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

82 IPRI Factfile
• June 3, 1947: British accept Pakistan plan: The British government
announces its intention to accept the demand by Muslims for an
independent Pakistani state. The new nation would comprise areas
where Muslims are in the majority. All political parties, including
the Muslim League (representing Muslims) and the Congress Party
(representing all including nationalist Muslims), accept the plan.
Independence: 1947
• August 14/15, 1947: Independence of the British India into India
and Pakistan.
• August 1947: Kashmiri resistance encounters Maharajah’s troops:
The first armed encounter between the Maharajah’s troops and
insurgent forces occurred in August 1947. At this time, Britain was
liquidating its empire in the subcontinent.
• October 25, 1947: Maharajah flees to Jammu: Faced with a popular
revolt against his rule, the Maharajah flees to Jammu on October
25, 1947. Once in Jammu, the Maharajah receives a commitment of
military assistance from the Indian government in exchange for his
signing the "Instrument of Accession" document.
• Lord Mountbatten conditionally accepts the document on behalf of
the British Crown and proceeds to outline the conditions for
official acceptance in a letter dated October 27, 1947.
"In consistence with their policy that in the case of any (native)
state where the issue of accession has been 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 invaders the question of state's accession should be
settled by a reference to the people."
• October 1947: Pashtuns from Pakistan's Afghania storm Kashmir,
Maharaja of Kashmir asks India for help. This was considered by
India as a deliberate ploy by Pakistan to increase their support in
Kashmir.
• November 1, 1947: Kashmir's accession to India is not "bona fide":
Jinnah: Governor General of Pakistan, Mohammad Ali Jinnah
meets Governor General of India, Mountbatten. Jinnah tells
Mountbatten that Kashmir's accession to India "was not a bona fide
one since it rested on fraud and violence."