Home minister Amit Shah flaunted a hawkish line on Kashmir in the Lok Sabha on Friday and lambasted Jawaharlal Nehru, whom Prime Minister Narendra Modi had described as a “mahapurush” (great man) in the same House three days ago.

Modi was away in Japan for the G20 summit as his closest confidant rose to reply to the debate on the motion to extend President’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir for another six months. Shah blamed Nehru for the Partition and all the problems in Kashmir, putting on record allegations levelled outside Parliament for years.

He described Article 370, which provides special status to the state, as “asthayi” (temporary) in a clear hint at its future abrogation. The BJP’s manifesto had promised to remove Articles 370 and 35A, and Shah had asserted it in his election speeches.

On Tuesday, Modi had lauded Nehru in a surprise change of tone, recalling the first Prime Minister’s 1951 speech that put “duties” over “rights” and describing this idea as “the biggest lesson to the world from India”.

Shah struck a different note. “Who divided the country? Did we?” he asked, referring to the Partition.

“We still feel that a partition on the basis of religion was a historic blunder, higher than the Himalayas and deeper than the sea,” he added, drawing Congress protests.

Shah said he was referring to history since Congress member Manish Tewari had spoken about the Partition in his speech.

“Today, one-third of Jammu and Kashmir is not in our control. Who is responsible for that?” he asked, and blamed Nehru.

He said that just when the Indian forces had pushed Pakistani troops into a corner, Nehru had declared a ceasefire without taking then home minister Vallabhbhai Patel into confidence. The BJP members, present in full strength, repeatedly cheered their home minister.

Shah claimed that the princely states of Hyderabad and Junagadh had issues similar to Jammu and Kashmir’s but were annexed without problems because Patel handled the matter.

“Who was handling Jammu and Kashmir? Why was Sardar (Patel) not allowed to handle Kashmir?” he asked.

He claimed the history of the country and of Kashmir would have been different had Patel been allowed to deal with the annexation.

A huge uproar broke out, with Congress members arguing Nehru and Patel had been on the same page in these matters and that Shah was misleading the House and unnecessarily making historical references.

An aggressive Shah shot back: “Why should I not talk about Nehru? The country is suffering because of his mistakes. I will certainly give a reply.”

He taunted the Congress, saying that if the party had a problem with him mentioning Nehru’s name, he was ready to refer to him as “the first Prime Minister of the country”.

Shah went on about Nehru’s “blunders”, accusing him of planting the “seeds of distrust” among Kashmir’s people that he claimed had grown into a “big tree”.

He asked why the Congress had initially not opened a unit in Jammu and Kashmir and chosen instead to support Sheikh Abdullah’s Muslim Conference.

“The Congress put all its eggs in Sheikh Abdullah’s basket. He ran away with the basket and had to be made Prime Minister (of Jammu and Kashmir),” Shah said.

He mentioned party icon Syama Prasad Mookerjee’s death in a Jammu and Kashmir jail and asked why this wasn’t probed.

Turning angrier, he accused the Congress of conducting “sham” elections in the state and allowing dynasties to hold sway over it, claiming this had “shattered the trust of the people”.

Shah said he was not claiming that the BJP government alone was fighting terrorism, “but there’s a difference between our way and yours”.

“We are striking at the root of terrorism in Pakistan,” he said, alluding to the September 2016 “surgical strike” and the February 2019 Balakot air strikes.

Responding to the Opposition’s charges of an “atmosphere of fear” and “peace of the graveyard” prevailing in Kashmir, Shah justified the “fear”, saying it resided in the hearts of people who were against India and this was just as it should be.

“We will protect the Kashmiri culture. Kashmiriyat will not be diluted. The people of Kashmir are our brothers and sisters,” he said.

“But those who want to separate Jammu and Kashmir from India will not be spared. They must have fear in their minds.”