On March 27, Nishikant Dubey, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) Lok Sabha MP made an outrageous and unfounded charge that Jawaharlal Nehru fought the 1962 war with China with American money and “in collaboration with CIA” and that Orissa politician Biju Patnaik was “the link between the US government, the CIA and Nehru.”“Even the officials were aware of this. I have released two letters from Nehru today in which he is telling his officials, especially the US ambassador, to do their job. We have sent Biju Patnaik for a major task, and he is discussing defence matters,” Dubey is reported to have said.These disgraceful remarks go against the authentic historical records documenting Nehru’s writings on Biju Patnaik and Dubey has been sharply criticised by leaders of not just there BJD (Biju Janata Dal) but of BJP as well.Dubey’s defence of his highly offensive remarks on the ground that he was exposing Nehru-Gandhi family sounds extremely shallow and utterly unconvincing.Illustration: Pariplab Chakraborty.The fabricated charges against a freedom fighter like Biju Patnaik who set a shining and exemplary record during the second world war in assisting the erstwhile Soviet Union against Hitler and rescuing top Indonesian leaders from that country fighting against Dutch colonialism for their independence underline his small and mean mentality. No wonder that founder of BJD and former chief minister of Odisha and present leader of opposition in the state assembly Naveen Patnaik made pungent remarks on Dubey by stating that he requires, “some mental doctor’s attention for saying such outrageous things.”“I was surprised to hear the outrageous things said about Biju Babu. I don’t think he knows that prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had given him an office next to his in Delhi while he was still chief minister of Odisha to help with strategy during the Chinese conflict,” said Patnaik about his father.BJP leader Baijayant Panda condemned Dubey without naming him and said that Patnaik was “among the leading lights of the nation”. He proceeded to add, “His heroic missions, diplomatic & defence initiatives all contributed to strengthening our fledgling republic. Casting aspersions on his patriotism is fantastical & patently ludicrous. Such attacks on him are unworthy, uninformed, & totally unacceptable.”Nehru on Biju PatnaikBut more than those condemnatory statements what is of crucial importance is that India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru himself acknowledged the role played Biju Patnaik during Chinese attack on India in 1962 and had underlined his invaluable contributions.In a letter to B.K. Nehru on March 8, 1963, Nehru informed him about the Biju’s visit to the US and introduced him as “a man with great capacity, enterprise and ….a dare devil pilot.” He recalled how Patnaik, disregarding the blockade of Indonesia and the military operations there by Dutch colonial rulers, flew into that country at great risk , rescued some of the country’s top leaders and brought them to Delhi . Nehru also referred to many industrial ventures started by Biju Patnaik in Orissa, now Odisha, and specially flagged Kaling Airlines which he established and which was used for carrying supplies to the NEFA area.“Because of his energy, capacity and experience,” Nehru wrote, “he was naturally much worked up at the Chinese invasion of NEFA (North-East Frontier Agency).”Nehru furthered said, “He wanted to do something worthwhile and was prepared even to give up his chief ministership of Orissa,”On Nehru’s advice he continued to serve as chief minister of Orissa and was given a room in the External Affairs Ministry so that he would come for a few days and share his expertise with the top functionaries of the Government with regard to supplies and other matters.Nishikant Dubey’s false charges therefore fall flat in the context of Nehru’s remarks that Patnaik was prepared to work for the country and sacrifice his Chief Ministership of Orissa after the Chinese aggression on India.Reasons why Biju Patnaik was allotted a room in MEAOn February 27, 1963, when some Members of the Rajya Sabha asked the reasons why the chief minister of Orissa Biju Patnaik was allotted a room in the External Affairs Ministry, Nehru replied that Patnaik’s knowledge of the border areas between India and China and his experience as a very efficient pilot helped him to tender valuable advice to prime minister, the External Affairs Ministry people, chief of staff, the cabinet secretary, etc.Biju’s role in 1965 Indo-Pak WarApart from rendering services to the country during the 1962 Chinese aggression, Biju Patnaik played a stellar role in safeguarding the unity and integrity of our country in 1965 when he successfully prevailed over Indonesian President Sukarno to recall the despatch of three submarines to Pakistan during the Indo-Pak war of 1965. Biju Patnaik himself revealed this in the Rajya Sabha on July 23, 1971 when he said in the House that the prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri sent him to Jakarta to convince Indonesia to withdraw sending the submarines to Pakistan on getting secret information about it. The then Defence Minister Jagjivan Ram appreciated Biju Patnaik for displaying rare courage in saving India in those critical times.Biju rejected divisive nationalism of the BJPOn March 3, 1997, 47 days before his demise, when the Madhya Pradesh BJP leader Sunderlal Patwa spoke on the motion of thanks to the president’s address in the Lok Sabha and flagged BJP’s nationalism, Biju Patnaik responded sharply by stating, “You people talk of nationalism. Do you know what nationalism is? You cannot know it. Your rashtrawad is breaking-up the nation into 20 pieces.” He also disapproved of the BJP for looking at the issue of Jammu and Kashmir from the prism of Hinduism forgetting the national perspective. That secular perspective of Biju Patnaik is not acceptable to the BJP and its leadership.Also read: Biju Patnaik’s Warning Against BJP’s ‘Divisive Nationalism’ Is Still Relevant TodayThe least that Nishikant Dubey should do is tender an unqualified apology to the nation for committing the unforgivable and egregious blunder of defaming Biju Patnaik’s glorious legacy.S.N. Sahu served as officer on special duty to former President K.R. Narayanan.This piece was first published on The India Cable – a premium newsletter from The Wire – and has been updated and republished here. To subscribe to The India Cable, click here.