120 Whither Kashmir? (Part II) - Islamabad Policy Research Institute

Whither Kashmir?
documents and letters to Lord Mountbatten were initiated through the
Joint efforts of V.P Menon and pro India Kashmiri Premier Mahajan, as
wished by Indian Government and Hari Singh was forced to sign it on
the evening of 27 October 1947 or thereafter. Where as, Indian forces
landed on Srinagar airport on the early hours of 27 October 1947. The
time calculation of Mr. V.P Menon’s (Indian Secretary of State) visit to
Srinagar, Delhi, Jammu and vice versa does not fit in with the concocted
story of the signing of the Instrument of Accession.
Even if there is an instrument of accession between Maharaja Hari
Singh and Indian government, it provides a number of safeguards to the
state’s sovereignty, e.g. Clause 7 of the instrument says, “Nothing in this
instrument shall be deemed to commit me in any way to acceptance of
any future constitution of India …”. Whereas, Clause 8 of the
Instruments says, “Nothing in this Instrument affects the continuance of
my sovereignty in and over this state…”.
Supposedly, [in] the instrument of accession [that] was signed by
the Maharaja and Indian government, [and] in his reply to Maharaja’s
letter by Lord Mountbatten it was clearly mentioned that after the
restoration of law and order in the State of Jammu and Kashmir and the
expulsion of the raiders, its future will be decided in accordance with the
wishes of the people of the State. The same stance was taken by UNO in
its over 23 resolutions, passed from time to time. Besides, over the years,
Indian leadership had been reiterating their commitments to Kashmiris,
Government of Pakistan and to the world community that after the
restoration of peace in the state, its future would be decided as per the
wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir through UN mandated
plebiscite. However, with the passage of time India refused to fulfill her
commitments/obligations, which means she had ill designs right from the
very beginning. Nevertheless, implementation of these resolutions and
the fulfillment of Indian commitments is still awaited.
Another significant fact is that, had there been any accession treaty
between the state of Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian government,
why it could not be published in the Indian White Paper of 1948? This
has left a great disbelief regarding the conclusion of any such agreement.
Yet another very serious reservation arises, had Kashmir been part of the
Indian Union, why it was given a special status under the provision of
internal autonomy through Article 370 of the Indian constitution? It is
momentous to mention that the Indian government did not accord a
similar status to any other state under this provision. Indeed, out of 560
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