Integrity Score 405
No Records Found
No Records Found
Kashmir's accession to India continues…..
The Maharaja having acceded just in time and the Indian Army being already in Kashmir, this would have meant pitting Pakistan forces against those of India. Both the dominions owing allegiance to the King and the armies of both being under a Joint Defence Council, such a move, the Pak Commander-in-Chief told Mr. Jinnah was unthinkable. The King as the ruler of Pakistan could not send his (Pak) armies against his own armies in India. The British Commander-in-Chief therefore, refused to issue the order and offered to resign. Mr. Jinnah had to cancel his orders.
While leaving for Jammu on the morning of the 27th, I requested the Prime Minister of India to give me in his own handwriting the conditions on which the Maharaja had been given military help at such a critical juncture. Panditji wrote out briefly those terms. The first one was that His Highness should accede to India with regard to three subjects: defence, external affairs and transport. This he had already done.
The second was that the internal administration of the State should be democratized and a new constitution be framed on the lines of the model already set out for the State of Mysore. The third condition was that Sheikh Abdulla should be taken in the administration and made responsible for it along with the Prime Minister. I asked the Prime Minister whether he wanted me to quit the State because I could well see that I would be a misfit in a democratic set-up. As a necessary corollary to democratization, a popular Prime Minister had to take my place. Panditji said, “No, you will have to stay as Prime Minister”. I showed these terms to the Maharaja who accepted them. Prime Minister Nehru confirmed these terms in a typed letter the next day.
Concluded...
Next up :- An experiment in Dyarchy and it's failure