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| Mysteries of accession / merger:NC confuses nation | | | Col J P Singh, Retd | 10/14/2010 9:57:43 PM |
| As in the past, Kashmir is again getting higher and higher in the vertex of confrontations and conspiracies. Today Kashmir stands at the cross roads of history because of the confrontationist signals emerging from the Legislative Assembly. Most disturbing is projection of Jammu and Kashmir as not an integral part of India by none other than the head of the govt led by National Conference which was founded by Sheikh Abdullah, parroting the same voice as of Geelani and the likes who call Kashmir as unfinished agenda of partition and challenge accession. Indian perception of Jammu and Kashmir is that it is an integral part even if it has been looked from 370 angle. It is difficult for an Indian psyche to accept any confusion on the merger of J&K with India and it will be equally difficult for the Congress to explain its stand on the issue. He embarrassed his coalition partners sitting in the Assembly who in turn embarrass their voters in Jammu. He may have increased his public rating in own party and separatists camp in the valley but has lost it many times more in the country as well as in the Congress.
63 years ago Jammu and Kashmir became a subject of international conspiracy for making it a part of Pakistan by consent or coercion and by force if nothing else worked. Unfortunately today again J&K suffers similar Machiavellian conspiracy orchestrated by Kashmiris to detach it from India on some pretext or the other. On 6th October 2010, Chief Minister in his so orchestrated historical (controversial) speech said in the Legislative Assembly "Accession of Jammu & Kashmir has taken place with India but the state has not merged with the country. It cannot be placed at par with Hyderabad or Junagarh. The accession has occurred under an agreement. We have not broken that agreement nor have we taken it back, you have diluted it. Many say much water has flown down the Jhelum since then. We also agree, but it is still a fact that Jammu & Kashmir's accession is under an agreement and it is not the merger". It is now evident that Kashmir has not been a part of India in the same measure as Hyderabad and Junagar despite all the pacts and packages. He further added, "We want resolution of K-issue as would be acceptable to the three regions of Jammu and Kashmir and also to the neighboring country (obviously Pakistan). Does he mean that oxygen for his survival is from the windows opening towards Rawalpindi and not through the doors opening towards Delhi. Pakistani stand on Kashmir is well known and here we have the Chief Minister who is acting as their attorney as much as China is doing by contesting Indian sovereignty over Kashmir. It is therefore necessary that India understands this phenomenon and attendant consequences and then proceeds with the resolution of the Kashmir tangle politically or otherwise. Kashmir again stands at the cross roads of political arena looking towards a different direction. As of now Kashmir has become more vulnerable to international debate and intervention.
58 years ago Mr.G Ayyangar, then Minister for Kashmir Affairs asserted in the Parliament that in due course of time Kashmir will become ripe for the same sort of integration as has taken place in case of other states. Present Home Minister made a striking statement in the Parliament by saying "The govt of India recognizes that the accession of the State of Jammu & Kashmir was a unique one under the unique circumstances." On the contrary Prime Ministers and renowned political analysts aver that the accession was final and unquestionable which contradicts Home Minister's above statement but does not eliminate confusion. Many a times in the past complete integration or merger appeared to be a forgotten issue but with resurgence of Abdullah family when ever and where ever it was, the issue became alive. Resurgence of Abdullahs is a mystery. Doesn't India get betrayed over and over again; more so now when the child of India speaks the language of enemies of India. Who is to be blamed for the mess is well known to the nation and it is they who must act wisely in future.
