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| Swamy does some plain-speaking | | Accession Day -- I | | Rustam
Jammu, Oct 24: The accession day is on October 26. It was on that eventful day that Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Hari Singh, who had suffered at the hands of the Indian National Congress in general and Jawaharlal Nehru in particular for his great role in the roundtable conference, held in London, in the early 1930s, took a historic decision and linked the fate of the state with India. He exercised the authority vested in him by the Indian Independence Act of 1947.
Before August 1947, there were two Indias, British India and the Princely India or Indian India. The British India consisted of eleven provinces -- Bengal, Bihar, Orissa, United Provinces, Assam, Punjab, Madras, Bombay, Central Provinces, Sind and North West Frontier Province. The British India was directly administered by the British Government through the Governor-General of India. It was the British India which was bifurcated to set up Muslim Pakistan to meet the communal urges of Mohammad Ali Jinnah and the Muslim Leaguers.
The princely India consisted of 560-odd princely states, including Jammu and Kashmir. The British Government exercised authority over the princely India through the Viceroy of India, who was also the Governor-General of India. Each princely state used to have a British official, called British Resident. The princely India was not part of the partition plan. In other words, it had nothing to do with the plan under which India was to be partitioned into India and Pakistan on communal basis or on the basis of two-nation doctrine devised by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan and implanted in letter and spirit by Mohammad Ali Jinnah and his Muslim League.
The Independence Act had empowered Rajas, Maharajas and Nawabs of the princely states to accede to any of the two newly-created Dominions -- India and Pakistan -- taking into account the contiguity factor. The princely states had only two choices: join either of the Dominion. There was no third option - independence. The Act had, in addition, laid down in unequivocal terms that the princes, and not the people, alone had the power to take final decision on the political future of their respective states. The Independence Act nowhere mentioned directly or indirectly that Rajas, Maharajas and Nawabs shall take any communal consideration into account while taking decision on the political future of his princely state. It only talked of contiguity criterion. Besides, the Independence Act had nowhere set the deadline of August 15, 1947 for final decision. This is the constitutional position and those who question it question the very formation of Pakistan.
Yesterday, the Jammu Kashmir People's Forum (JKPF) organized an impressive function at Jammu Club, Jammu, to remember Mahara Hari Singh's splendid contribution to the accession of the state with India. The chief guest was Janata Party president and former Union Minister Subra Maniun Swamy. Swamy has made the position of the Congress-led UPA government quite untenable by exposing its involvement in the multi-crore 2G spectrum scam and who is now after Home Minister P Chidambaram's head saying he, like the former Telecom Minister A Raja, is a party to the scam which has caused a loss of whopping 176,000 crore to the exchequer. He has knocked at the doors of the Supreme Court. Chidambaram will lose his position, says Swamy. He is so confident.
Speaking on the occasion, Swamy did some plain-speaking. In fact, he explained the constitutional position on the issue that was settled on the day Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession. His was an impressive presentation. He took on those who are questioning the decision of Maharaja Hari Singh and asserted that no authority in the country could undo what Maharaja Hari Singh did as per the constitutional law on the subject. He stated and restated that the accession of the state with India took place on October 26, the day Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession and lambasted the then nominated Governor-General of India Lord Mountbatten for his outrageous suggestion that his government accepted the Maharaja's offer of accession on the condition that the final decision would depend upon what the people of the state desired. Swamy asked: Under which law Mountbatten laid down that condition? Swamy only hit the nail on the head.
Mountbatten had no authority whatever to lay down any condition. He had only two options as per what laid embodied in the Indian Independence Act - accept the offer or reject the offer. He bemoaned saying that while none in the erstwhile princely states, barring Jammu and Kashmir, questions what their respective rulers did to integrate their respective states into India, certain vested interests and anti-India elements have been raking up the issue that was settled 64 years ago. He also lambasted Nehru. (To be continued) |
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