Tuesday 3 January 2012

The great Indian betrayal

Note:    Every Indian youth should be aware of this story. It’s an article with a political and emotional hue. It will clear to a extend why the likes of Arundhati Roy are opposing the Indian domination of the valley of Kashmir.


Plebiscite – a vote by inhabitants of a region, to decide a question of importance concerning them.




          Who am I ? I am Kashmir. Once called the paradise on earth today I am a hell on earth.  Don’t know when this never ending pain will get over. The Blood, murders, suppression, hatred ………uuhhh the list is long so maybe some other day. The question is “Why I am here?”  I am feeling like sharing a page from my personal history with you. It’s the story that explains why I have gone through unbearable agony through decades .The story of extreme betrayal and starting of unending journey of hatred between India and Pakistan.


           I was quite ecstatic on 15 August 1947 when I and about 500 of princely sibling states of mine were free and independent of the British rule, on our own. Our rulers were given a free choice of joining Pakistan, India or being independent countries. While most of the princely states moved on to become a part of union of India after the persuasion (better said  a threatening  persuasion) by then Minister for Home and States Affairs Vallabhbhai Patel who had the responsibility of welding the British Indian provinces and the princely states into a united India.


          The then reining ruler of mine King Hari Singh was in favour of letting me being an independent state.  Like me  Bhopal, Travancore and Hyderabad announced that they did not intend to join either dominion. Junagarh  decieded to be with Pakistan. It was quite a turbulent times. What was coming was rather imaginable but not expected by Pakistan or others. The unfair policies of India which were going to be displayed in their full glory.


          The story of betrayal started with an irony.  I was ruled by a Hindu ruler but my inhabited by majority were Muslims and I wanted to be an independent state. At the same time The Nawab of Junagadh, a princely state located on the south-western end of Gujarat was a Muslim but the majority of its inhabitants was Hindus and wanted to join Pakistan.


        A silent deal was getting created in the mind of Patel that if Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Then Pakistan’s president) let India have Junagadh and Hyderabad (which wanted to be an independent state and was supported by Pakistan), Patel would not object to me(Kashmir) acceding to Pakistan .A speech by Patel at the Bahauddin College in Junagadh following the latter's take-over, where he said that "we would agree to Kashmir if they agreed to Hyderabad and junagarh", suggests that he may have been amenable to this idea.

The Junagarh Story 
  
                                 Junagadh, having no common border with Pakistan, arguing that it could be reached from Pakistan by sea, signed a letter of accession to Pakistan. Pakistan supported it and was ready to accept it as its own state.  Eventually India refused to accept the accession. The government of India called for a plebiscite to decide the question of accession, Pakistan agreed and was taken into confidence that the same will be done for me, the state of Kashmir. But simultaneously, they cut off supplies of fuel and coal to Junagadh, severed air and postal links, sent troops to the frontier. On 7 November 1947, Junagadh's court, facing collapse, invited the Government of India to take over the State's administration. The Government of India agreed. A plebiscite was conducted in February 1948, which went almost unanimously in favor of accession to India, which India knew very well.
        

The Great Hyderabad Coup


                  Pakistan played by rules and supported the Hyderabad willingness to be an independent country. Hyderabad which was landlocked by India from all sides was strangled by Indian government and all roads leading to Hyderabad were blocked suffocating it to its natural death. Pakistan raised its voice against it but was silenced and convinced that if Pakistan let India have Hyderabad India will conduct a plebiscite in Kashmir. Baffled Hyderabad ran to attempted to approach the UN Security Council and the International Court of Justice. Again they suggested a plebiscite. The Indian leaders got bewildered and seeking the international pressures falling upon it rules and policies were changed overnight and an army mission Operation Polo was launched, the troops met little resistance and within 2 days took complete control of the state. Despite vehement protests from Pakistan and strong criticism from other countries, Hyderabad was absorbed into India.
              

    Finally My (Kashmir) Abduction


                 This created a stir in Pakistani political class and they were failed to understand the extremes of Indian cunning political policies that the Indian leaders were creating to get most of the disputed land by hook or crook. But then also the leaders of the newly formed Pakistan were playing by rules and were expecting for a plebiscite in the valley of Kashmir as decided while doing the same for junagarh but it never happened and with a shameless nod the Indian states refused for the same. The shocked public of Pakistan revolted. At that time a Pathan tribesmen from the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistan crossed the border and entered into my lands. The invaders made rapid progress towards my capital Srinagar. The Hindu Maharaja of mine wrote to India, asking for military assistance. India made him sign forcefully, Instrument of Accession. The Maharaja complied, but Nehru declared that it would have to be confirmed by a Plebiscite, which was said to silence the international bodies that were voicing against the forceful domination of mine by India . The plebiscite was never held, and on 26 January 1950, the Constitution of India came into force in Kashmir.

