Integrity Score 405
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Prime Minister of Kashmir continues...
Prior to my taking over as Prime Minister, Mr. Jinnah had on three occasions made attempts to come to Srinagar and stay there, ostensibly for reasons of health He had sent his military secretary, a Britisher, twice with a personal letter to the Maharaja with the request that as advised by his physicians he should be allowed to visit the valley He was willing to come as a private citizen and to make his own arrangements for his stay The Maharaja suspected that the object of his visit to Srinagar was to coerce him so as to secure Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan, to take possession of the State and to celebrate the Id there as the Governor General of Pakistan, including Kashmir. The Maharaja sent a polite refusal to all his requests emphasizing the fact, that he being the Governor General of Pakistan could only visit the State if due arrangements could be made for his stay there by the State Government according to his status as head of a neighbouring State, and if proper security arrangements were possible This, the Maharaja said, he was not able to do in the circumstances that had arisen. If the Maharaja had not turned down the request, Mr Jinnah would have somehow created a situation in Kashmir leading to its accession to Pakistan and its final annexation His private secretary had been busy in the State for the last three months creating a strong communal agitation to force the Maharaja to accede to Pakistan. But Mr. Jinnah had openly proclaimed that legally speaking the question of accession depended entirely on the choice of the ruler and the people of the State had no right to question his choice. The Maharaja was being constantly told that he was an independent sovereign, that he need consult nobody in the matter of the accession of the State, that he should not care a fig for the National Conference or Sheikh Abdulla, that Pakistan would not touch a hair of his head, nor require him to delegate any of his powers to the people of the State.
To be continued..