THREE BLUNDERS OF JL NEHRU---- KASHMIR---- PART TWO.
by rajee kushwaha inCoffeehouse
Posted on 05 Aug 2012
1. "-----Things came to a head at the end of October 1947 when raiders from the North West Frontier Province entered the state, killing, looting, and raping along. On October 26, they had reached the outskirts of Srinagar. Hari Singh agreed to sign the Instrument of Accession.On the same day a historic meeting was held in Delhi with Mountbatten, the governor general, as chairman. A young army colonel named Sam Manekshaw, who attended the meeting, recalled: 'As usual Nehru talked about the United Nations, Russia, Africa, God Almighty, everybody, until Sardar Patel lost his temper. He said, 'Jawaharlal, do you want Kashmir, or do you want to give it away?' He [Nehru] said, 'Of course, I want Kashmir.' Then he [Patel] said: 'Please give your orders.'-----------"
----------Claude arpi, a famous journalist and expert on Kashmir wrote on June 16, 2004 in his Rediff.com article.
2. "--------In September, he ( Maharaja Hari singh ) decided to offer Kashmir's accession to India. This was refused by Nehru, who first wanted Sheikh Abdullah to be freed and installed as prime minister of the state. This was not acceptable to the maharaja.-----------"
-------Claude arpi, a historian and journalist of repute wrote in his article 40 YEARS AFTER NEHRU-----On June 16, 2004.
Link: http://www.rediff.com/news/2004/jun/16spec3.htm
A blunder is a commity of judgmental errors committed against voices of sanity advising one against a course of action. It is therefore proper to assume that the person committing such errors was in full knowledge of adverse consequences of his actions. Kashmir blunder of JL Nehru has a pandora of multiple errors. Let me cite only four major mistakes to highlight the point. They are :- one, Indifference to Maharaja Hari Singh of Kashmir and affinity towards Shekhar Abdulla, thus driving away Hari Singh; two, over -enamoured by Earl Mountbatten ,s advice and thus delaying early military intervention by Indian Army; three, against military advice, stopping Indian Army and accepting Cease fire ,when so called " Tribal Raiders" from Pakistan were on the run and four, taking the Kashmir issue to UN on Mountbatten's "motivated advice" and that too under a wrong charter.
Therefore it is a lie by Nehruvian Historians that Kashmir issue was solely created by Pakistan. It might have been initiated by Pakistan but JL NEHRU acted to prolong and sustain it to serve the purpose of MOUNTBATTEN's hidden agenda, which was to create an 'arbitrator' s role for Britain in the subcontinent, once a JEWEL IN THE CROWN OF BRITISH EMPIRE. It is a fact of history that the major loser of SECOND WORLD WAR was neither Germany nor Japan but Great Britain, who was reduced to a third rate country at the end of Second world war. It was thus creating confusion over Kashmir to set a future role for herself to be counted as a world power.
The island nation, which ruled the whole world and where the had sun never set , as the saying went in those days, had its frontiers rolled into a small territory and became a surrogate of USA. Though, in 1947, it decided to give independence to India but it sought a future role for itself in the region by creating KASHMIR ISSUE by advising differently to three main stake holders in Kashmir, namely, Indian leadership of Nehru - Gandhi, MA JIinnah of Pakistan and Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir.
Thus, while Mountbatten constantly asked HARI SINGH to act according to the WILL OF HIS PEOPLE, indirectly suggesting to him to join Pakistan. He knew Hari Singh won't agree because of his fears of a Muslim state. He was thus strengthening Maharaja's prejudices. On the other hand,he advised MA Jinnah, in Lahore, on November 02,1947 to desist from military intervention in Kashmir directly because it would lead to Pakistan being declared an AGRESSOR NATION by the world body. ( It is Not understood as to how the head of state of India was advising the head of a state of the enemy, against Indian interests, when two nations were at war----Alan Campbell Mountbatten's ADC, records in his diary of the Mountbatten years that Mountbatten had told MA Jinnah that he would take the issue to UN, through Indian government , thus saving Pakistan from embarrassment of being termed as an aggressor)
On the other hand, he constantly goaded Nehru- Gandhi combine to take moralistic stand of NOT accepting Kashmir's accession till ratified by WILL OF THE PEOPLE. When Maharaja offered to accede to India in September 1947, it was rejected by Nehru because he wanted Sheikh Abdulla to be released from jail and made Prime Minister of J& K state. This included not only sidelining Maharaja Hari singh but also dilly dallying of military action by Indian army to allow "tribal raiders" to close in to Srinagar.
