Articles
Nehru was willing to let go of
Jammu & Kashmir
By Hari
Om on June 26, 2013
Addressing a
mammoth ‘Sankalp rally’ at Madhopur (Pathankot) on June 23, the Gujarat Chief
Minister and the chairman of the BJP Election Campaign Committee for the
upcoming 2014 Lok Sabha election, Narendra Modi charged the
Congress and the late Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru with queering the Indian
pitch in Kashmir and made a fervent appeal to the citizens to fulfill Dr Shyama
Prasad Mookerjee’s “dream of progress, development and unity of the country and
end the Congress’s misgovernance”. The rally was organised jointly by the
ruling SAD-B and the BJP on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Jan
Sangh/founder Dr Mookerjee’s martyrdom. He laid down his life in Kashmir on
June 23, 1953 for the integration of Jammu & Kashmir with India.
The
fundamental upshots of the Narendra Modi’s 40-minute speech were two. One, the
Congress has ruined India, undermined its position in the eyes of the
international community, endangered national unity, messed up the Indian
economy and reduced the office of the Prime Minister to a nullity. Free India
from the corrupt and undesirable Congress was his refrain. Two, Jammu &
Kashmir acceded to India in terms of the Constitutional law on the subject like
other 560-odd Princely States, but the Congress and Jawaharlal Nehru again and
again bungled in Kashmir and weakened the Indian position in the sensitive
border State. Dispense justice to the internally displaced Kashmir Hindus, give
Jammu and Ladakh what is their legitimate due share in the State’s polity and
economy, win over the Kashmiri youth through education and development and
integrate the State completely into India was his message.
Nehru’s 13
blunders
Narendra
Modi was absolutely right when he questioned the manner in which Nehru handled
the Kashmir issue in 1947 and thereafter. Indeed, Nehru never acted in the best
interests of the nation. On the contrary, he made controversial statements at
regular intervals about Jammu & Kashmir and created an impression that a
final decision on the State’s political future had yet to be taken. Jammu &
Kashmir was the only Princely State that was not handled by Sardar Patel, as
Nehru had de-linked it from the Home Ministry and attached it with his own
Foreign Ministry as if the State was an alien country.
Glance
through Nehru’s telegram No 413, dated October 28, 1947; and telegrams No 25
and 255, dated October 31, 1947, to his Pakistani counterpart; letter from
Nehru to the Pakistani Prime Minister, No 368, dated November 21, 1947; his
statement in the Indian Constituent Assembly, November 25, 1947; The Statesman,
January 18, 1951 and May 1, 1953; statement in Parliament on February 12, 1951;
address at public meeting in Srinagar, June 4, 1951; report of the AICC, July
6, 1951; statements made in Parliament on June 26 and August 7, 1952 and March
31, 1955; letters from Nehru to the Pakistani Prime Minister, dated September
3, 1953, and November 10, 1953; statement made in the Indian Council of States
on May 18, 1954; The Times of India, May 16, 1954; and so on. Here are some of
the statements Nehru made between 1947 and 1955, the most crucial period as far
as the State was concerned.
1. “We have
always right from the beginning accepted the idea of the Kashmir people (read Kashmiri Muslims) deciding
their fate by referendum or plebiscite. Ultimately, the final decision of
settlement, which must come, has first of all to be made basically by the
people of Kashmir.”
2. “In
regard to accession also, it has been made clear that this is subject to
reference to people of the State (read Kashmir) and their decision.”
3. “First of
all, I would like to remind you of the fateful days of 1947 when I came to
Srinagar and gave the solemn assurance that the people of India would stand by
Kashmir in her struggle. (Who was he to speak on behalf of the people of India
and who had given him that mandate?) On that assurance, I shook Sheikh
Abdullah’s hand before the vast multitude that had gathered there (read
Srinagar). I want to repeat that the Government of India will stand by that
pledge, whatever happens. That pledge itself stated that it is for the people
of Kashmir to decide their fate without external interference (read New Delhi’s
interference). That assurance also remains and will continue.”
