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| Hari Singh never toyed with the idea of independence | | Calling the bluff | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Oct 1: Critics of Maharaja Hari Singh say that he was for the independence of his Jammu and Kashmir State. They are wrong. The Independence Act of 1947 gave only two options to the princes - Accession with the Indian Dominion or Accession with the newly created Pakistan Dominion taking into consideration the contiguity factor. There was no third or fourth option - Independence of India-Pakistan joint control over Jammu and Kashmir. Those who are demanding independence are only living in a fool's paradise. Similarly, those who say that the Jammu and Kashmir is an unfinished agenda of partition are misinterpreting the whole history of the integration of the princely states to India and Pakistan.
The basic fact is that neither the partition of India nor the lapse of paramountcy created a prior right for the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir to opt for an alternative to accession to India, independence or accession to Pakistan. The assertion that Hari Singh intended to assume independence is a total surmise and travesty of history. Mountbatten flew to Srinagar in the third week of June, not more than two weeks after the June 3 Declaration of 1947, and shook the Maharaja out of his wits by advising him to come to terms with Pakistan.
Hari Singh used stratagem to send the Crown Representative back to the Indian capital, empty handed. Accession to Pakistan was the last act he was prepared to perform. Nor he ever entertained the idea of assuming independence. His historic speech in the Roundtable Conference in London should call the bluff of his critics. He had demanded independence of India from the British in the Roundtable Conference.
Hari Singh was not the man to have misunderstood Mountbatten, who warned him against any attempt to assume independence. In fact there is not the slightest of hints or pronouncements on record to suggest that Hari Singh intended to assume independence. Four personal emissaries of Jinnah met Hari Singh secretly, and to each he said he would take a decision by himself and keeping in view the interests of his people. Ram Chand Kak, a confidant of Hari Singh, acted as his interface with the Muslim League and his strategy worked to save the State from being plunged into civil war during the crucial months between the June 3 Declaration and the date of transfer of power.
The truth is that he was waiting for a proper moment to accede to India and he took it. It should also be noted that August 15, 1947 was not the last date for the princes of the princely states to take decision on accession either with India or with Pakistan. |
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