The biggest ruse was to ask Nehru to take the dispute under a wrong charter of UN i.e. TO RESOLVE THE DISPUTE and NOT TO THROW OUT THE AGGRESSOR. Nehru fell for the bait against the advice of his ministerial colleagues and it continues to haunt India, even today. Pakistan continues to harp about "PLEBISCITE", which Nehru's India had agreed to, if UN resolution of August 1948 was to be implemented, in which Pakistan was asked to pull out its forces from Kashmir first before the Plebiscite was to be carried out. Pakistan did not do so and India was saved the embarasment but it has become a trouble spot for the two nations. Kashmir, thus,is an outright product of acts of omission and commission of JL Nehru.
Let me give you certain basic features of the issue to understand it better. To understand the Kashmir blunder, one ought to understand the political landscape of South Asia in 1947. Indian subcontinent, then, had two political arrangements i.e.namely, one 'British India', directly governed by British Monarchy; two,'Princely India', some 562 princely states, which were tied to British empire through "Paramountcy Pacts", where British Monarch had indirect control over the princely states through the British regents . Kashmir was one such state.
When the Indian act of independence was passed by British Parliament in June 1947, it divided British India into two dominions, namely, India and Pakistan. The Princely states were given the option to join either of the dominion or stay independent. The important clause was if at the midnight hour of August 14/15, 1947 , any princely state who did not join either of the dominion, the "paramountcy pact" with British Monarch would collapse and the said state would be deemed to be independent and sovereign.
Most of the princely states opted to join India through untiring efforts of Sardar Ballabh Bhai Patel but for some like Jammu & Kashmir. Moralistic stand of Nehru -Gandhi combine had driven away Maharaja Hari Singh because Nehru-Gandhi favored SHEIKH ABDULLA, whom they considered as the WILL OF THE PEOPLE. Abdulla advocated a Sovereign Jammu & Kashmir minus the Maharaja. It has been highlighted in the quote above, how Maharaja Hari Singh's offer in September1947 was rejected by Nehru. This led to Maharaja Hari singh carving out an independent path. It should have been evident to Nehru that Abdulla and HARI SINGH, both had rejected joining Pakistan----- so an effort should have been made to convince Maharaja to opt for India---- since SHEIKH ABDULLA was close to him, he could have been easily won over. But no such effort was made and on August 15, 1947, J&K was deemed to be an independent state , according to Indian independence act passed by British Parliament. NEHRU-GANDHI combine had definitely erred.
On 24/25 October 1947, " Tribal raiders" from Pakistan led by General TARIQ ALI, who was none other than Major General AKRAM KHAN of Pakistan Army, invaded Kashmir. He was later accused of RAWALPINDI CONSPIRACY in Pakistan and disgraced. He wrote the book, " Tribal raiders in Kashmir". The resistance by state force collapsed like nine pins. Raiders came to Baramulla and created a Mayhem there.
Prior to this, Gilgit was annexed by Pakistan with the direct support of British officers of the Gilgit garrison of J&K state forces. Thus connivance of Mountbatten and General Gracey, COAS of Pakistan army, then, can not be ruled out. It was not possible without their coaxing and advice. This should have sent a warning signal to NEHRU -GANDHI but they did not react because of their moralistic stand. The fact is, they had accepted in their hearts to concede Kashmir to Pakistan because of MUSLIM MAJORITY. Their moralistic stand was more important to them than the Indian interests.
Reverting to Tribal raid in Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh pleaded for Indian military intervention, on October 25,1947, But Nehru,under advice from Mountbatten refused to immediately act because the state had not acceded to India. Instead VP MENON along with Lt Col MANEKSHAW were sent to assess the situation. They advocated immediate intervention, if India did not want Kashmir to fall to Pakistan. Mountbatten advised against this as Maharaja had not signed the accession. Thus MENON was again sent back to get Hari Singh's signatures on accession documents. He returned on October 26, 1947. This time Mountbatten gave military and historical reasons against intervention.
