THE HISTORY BEHIND BRUTAL INDIAN OCCUPATION IN KASHMIR -I

Part-I

Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s Telegram to British and Pakistan Prime Ministers, October 27, 1947.

"I should like to make it clear that the question of aiding Kashmir in this emergency is not designed in any way to influence the State to accede to India. Our view which we have repeatedly made public is that the question of accession in any disputed territory or State must be decided in accordance with the wishes of people, and we adhere to this view".

Lord Mountbatten, Governor General of India, replies to Maharaja's (alleged) request for accession to India, October 27, 1947.

"In consistence with their policy that in the case of any State where the issue of accession has been the subject of dispute the question of accession should be decided in accordance with the wishes of the people of the State, it is my Government’s wish that as soon as law and order have been restored in Kashmir and her soil cleared of the invader, the question of State’s accession should be settled by a reference to the people".
Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s telegram to Prime Minister of Pakistan,
October 28,1947.

"In regard to accession also, it has been made clear that this is subject to reference to people of State and their decision".


Nehru, Indian Prime Minister's broadcast to nation from All India Radio, November 2, 1947.


"We have declared that the fate of Kashmir is ultimately to be decided by the people. That pledge we have given (and the Maharajah has supported it) not only to the people of Kashmir but to the world. We will not and cannot back out of it. We are prepared when peace and law and order have been established to have referendum held under international auspices like the UN We want it to be a fair and just reference to the people, and we shall accept their verdict. I can imagine no fairer and juster offer".


" We are anxious not to finalise anything in a moment of crisis and without the fullest opportunity to be given to the people of Kashmir to have their way. It is for them ultimately to decide"." And let me make it clear that it has been our policy all along that where there is a dispute about the accession of a State to either Dominion, the accession must be made by the people of the State. It is in accordance with this policy that we have added to proviso to the instrument of accession of Kashmir".




Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s telegram to Pakistan Prime Minister,

November 4, 1947.



"I wish to draw your attention to broadcast on Kashmir which I made last evening. I have stated our Government’s policy and made it clear that we have no desire to impose our will on Kashmir but to leave final decision to the people of Kashmir.



I further stated that we have agreed on impartial International agency like UN supervising any referendum".



"This principle we are prepared to apply to any state where there is a dispute about accession. If these principles are accepted by your Government there should be no difficulty in giving effect to them".



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s telegram to Prime Minister of Pakistan,

November 8, 1947.



".... where the State has not acceded to that Dominion whose majority community is the same as State’s, the question whether State has finally acceded to one or other Dominion should be ascertained by reference to the will of people".



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s letter to Prime Minister of Pakistan,

November 21, 1947.



"Kashmir should decide question of accession by plebiscite or referendum under international auspices such as those of United Nations".



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s statement in Indian Constituent Assembly, November 25, 1947.



"In order to establish our bonafides, we have suggested that when the people are given the chance to decide their future, this should be done under the supervision of an impartial tribunal such as the United Nations Organisation. The issue in Kashmir is whether violence and naked force should decide the future or the will of the people".



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s telegram to Pakistan Prime Minister,

December 12, 1947.



"We have given further thought, in the light of our discussion in Lahore, to the question of inviting UN to advise us in this matter. While we are prepared to invite UNO observers to come here and advise us as to proposed plebiscite, it is not clear in what other capacity the UN help can be sought...



"... I confess, however, that I find myself unable to suggest anything beyond what I have offered already, namely, to ask UNO to send impartial observers to advise us regarding the plebiscite."



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s statement in Constituent Assembly of India, March 5, 1948.



"Even at the moment of accession, we went out of our way to make a unilateral declaration that we would abide by the will of the people of Kashmir as declared in a plebiscite or referendum. We insisted further that the Government of Kashmir must immediately become a popular government. We have adhered to that position throughout and we are prepared to have a plebiscite, with every protection for fair voting, and to abide by the decision of the people of Kashmir".



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s statement in Constituent Assembly of India,

March 5, 1948.



"... Ultimately there is no doubt in my mind that, in Kashmir as elsewhere, the people of Kashmir will decide finally, and all that we wish is that they should have freedom of decision without any external compulsion".



White Paper on Kashmir issued by Government of India, 1948.



"The question of accession is to be decided finally in a free plebiscite, on this there is no dispute. There will be no victimisation of any native of the State, whatever his political view may be, and no Kashmiri will be deprived of the right to vote".



Gopalaswami Ayyangar's address in Constituent Assembly May 27, 1949.



"No doubt we have offered to have a plebiscite taken when the conditions are created for the holding of a proper, fair and impartial plebiscite. But if the plebiscite produces a verdict which is against the continuance of accession to India of the Kashmir State, then what we are committed to is simply that we shall not stand in the way of Kashmir separating itself from India".



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s statement at press conference in London, January 16, 1951 (reported in The Statesman, New Delhi January 18, 1951)



"... We all agreed that it is the people of Kashmir who must decide for themselves about their future externally or internally. It is an obvious fact that, even without our agreement, no country is going to hold on to Kashmir against the will of the Kashmiris".



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister's statement in Indian Parliament, February 12, 1951.



"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".



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s address at public meeting in Srinagar, June 4, 1951 (reported in The Hindu, Madras, June 5, 1951).



"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. On that assurance, I shook Sheikh Abdullah’s hand before the vast multitude that had gathered there. 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. That assurance also remains and will continue".



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s report to All- India Congress Committee (reported in The Statesman, New Delhi, July 9, 1951)



"Kashmir has been wrongly looked upon as a prize for India or Pakistan. People seem to forget that Kashmir is not a commodity for sale or to be bartered. It has an individual existence and its people must be the final arbiters of their future. It is here today that a struggle is being fought, not in the battlefield but in the minds of men".



