New Delhi: Having scrapped Article 370 that granted Jammu and Kashmir special status, the Modi government is now looking to change the narrative on the newly-formed union territory through two new elements — establishing credentials of Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir when it acceded to India, as a nationalist, and two, highlighting the legal and moral sanctity of the ‘Instrument of Accession(IOA)’ that formally united J&K with India.
The first significant step in this direction has been initiated with the new administration declaring 26 October, the day the Instrument of Accession was signed in 1947, as a public holiday in the union territory. This is the first time since Independence that the ‘Accession Day’ has been declared a public holiday in Jammu and Kashmir.
According to government sources, the step has been taken to counter the narrative built over the last seven decades that Maharaja Hari Singh was not a nationalist and he deliberately delayed signing the Instrument of Accession until the last moment.
In a nutshell, the cornerstone of the Modi government’s forthcoming narrative on the Jammu and Kashmir issue will revolve around the fact that the then princely states had no third option; the IOA was uniform for all states; the J&K succession was delayed by then PM Jawaharlal Nehru and that the Maharaja signed an unconditional succession.
Sources in the government also said it will play up historical records, particularly those by Mehr Chand Mahajan, the then Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir who played a key role in the accession.
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Historical records
In his book, Accession of Kashmir to India, Mahajan had claimed that the Maharaja was never willing to join Pakistan.
“Mr. Jinnah’s British Military Secretary came thrice to Srinagar to meet Maharaja with personal letters from the Quaid-i-Azam. The Maharaja was told that Mr. Jinnah was in ill health and had been advised by his doctors to spend the summer in Kashmir and that he was prepared to make his own arrangements for his stay there,” Mahajan has written.
“The real motive behind this move was to persuade or coerce the Maharaja to accede to Pakistan with the help of pro-Pakistani elements in the State. If all else failed, the Maharaja was to be dethroned and driven away from the State…… He (Maharaja) courteously declined to invite Mr. Jinnah to spend the summer in Srinagar.”
In his book Mission With Mountbatten, Alan Campbell-Johnson, the then press attache to Lord Mountbatten, wrote that the Maharaja also thwarted efforts of Lord Mountbatten to convince him to join Pakistan.
“On June 19, 1947, Mountbatten visited Jammu-Kashmir and stayed there for four days. He tried to persuade the Maharaja to accede to Pakistan. They had some meetings that took place during their various car drives together,” Campbell-Johnson had written.
“Mountbatten on these occasions urged if Jammu-Kashmir went to Pakistan this would not be regarded as an unfriendly act by the Government of India. However, Maharaja suggested for a personal meeting which was fixed on the last day of the visit… but when the time came, the Maharaja sent a message that he was in bed with colic and would be unable to attend the meeting.”
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No third option
At the time of India’s Independence, the British had two types of administrative arrangements — British India and the Princely States.
British India was divided on a communal basis whereas the rulers of Princely States were given the freedom to make a choice about which of the dominions (India or Pakistan) they wanted to accede to.
On 25 July 1947, the then Viceroy Lord Mountbatten addressed a special meeting of the Chamber of Princes and reiterated the need to use the Instrument of Accession to accede to either of the two dominions. Maharaja Hari Singh joined India through this instrument, like the other Princely States. There was no third option — that is to remain independent.
There was no pre-condition for accession barring the decision of the rulers, though the importance of geographical contiguity was emphasised by Mountbatten to the rulers. It was to be decided on the basis of sole discretion of the ruler whether he or she wanted to go with India or Pakistan.
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Uniform Instrument of Accession
The Instrument of Accession was uniform for all states. It was the common instrument that was used by the rulers of more than 550 princely states for this purpose.
Maharaja Hari Singh signed an unconditional Instrument of Accession on 26 October 1947. The draft of this was the same as the ones signed by the other acceding Princely States of the erstwhile British Indian Empire. The accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir was full and final as well as unquestionable as it was accepted by Lord Mountbatten as Governor-General of India, in the same way as in the case of other Indian States. So both morally and legally, Jammu-Kashmir became an integral part of India on 26 October 1947.
Delay in J&K accession
While Maharaja Hari Singh was in favour of accession, Nehru’s insistence on installing Sheikh Abdullah as Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir created an unnecessary delay.
The Maharaja had conveyed his intention to accede to India several times through his representatives, but Pandit Nehru remained adamant on Sheikh’s coronation.
In October 1947, Pakistan broke a standstill agreement (signed by Jammu and Kashmir with both India and Pakistan on 12 August, 1947) and its Army and tribal militia invaded the state and started killing innocent civilians.
The continuous appeals of Maharaja Hari Singh to Pakistan and Britain went in vain, as the state did not get any respite from the bloodbath due to invasion. Hence, Maharaja Hari Singh was left with no other option but to accept the conditions put forth by Pandit Nehru. He released Sheikh from jail and made him the emergency administrator.
Thereafter, Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession in favour of India.
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(The writer is CEO of Indraprastha Vishwa Samvad Kendra and author of two books on the RSS. The views expressed are personal).