For Mr Chidambaram as for all other political analysts the uniqueness of accession lies in Jammu & Kashmir being a Muslim majority princely state, contiguous to Pakistan with a Hindu ruler and Sheikh Abdullah ( most powerful mass leader and a staunch Muslim ); both opting to accede to India despite Jinnah's appeal to both of them to join Pakistan. J&K had become an absolute sovereign and independent country on 15 August 1947 like UK, Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. Any thing done by Maharaja after 15 August 1947 as an independent ruler of a sovereign Independent Republic till 26 October could not be questioned. His decision of remaining independent could not be questioned by the British or any other power in the world even though Independence of India Act had no provision for independent status of any princely state firstly because their dominion status finished on 14 August 1947 and 2ndly because the act was in no way binding on the princely states. That is why Hyderabad and Junagarh also decided to stay away from accession which is an equally interesting paradigm. There is no denying the fact that communal composition weighed heavily in favor of accession to Pakistan and hence that was the reason for pressure from various quarters on the ruler and popular Muslim leader to accede to Pakistan. But the Maharaja's decision to accede to Indian Dominion was not his own and exclusive. It had the approval of Sheikh Abdullah as well as Pt Nehru apart from interest of his subjects upper most in his mind reinforced by Sheikh Sahib's preference for secular India. Due to these contradictions, the delay was inevitable even if it was debatable and hence a mystery.
Certain political facts related to the accession are unique but they are independent of the accession as such. Their review may not be out of place when it is being called just an agreement on paper. At that time Jammu & Kashmir had majority Muslim population but it was contiguous to both India and Pakistan. Hence only one of two conditions was in favor of accession to Pakistan. But the ruler decided against accession to either of the two. He signed a stand still document with Pakistan and while he was still negotiating with India, the state was attacked by tribals led by Pakistan Army. The way they plundered Baramula and treated local women folk & Nuns, the ruler had no choice but to protect the life, property and honour of his subjects. Since he didn't have enough forces to do so he approached govt of India for military help to repel the attack from his state. He sent his letter of help along with a letter of accession by stating that 'to legitimise your military help to my independent country, I accede my erstwhile princely state to the Union of India by the attached Instrument of Accession dated 26 October 1947'. Instrument of Accession was drafted in New Delhi and brought to Jammu by Mr. Menon and signed by Maharaja Hari Singh. The format was the same as was used for other princely states to merge. Accession was accepted by the Govt of India and Indian Army was flown to Kashmir to defend it against the atrocities of the invaders. The mystery in accession lies in a condition attached by Indian govt to ascertain the will of the people after restoration of normalcy. There was no provision, let alone any compulsion or even a modicum of necessity for the rulers to consult their subjects in the matter of accession. It was Pt Nehru who made in his benign naivety introduced this condition of ascertaining the will of people for J&K's accession which continues to haunt the nation till today. Diverting Indian Army after the capture of Uri to Poonch without capturing Domel at a stone throw distance & accepting cease fire without recovering entire territory of the erstwhile princely state when our forces were on the winning spree and the enemy was on the run is another mystery. Another mystery was that Maharaja Hari Singh who was still the ruler was not consulted on diverting forces from Uri. In February 1954 the Constituent Assembly of J&K ratified the accession. In November 1956 this decision was given formal sanction of people through their democratically elected Constituent Assembly and the condition of ascertaining the will of the people was fulfilled. Areas under illegal occupation of Pakistan is what makes accession unique because accession is not complete without geographical unification of state as acceded by last ruler. Same has been reiterated by Dr. Farooq Abdullah in Parliament on 26 August 2010. This is how the accession & integration of state to the Indian Union took place. Even though it is not complete in geographical boundaries, yet it can't be called a fragile agreement whose continuation is at the mercy of a political party or a family.
India was partitioned on the flawed premise that Hindus and Muslims can not co- exist. But Sheikh Abdullah, undisputed tallest leader of the valley rejected the two nation theory of Muslim League and declared his preference for the secular and democratic India. If despite this his grand son considers his inherited legacy as a problem and demands its resolution as per the wishes of Pakistan, the non Muslims minorities of J&K have no choice as well as justification to be part of such autonomous Muslim majority Jammu and Kashmir surviving at the mercy of fundamentalist and hostile neighbor. How can Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Christians co exist with Muslims when there is failure of trust between India and Kashmir on the religious basis. Chief Minister's controversial statement in the Assembly has initiated a debate in Jammu and Ladakh regions.
India will have to take the aspirations of Jammu and Ladakh on board while exploring a solution to the complex self created and sustained problem.
Blunders are committed in the spur of moments but the centuries and the generations suffer the consequences.
--( Author can be accessed at
[email protected] ) |
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