Krishna Menon's Press statement in London

(The Statesman, New Delhi, August 2, 1951)



"It is not the intention of the Government of India to go back on any commitment it has made. We adhere strictly to our pledge of plebiscite in Kashmir - a pledge made to the people of Kashmir because they believe in democratic Government... We do not regard Kashmir as a commodity to be trafficked in".



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s statement, as reported by Amrita Bazar Patrika, Calcutta, January 2, 1952.



"Kashmir is not the property of either India or Pakistan, it belongs to the Kashmiri people. When Kashmir acceded to India, we made it clear to the leaders of the Kashmir people that we would ultimately abide by the verdict of their plebiscite. If they tell us to walk out, I would have no hesitation in quitting Kashmir..."



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."



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s statement in Indian Parliament, June 26, 1952.



"If, after a proper plebiscite, the people of Kashmir said, ‘we do not want to be with India’, we are committed to accept it though it might pain us. We will not send an army against them. We will accept that, however hurt we might feel about it, we will change the Constitution, if necessary.



"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 (in dealing a with Kashmir) you are dealing with a part of UP or Bihar or Gujrat ?"



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s speech at public meeting in New Delhi, as reported in The Times of India, Bombay, July 7 1952.



"In any event, from the start India was committed to the principle of letting the final word regarding accession rest with the people of the princely states and there could be no getting away from that commitment. In fact, that was why India had accepted Kashmir’s accession only provisionally in 1947, pending the expression of the will of the people".



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s statement in Indian Parliament, August 7, 1952.



"... With all deference to this Parliament, I would like to say that the ultimate decision will be made in the minds and hearts of the men of Kashmir and not in this Parliament or at the UN.... First of all, let me say clearly that we accept the basic proposition that the future of Kashmir is going to be decided finally by the goodwill and pleasure of our people. The good will and pleasure of this Parliament is of no importance in this matter, not because this Parliament does not have the strength to decide the question of Kashmir but because any kind of imposition would be against the principle that this Parliament holds.... If, however, the people of Kashmir do not wish to remain with us, let them go by all means; we will not keep them against their will, however painful it may be to us. We want no forced marriages, no forced unions...



"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 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 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 the 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."



Joint Communiqué by Prime Ministers of Pakistan and India, August 20, 1953.



"The Kashmir dispute was specially discussed at some length. It was their firm opinion that this should be settled in accordance with the wishes of the people of that State with a view to promoting their well-being and causing the least disturbances to the life of the State. The most feasible method of ascertaining the wishes of the people was by fair and impartial plebiscite. Such a plebiscite had been proposed and agreed to some years ago. Progress, however, could not be made because of lack of agreement in regard to certain preliminary issues. The Prime Ministers agreed that these preliminary issues should be considered by them directly in order to arrive at agreements in regard to this. These agreements would have to be given effect to and the next step would be appointment of a Plebiscite Administrator".



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister's letter to Prime Minister of Pakistan,

September 3, 1953.



"... We suggested the salutary rule that the Plebiscite Administrator should be chosen from some small and more or less neutral country of Asia or Europe. There are many such countries and there should be no difficulty in finding an eminent and impartial person from among them.



"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 the least disturbance and should take into consideration geographical, economic and other important factors.



"I should like to make it clear that there is no intention on my part to exclude the UN from this question of Kashmir. The Plebiscite Administrator would function under UN supervision but it seems to me quite obvious that while the UN can be helpful, any settlement must depend upon the consent and co-operation of India and Pakistan. Therefore, it is for us to agree and not to look to the UN to produce some settlement, without our agreement.



"... If we aim, as we must, at closer and co-operative relationship between India and Pakistan, we must find a solution of the Kashmir problem which is not only satisfactory to the people as a whole there but is also achieved without bitterness and sense of continuing wrong to India or Pakistan.



"... Obviously, the Kashmir problem is of high importance; in some way the most important problem before us, and we must tackle it".



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s letter to Pakistan’s Prime Minister,

November 10, 1953.



"You refer to the question of regional plebiscite. I can only repeat what I endeavoured to put before you when we met. Our object is to give freedom to the people of Kashmir to decide their future in a peaceful way so as to create no upset, as we said in our joint statement...



"Therefore, I had suggested that the plebiscite should be for the State as a whole and the detailed result of the plebiscite would then be the major factor for the decision to be taken. The detailed result will give us a fairly clear indication of the wishes of the people not only in the state as whole but in different areas."



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s statement in Indian Parliament, February 22, 1954.



"[The Constituent Assembly of Kashmir] did not come - it cannot come - in the way of our observing our international commitments in regard to a plebiscite, in regard to anything".



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s speech, as reported in The Times of India, May 16, 1954.



"India will stand by her international commitments on the Kashmir issue and implement them at the appropriate time.



" The repudiation of international commitments would lower India’s prestige abroad".



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s statement in India Council of States, May 18, 1954.



"Every assurance we have given, every international commitment we have made in regard to Kashmir holds good and stands. Difficulties have come in the way and may come in its fulfilment, but the difficulties are not of our seeking but of others. But so far as the Government of India are concerned, every assurance and international commitment in regard to Kashmir stands".



Nehru, Indian Prime Minister’s statement in Indian Parliament, March 31, 1955.


"... Kashmir is not a thing to be bandied about between India and Pakistan but it has a soul of its own and an individuality of its own. Nothing can be done without the goodwill and consent of the people of Kashmir".