PS:          How many Indians know this story? , This is not a story but historical facts  wide open out there on the net, Wikipedia, books, records………. , Till today no plebiscite has been done. Pakistan knows it and feel betrayed, my inhabitants know it and feel insecure and suppressed but the Indian population isn’t aware. What they are aware are of the dialogs “doodh mango toh kheer denge , Kashmir manga to cheer denge” from some sunny deol flick. They hate Pakistan for no fault of theirs, the propaganda is so huge, and the hatred machine in India is running at its glory through Political speeches, anti Pakistani movies, Rival cricket matches and what not. The likes of Arundhati Roy know the truth but are suppressed to their core. It’s difficult to digest for Indian population but if today plebiscite happens I will be a part of Pakistan. And that I believe  explains why there are more army personnel than my own inhabitants on my land.

13 comments:

  1. OMG. U r post are just heart wretching. The last post Autobiography of a Chicken and this 1 are just award winning. U rock. Keep writing..

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  2. Hmn...i never knew about this, it definitely makes me wonder about India's stand back in the time...but some how I think that this fight will never end as neither India nor Pakistan will ever give up their claim on Kashmir.. sad but a fact :(

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  3. U have put all the facts so well...Its a shame that the people of Kashmir have been cheated for so long...I wonder what is it that the Indian govt wants!

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  4. hmmm well written - this is such a wonderful post, really interesting - informative and heart touching bitter facts. keep writing

    thanks for stopping by and comment :)

    love x

    following me - i would be glad if you follow me back :)

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  5. I am a Pakistani and I remember back in high school, my history teacher did tell us about all of this to the whole class. Plus I have also heard about this from my parents. This post was indeed very amazing.

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  6. Controversy...and More Controversy.

    If only decisions were taken with the view and good will of the people, it would have been sorted so long back. But, politics, pride, ego, money, they have all combined to create this horror and monster which doesn't die at all...

    Pathetic..

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  7. India,Kashmir,We-the common man are the victim of dirty politics of its own leaders.Hope it ends soon.Waiting for the return of 'Paradise of Earth'

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  8. Just a little point buddy, India, Pakistan and Kashmir, all agreed to have the independent status of each.
    Now all that I am going to state is in reference to a few articles and also a book 'Kashmir - The Paradise on earth, on the verge of Nuclear Holocaust'
    India as one, Pak as another and Kashmir as the third one. Kashmir was allowed to have a Prime Minister too.
    Kashmir was attacked by Pakistan in connivance with Afghan raiders, Mujahids, not much after the countries separated. They might have had it as well, had they not taken the raider's aid who started plundering Muzaffarabad and failed to cross the sole bridge ahead of it.
    Agreed, dirty politics has always been there, had it not been there, by God's grace, India, Pakistan and Bangladesh would never have separated in the first place. But everyone shares the blame, not one, not two.

    Pandit Nehru was a Kashmiri Pandit, and no matter if Kashmir was not a part of the then India, he loved it still, as we all love our motherlands and flew forces for aid on the first call despite of all political objections and merged Kashmir as the part of the deal.
    Even after that, and even today if you look at Indian constitution, I think it is in Section 370, J&K still is a special state. Till many years, India was helping Kashmir in defending its political territories and Kashmir still retained the status that it had been granted at the time of independence.

    Kashmir is in a troubled state of affairs. And the sad part, Kashmir internally is of divided opinion, courtesy the politics and other factors.

    And above all, not everything on this world wide web is trustworthy, it wasn't written when those things happened. You would find more biased interpretations than just clearly stated facts. Chose wisely, use your inherent discretion.

    Regards,
    Blasphemous Aesthete

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  9. nice one... thanks 4 sharing such an important article 2 us...

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  10. Nice post... I always like the way u write.. Thanks for sharing such an interesting article..very informative... Guess people who only read page 3 ( I know guilty) is really heart wretching .. Awesome.. Kudos man!

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  11. Enjoyed reading the post. Very well written.

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  12. Wooo. I'm planning to go to Kashmir this year, so this post was quite handy. The thing with history is that- if you weren't around when it was created, you never really know. And all the facts and interpretations, in the end- are just perspectives.

    :)

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  13. WOW! That is interesting <3 Great Read!

    love
    http://www.meghasarin.blogspot.com

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