A Congress version of the recent Indian history is bereft of any reference to the 1962 Sino-Indian war, whose outcome the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had taken to his heart.
A Congress version of the recent Indian history is bereft of any reference to the 1962 Sino-Indian war, whose outcome the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had taken to his heart.
As against this, it dwells at length at the events leading to the formation of Bandladesh, noting that Indira Gandhi was at the height of power in the wake of the 1971 war with Pakistan and was hailed as 'Durga, an incarnation of Shakti'.
It also notes how in 1965, when Pakistan started a full-scale war against India, the then Prime Minister Lal Bahudar Shastri "demonstrated to the world" how India could defend its territory with the modest resources at her command.
"The war in 1971 was seen as Indira Gandhi's personal success. After all, she had mobilised world opinion on Bangladesh, traveling to all major capitals of the world except the US which was avowedly hostile," the book, whose chief editor is finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, says.
It noted that the political fallout of the war was evident in the electoral success of the Congress in the Assembly elections of March 1972.
"It won everywhere including West Bengal."
Soon after this, in 1974, India successfully performed an underground nuclear detonation and became a member of the Nuclear Club, says the book Congress and the Making Of The Indian Nation.
But as regards the 1962 war with China, there has been no reference in the book.
Talking about that period it merely mentions that in 1963, the loss of three-bye elctions made the party sit up and take notice of the "stagnancy" that had set in.
The party had been in power for many years and the organisational side had clearly suffered.
The loss in the bye-elections had resulted in the Kamraj plan formulated by the then Madras chief minister K Kamraj and Nehru.
Under the plan, prominent leaders were asked to relinquish official positions, approach the masses and try to restore their confidence in the party.
"However, this plan came too late. By this time, Nehru's health was falling and he could not follow it through. He passed away on May 27,1964," it says.
The book was released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi here at the party plenary as part of the 125-year celebrations.
It is the fifth of a series planned during the 1985 centenary celebrations under Rajiv's leadership.
Rajiv Gandhi is said to have instructed that the five-volume history should be written by "professionals" and the "facts" be presented in a manner that future generations can judge the Congress for themselves.
So, the party commissioned historians to write it, with Mukherjee as the chief editor.
In the words of Mukherjee, the book gives a glimpse of how the Congress over the past 125 years traversed the path of the Indian nation building through extremely difficult challenges, both external and internal.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}