While cabinet was debating, whether to intervene or not, SARDAR PATEL asked Nehru, , "Do you want KASHMIR or NOT?" Nehru sheepishly said, "YES". Sardar Patel turned to Lt Col MANEKSHAW and asked him to get moving by saying, " you have your orders!". MANEKSHAW was present in that meeting as a representative of Military Operation branch of Army HQ because contingent of Indian Army was waiting for two days at DELHI AIRPORT. ( Full impressions of Sam Manekshaw of that meeting have been given in the quote above). Thus Sardar Patel made the decision to intervene. This has been described in detail in Manekshaw,s biography by General DEPENDER SINGH, his staff officer and later army commander Western command.
In the nick of time, Indian contingent reached Srinagar, when RAIDERS were just miles away from the Srinagar air port. Two vital days had been lost by India due to unwanted weightage given to MOUNTBATTEN's advice. Luckily TRIBAL RAIDERS had made a tactical error in halting at BARAMULLAH for two days. This gave the adequate time for India to go through the delaying tactics of Mountbatten and withstand Nehru's inability to see through it. Probably Nehru relied too much on MOUNTBATTEN's wisdom or it might be Edviwina's influence on Nehru.
In SLENDER WAS THE THREAD, Lt General LP Sen describes the situation in Kashmir of hopelessness when Indian army entered the scene. General Akram Khan of Pakistan had certainly failed in controlling this motley crowd of exservicemen , masquerading as tribal raiders, to push them to Srinagar. This failure had allowed Indian Army to save Kadhmir. Thereafter, it was chasing of the raiders out of Kashmir followed by direct intervention by Pakistan army. The raiders were pushed back across the Kishanganga river in Uri sector by Noveber 1947..
Militarily, it was opportune to chase them out of other J&K territories but for Nehru's intervention to halt the Indian army against the military advice. It is believed it was Sheikh Abdulla who gave this advice to Nehru because the valley of Kashmir ends there. Beyond this it was an extension of Western Punjab ,dominated by Punjabi Muslims, who did not accept ABDULLA's leadership. It was his personal interest and Nehru fell for the bait.
As the war raged, Mountbatten suggested to Nehru to take the issue to UNO. This was objected to by Sardar Patel, Acharya Kriplani, Rajagopalachari and other cabinet colleagues but Nehru did not listen. Sardar Patel resigned . He was prevailed upon by MK Gandhi to withdraw his resignation. Nehru wanted to create his image of a man of peace and he took the issue to UNO on December 23, 1947, under a WRONG charter because of the ill-advice of Mountbatten. He prefered SETTLING OF DISPUTE over EVICTION OF AGGRESSOR. The rest is history. Thus, dispute it became and it continues to be so. This was Himalyan blunder and an unpardonable act of Nehru.
On August 13, 1948, UN Security Council passed resolution for India and Pakistan to cease hostilities with following provions :-
(a) Pakistan to pull out of J&K territories, then,
(b) India to reduce her troops,
(c) India to carry out a plebiscite in Kashmir whether they want to join India or Pakistan.
Nehru's India accepted the resolution but Pakistan rejected the same. It is this acceptance of India which Kashmiri separatists and Pakistan keep harping about NEHRU's PROMISE to UNO for Plebiscite. India should not have accepted clause "c" because legally KASHMIR HAD ACCEDED TO INDIA, once Maharaja had signed the accession document. Unfortunately, this accession was made CONDITIONAL by NEHRU on MOUNTBATTEN's advice, wherein it was stated that at appropriate time, India would carry out a referendum to know WILL OF THE PEOPLE. What a joke? Why was this only for Kadhmir? Why not for Junagadh or Hyderabad or other Indian states? So what if they were Hindu majority states? Why was this special concession to Kashmir?
Not only this, Kashmir was allowed its own Prime minister and SADR-E-RIYASAT---- with many more other provisions such as article 370 which disallows other Indians to buy any property in J& K, while the citizens of this state can buy anything anywhere. Such provisions definitely militated against states real integration into India and they continue to do so even today. These provisions were the signboard for separatist movement.
What was the need for all these provisions? It was the greatest strategical folly of Nehru, which on inciting by Pakistan, fires Kashmiri separatists imagination even today. This is the reason that Pakistan inspired AZADI MOVEMENT started in Kashmir in 1989-90. It has been 20-22 years that Kashmir is burning and India is suffering. The seeds of this suffering lie in the biggest folly of Nehru to make KASHMIR ACCESSION CONDITIONAL.
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