affairs get wide publicity in the media these days, tarnishing the image of dead leaders. I fear that in the coming days, the immediate post-Independence period will be interpreted in the context of Jawaharlal Nehru-Edwina Mountbatten’s so-called secret relationship.

I request everyone to preserve the priceless history of India and pass it on to the next generation without unwarranted research and unnecessary colouring.

Basala Babu Rao,
Guntur

The interview may entertain fiction readers. But of what use is it to Indian history or the future of India? It will only come in the way of the younger generation adopting Nehru as its role model.

Most of the questions posed by Karan Thapar reveal his intention of making Lady Pamela confirm the existence of a physical relationship between Nehru and Edwina Mountbatten. Had the interview focussed more on how Edwina influenced Nehru’s administration, it would have been better.

K. Balaji,
Chennai

How does the sexual or platonic relationship between Nehru and Edwina affect the common man? I, for one, couldn’t care less.

Col. Mahendra Singh (retd.),
Coonoor

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