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Kashmir: Truth Behind Politics |
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by R C Ganjoo |
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With the entry of new players, the Kashmir issue has been made far more complicated. A variety of proposals have been made without striking at the root of the problem. A sane voice has seldom been registered at the high echelon of power for unknown reasons, contends the author while digging out the rare historical records of contemporary politics in the troubled state. There are different versions about Maharaja’s remaining as independent or not. According to D C Prashant, former Member Parliament and veteran journalist, who had covered Maharaja’s regime, “Maharaja Hari Singh was against Pt Jawaharlal Nehru’s Policy. During “Quit Kashmir Movement” in 1946 about 8 persons were killed and 15 injured in Srinagar. Pt Nehru on this situation described Srinagar as “city is dead”. Hari Singh was annoyed over Nehru’s statements. “I will never accede to Nehru’s India” was Maharaja Hari Singh’s reply to Pt. Nehru’s statement. But the circumstances led him to accede to India, according to Prashant. Maharaja Hari Singh had three dreams - to see his son Dr Karan Singh as a father, Sheikh Mohd Abdullah’s downfall and Pt Nehru’s downfall too. First two dreams came true in his life time. But he could not see the downfall of Pt. Nehru. Maharaja Hari Singh died in 1961 and Pt. Nehru in1964. The late B P Sharma, again a veteran journalist of J&K state who had also reported in various newspapers on Maharaja Hari Singh and Sheikh Mohd Abdullah’s regimes in his write-ups had said that in a forwarding letter to Governor General Lord Mountbatten, Maharaja Hari Singh had mentioned “ I wanted to keep my state independent but am forced to accede to India” . His deputy prime minister Ram Lal Batra had given a statement in Delhi “ we want Kashmir as Switzerland of Asia and independent state”. According to him, Maharaja Hari Singh’s bitterness against Sheikh Mohd Abdullah and Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru never decreased. When Pt. Nehru had declined to accept the offer of J& K state to join India, Mehar Chand Mahajan , as prime ministers of Kashmir representing on behalf of Maharaja Hari Singh in Delhi replied “then the standing orders from Maharaja for him were to negotiate with Jinnah”. It perturbed Delhi and Sardar Patel had to intervene to make the offer accepted. Capt. Dewan Singh, the then ADC to Maharaja Hari Singh, who is alive, has different view about independent Kashmir. According to him, Maharaja Hari Singh was never in favour of an Independent Kashmir. In 1931 at round table conference held in Landon, Maharaja Hari Singh had decided to give up his state for Indian union. After independence, Lord Mountbatten had also offered Maharaja Hari Singh to join Pakistan, as his state was surrounded by Pakistan with majority of Muslims or third option of declaring Kashmir as an independent state. According to Capt. Dewan Singh, the accession to India was final. The delayed accession was due to certain unavoidable circumstances and the prevailing situation in India and Nehru’s insistence that Sheikh Mohd Abdullah be released and Maharaja Hari Singh should quit. Hari Singh had already told Pt Nehru that Sheikh Mohd Abdullah would prove useful, undisputed and undoubted leader of Kashmir provided he is kept under check. Pt. Nehru did not tolerate the comments of Maharaja Hari Singh. Pt. Nehru, Acharya Kriplani had blind faith in Sheikh Mohd Abdullah. But Hari Singh’s prediction came true when Sheikh Mohd Abdullah shifted from his stand and was arrested 1953. Hari Singh was in Bombay at that time. When Sheikh Mohd Abdullah was re-installed as chief minister in 1975 by Mrs Indira Gandhi, he constituted a cabinet sub–committee, under his finance minister D D Thakur to examine the central laws, including the provision of the Constitution of India and to find out which portion of them was not beneficial in the interest of the state. The committee would examine a) instrument of accession signed by the then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir b)Delhi agreement executed between political leaders at the centre and those in state in the year 1952 c) Article 370 of the Constitution of India and the Accord entered into between political leaders at the center and the state in the year 1975 While commenting on the interim report of “The Basic Principles Committee,” submitted on 10th June 1951 for acceptance in the constituent Assembly, Sheikh Mohd Abdullah ,said “ freedom cannot be achieved by requesting but by the struggle. Only that nation attains freedom which sheds its blood for this cause. This again cannot be achieved by begging. Freedom can be obtained only when people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh – say of the whole state –make scarifies in the manner in which lakhs of people like Luther have struggled for their liberation”. He had also said “people on the other side of the cease- fire line Muzaffarabad, Mirpore, Poonch and Gilgit etc had to struggle jointly with us. This principle will not, therefore, apply to only one part of the state but also to all people of the state including those brethren of ours who have been separated from us and those eyes have been shut and tongues gagged in Pakistan.” The constituent assembly had adopted the report by a unanimous resolution on 11th June 1952. The state convened a meeting in November 1951 and had readily set up basic principles committee and Fundamental Rights and Citizenship committee. However, accession took place. It was against the wishes of Maharaja Hari Singh when India approached UNO. This irritated Maharaja Hari Singh and he wrote to Pt Nehru that accession was final and he has no business to approach to UNO as it will complicate the matter. R C Kak’s role was found dubious and made suspects in the eyes of Maharaja Hari Singh. That was the reason Kak was removed from the prime minister’s post says Capt. Dewan Singh. The late Moti Lal Razdan “Saqi,” authority on Kashmir history, had said that Kashmir has strategic importance in the Indian subcontinent. It is mentioned in the Gazetteer of 1888 that whosoever keeps Kashmir with him would control the subcontinent. |
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09-Feb-2011 | ||||||||||
More by : R C Ganjoo | ||||||||||
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Comments on this Article
Jyoti Jamwal 03/25/2014 12:55 PM
Rawody Rathore 11/24/2012 10:09 AM
Ameer Tarin 04/21/2011 14:59 PM |
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