Nehru dishonoured his pact with Liaquat, refused property right to refugee: Union Min

Union Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on Wednesday has accused former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru of dishonouring the Nehru-Liaquat pact, under which Hindus displaced from Pakistan were supposed to get properties located in India in exchange with the properties of those who had left for Pakistan. While emphasising upon the importance of Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Meghwal targeted Nehru, saying that he neglected those who fled Pakistan after partition in 1947.

Meghwal alleged that Nehru refused to give the Jinnah House in Mumbai to Mohattas whose ancestral palace in Karachi was acquired by Muhammad Ali Jinnah, even after Jinnah's sister offered it in exchange. "Ram Gopal Mohatta was a close aide of Maharaja Ganga Singh and his family-owned a palace in Karachi that hosted leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Jinnah. The grandson of Mohatta had narrated the sufferings faced during the partition. He said that Jinnah told them to leave their palace. The palace became Jinnah House," claims Meghwal.

'Nehru refused to give that property to Mohattas'

"Mohatta received a call from his younger brother Shiv Rattan Mohatta about Jinnah asking them to leave their palace in Karachi. Jinnah told the family to leave the palace at the earliest. The whole family left. Jinnah's sister Fatima told Mohatta to take her property in Mumbai in exchange. However, Nehru refused to give that property to Mohattas," said Meghwal who was speaking at 158th birth anniversary celebration of Bharat Ratna Madan Mohan Malaviya. "There was a period of three months in which these properties exchanges were to take place. Nehru refused the property to Mohatta. He said Jinnah used to tell that his property should not be given to anyone," said the minister.

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Rejecting the Opposition’s criticism that the Citizenship Amendment Bill discriminates against Muslims, Union Home Minister Amit Shah referred to the Nehru-Liaquat pact on a few occasions in Parliament to justify the new legislation. Amit Shah said, "The Nehru-Liaquat pact failed. Had the spirit of the pact been followed by Pakistan, there would be no need to bring this bill." Liaquat Ali Khan was the Prime minister of Pakistan when he and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru signed an agreement in Delhi in 1950. The Delhi Pact is more commonly called the Nehru-Liaquat pact. 

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(With ANI inputs)