4. “Kashmir
should decide question of accession by plebiscite or referendum under
international auspices such as those of the United Nations.”
5. “…The
people of Kashmir would decide the question of accession. It is open to them to
accede to either Dominion (read Indian or Pakistan Dominion) then.”
6.“But as
far as the Government of India is concerned, every assurance and international
commitment in regard to Kashmir stands.”
7. “India is
a great country and Kashmir is almost in the heart of Asia. There is an
enormous difference not only geographically but in all kinds of facts there. Do
you think you are dealing with a part of UP or Bihar or Gujarat? You are
dealing with Kashmir”. (Home Minister P Chidambaram almost said the same thing
in Srinagar after assuming the charge in 2009. He had said: “Solutions
applicable to other parts of India cannot be replicated in Kashmir, as Kashmir
has unique geography and unique history.” It appears he has gone through the
Nehru’s June 4, 1951 address at a public meeting in Srinagar.)
8. “We had
given our pledge to the people of Kashmir, and subsequently to the United
Nations; we stood by it and we stand by it today. Let the people of Kashmir
decide.”
9. “We have
taken the issue to the United Nations and given our word of honour for a peaceful
solution. As a great nation, we cannot go back on it. We have left the question
for final solution to the people of Kashmir and we are determined to abide by
their decision.”
10. “If,
after a proper plebiscite, the people of Kashmir said, ‘We do not want to be
with India’, we are committed to accept that. We will accept it though it might
pain us. We will not send any army against them. We will accept that, however
hurt we might feel about it, we will change the Constitution, if necessary.”
(Interlocutors for Jammu & Kashmir Dileep Padgaonkar and Radha Kumar also
expressed similar views in Srinagar in October 2010.)
11. “I want
to stress that it is only the people of Kashmir who can decide the future of
Kashmir. It is not that we have merely said that to the United Nations and to
the people of Kashmir, it is our conviction and one that is borne out by the
policy that we have pursued not only in Kashmir but everywhere. Though these
five years (1947-1952) have meant a lot of trouble and expense and in spite of
all we have done we would willingly leave Kashmir if it was made clear to us
that the people of Kashmir wanted us to go. However sad we may feel about
leaving, we are not going to stay against the wishes of the people. We are not
going to impose ourselves on them at the point of bayonet. I started with the
presumption that it is for the people of Kashmir to decide their own future. We
will not compel them. In that sense, the people of Kashmir are sovereign.”
12. “The
whole dispute about Kashmir is still before the United Nations. We cannot just
decide things concerning Kashmir. We cannot pass a bill or issue an order
concerning Kashmir or do whatever we want.”
13. “As a
result of the plebiscite over the entire state, we would be in a position to
consider the matter, so that the final decision should cause least disturbance
and should take into consideration geographical, economic and other important
factors.”
All these
statements show that Nehru was more than willing to allow Jammu & Kashmir
to go out of India, notwithstanding the fact that an overwhelming majority of
population in the State was for full integration into India and application of
the Indian Constitution to the State in full. It is also clear from his
statements, telegrams and letters that he continued to believe in the
pernicious two-nation theory that had led to the communal partition of India in
1947. Credit goes to Dr Mookerjee and his successors in the Jana Sangh who
defeated the evil intentions of Nehru and saved Jammu & Kashmir for India
after making supreme sacrifices.
However, to
say all this is not to suggest that the Congress has deviated from the path
Nehru charted. It has not. It wants to recognise the claim of Pakistan over
Jammu & Kashmir and pander to Kashmiri separatists and fundamentalists, but
its problem is that the nation in general and the people of Jammu and Ladakh in
particular have not allowed the Congress to succeed in its ulterior game plan.
They are committed to defeating the evil forces in Kashmir and elsewhere and
preserving the unity and territorial integrity of India at whatever cost.
Narendra Modi’s Modhopur speech was nothing but a reiteration of the nation’s
stand that Jammu & Kashmir shall always remain an integral part of India
come what may.
The views expressed in this article here are that of the writer and are brought here for debate, because it deeply concerns us all as a nation.
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