Col (Retd) J P Singh
British India had 652 Princely States. To clearly define their status after independence and division of British India, Cabinet Mission presented a Memorandum to the ‘Chancellor of Princes in India’ on 12 May 1946 which stated that all these states would technically become independent sovereign kingdoms with the option of joining either of the two Dominion at the discretion of their ruler. There was no provision, let alone any compulsion, or even a modicum of necessity for the ruler to consult their subjects in the matter of Accession. The ruler of the state had absolute powers in this regard. Signing the ‘Instrument of Accession’ was all that was needed to merge one way or the other. On 30th July 1947, Jinnah, the architect of Pakistan and a legal luminary, said, “the legal position is that with the lapse of Paramountcy on the transfer of power by the British, all the Indian States should automatically regain their full sovereign and independent status. They will therefore be free to join either of the two Dominions or remain independent. Hence on the 15th August 1947 Jammu and Kashmir became an independent sovereign nation with Maharaja Hari Singh as ruler.
Jammu and Kashmir became a subject of international conspiracy for making it a part of yet to be born Pakistan by consent, coercion and by force, if nothing else worked. Even before Pakistan came into being, certain political and military elements of would be Pakistan had started making plans for annexing Jammu and Kashmir through a tribal invasion backed by Pakistan Army in disguise. On the night of 21 /22 October 1947 Pakistan launched full scale tribal invasion on the state under the misconceived notion that entire population of the state was against the ruler and wanted to join Pakistan. Nothing could be farther from truth because thousands of Muslims in the govt, the State Forces and the National Conference besides the inhabitants of Baramula fought the raiders, braved the death and beat back their invasion and earned the gratitude of grateful nation; though it remains as an unharvested victory by secular India. The marauding hordes of Pathan invaders halted at Baramula for leisurely ransacking the town and raping beautiful girls and Nuns. To protect life, property and honour of his subjects, Maharaja decided to accede to India. The Instrument of Accession was accepted by the govt of India on 26 October 1947. It was decided to quickly dispatch Indian Army to save the state from Pak invaders and to recover the areas captured by them.
British seemed to have created two nations to keep them fighting wars after their birth. Since they were still commanding armies on both sides and were witness to the unprecedented communal riots and migration consequent to the partition, they took no initiative to thwart Pak invasion. By 7th November Indian Army had declared Srinagar city reasonably safe. By 10 November 1947 Uri was captured. When 161 Infantry Brigade under Brig L P Sen was hotly chasing the retreating enemy towards Domel, he received an order ‘No Further Advance Beyond Uri’. From the military point of view it was most unsound tactical order to not to carry on the pursuit relentlessly when the enemy was on the run. Brig Sen requested for permission to capture Domel which would keep the enemy at arms length from Uri. His request was turned down. It was virtually impossible to remonstrate this order since it had originated from Delhi as a result of decision taken at the highest level of the govt. Capture of Domel which could have solved the Kashmir problem in one go once and for all was not considered to be the objective instead political considerations, vote bank politics and personal preferences prevailed over the national interest and tactical ground situation. Successful military pursuit was halted to the advantage of Pakistan. Even today Jammu and Kashmir is being presented as flash point of the region by Nawaz Sharif in Washington calling for American intervention. Pakistan has not given up efforts to grab Indian part of Jammu and Kashmir for which it keeps experimenting with varied options including outside intervention.
Geographical contiguity was one of the key factor in deciding accession. Radcliff Commission appointed to demarcate boundaries between India and Pakistan was to announce its award 3 days before partition but it was deliberately delayed and made public 3 days after the independence. Three Eastern Tehsils of Gurdaspur District were awarded to India which provided vital land link to J&K, Kulu, Dharmsala, Manali, Lahul and Spiti. It provided Jammu & Kashmir geographical contiguity with India and hence influenced the decision of merger. This land link probably was the single most crucial element in chartering the future course of politico military events in the sub continent. Had this not happened one wonders which way the state would have gone. However accession with India turned out to a great political and moral victory for secular India but willy-nilly it offered great strategic advantage to Pakistan which she continues to exploit as aggrieved party to get enormous military and economic aid from the West; partially used for Talibanisation of Afghanistan and Kashmir.
It was Pt Nehru, who in his exceptional benign posturing introduced a surprise element of ascertaining the will of the people as an exception in case of J&K, which continues to haunt the nation. In fact he went out of his way and on 4th October 1948, during the thick of the battle, he wrote to the Prime Minister of Pakistan stating that he will fully cooperate in allowing the will of the people to prevail in finding a peaceful and honourable solution to the Kashmir problem. There was no compulsion to make this pledge. This commitment turned out to be a great advantage in favour of Pakistan. It enables Pakistan to call J&K disputed territory and seek UN intervention and to keep the pot boiling. Ironically this high victory stand was climbed at the cost of own national propriety.
Pt Nehru, imbued with idealism and vision of world statesmanship, stood on the high moral grounds by approaching the UN to get justice for India’s claim over Kashmir. Instead of clinching the issue once and for all militarily by enlarging the field of counter offensive when the enemy was on the run, he was perhaps swayed by the machinations of British advisors and agreed to sue for peace without fighting a war. As per defence analysts we could have at least captured Mirpur-Kotli belt and occupied Haji Pir before offering a ceasefire. The advantage of Himalayan blunder has gone in favour of Pakistan. This was Nehru style of world diplomacy. This proves that Indians by nature are generous to the enemy even though past history has proved us wrong many a times. But Indian leadership continues to be incorrigible perhaps because of inbuilt generosity syndrome of seeing victory in defeat. That is why they rarely talk about recovering illegally occupied areas, take lightly the brutal killings of our soldiers and let the ceasefire keep firing.
In June 1948 UN ordered ceasefire and made referendum conditional asking Pakistan to vacate all the areas under its occupation after the enforcement of ceasefire. It is noteworthy that out of total area of 86.000 sq miles that constituted the State of Jammu and Kashmir nearly 33,000 sq miles is under the control of Pakistan. Pakistan keeps harping on UN resolutions without implementing its terms and conditions. Declaration of ceasefire and accepting it as a victory without consulting the field commanders and without even the slightest courtesy of reference to the ruler, was an act of wanton arrogance on the part of Pt Nehru for which India continues to pay heavy price. Last Kargil victory at an alarming cost in men and material, many call it diplomatic defeat, and constant tension on the LOC has amply proved that point. Knowing the American track record of meddling in other countries bilateral disputes such as in West Asia and internal affairs such as in Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, Iran and Iraq in the past, Nawaz Sharif’s agenda is certainly not out of tune whereas American rejection should not be a taken as certificates for all times to come. I am sure security analysts will seriously determine threats to Jammu and Kashmir after NATO pull out from Afghanistan and India will clearly define its policy to ward off impending dangers.
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