COMMITMENTS OF INDIAN LEADERS ON KASHMIR
FOREWORD



Area or population, no doubt, make a country big. But these factors don’t make a nation great. It is character that makes a nation great. Great nations demonstrate the moral courage to keep their word. India has to ponder whether it has fulfilled the commitments made by its leaders, like late Mahatama Gandhi, Jawahar Lal Nehru and others, to hold plebiscite in the State of Jammu & Kashmir. The whole world knows, they haven’t.

Now when India is aspiring for a permanent slot in the UN Security Council, India should think seriously whether it really qualifies for that, because it has not only reneged on the promises it made on Jammu & Kashmir but has also defied with impunity the resolutions of the UN Security Council on Kashmir, the same body in which India desires a permanent seat. If India is interested to play its role at the international level, it should, in the first instance, amicably resolve all pending issues with its neighbours, including the issue of Jammu & Kashmir, so that India may emerge as a peace loving nation.

HAMID NASIR CHATTHA
CHAIRMAN
SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE PARLIAMENT ON KASHMIR


SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE PARLIAMENT ON KASHMIR

CHAPTER-I

    MAHATAMA GANDHI
  1. “If the people of Kashmir are in favour of opting for Pakistan, no power on earth can stop them from doing so. They should be left free to decide for themselves”.

    (Speech at Prayer Meeting, 26th October, 1947. Complete Works of Mahatama Gandhi)


    2. LORD MOUNTBATTEN, GOVERNOR GENERAL OF INDIA
  2. “The question of the state’s accession should be settled by a reference to the people”.

    (Letter to Maharaja of Jammu & Kashmir, 27th October, 1947)




    3. JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, PRIME MINISTER OF INDIA
  3. “Our view which we have repeatedly made public is that the question of accession in any disputed territory or State must be decided in accordance with wishes of people and we adhere to this view”.

    (Telegram to British and Pakistani Prime Ministers, 27th October, 1947)

  4. “In regard to accession also, it has been made clear that this is subject to reference to people of State and their decision”.

    (Telegram to Prime Minister of Pakistan, 28th October, 1947)

  5. “Our assurance that we shall withdraw our troops from Kashmir as soon as peace and order is restored and leave the decision regarding the future of this State to the people of the State is not merely a promise to your Government but also to the people of Kashmir and to the world”.

    (Telegram to Prime Minister of Pakistan, 31st October, 1947)

  6. “We are anxious not to finalize anything in a moment of crisis and without the fullest opportunity to be given to the people of Kashmir to have their say. It is for them ultimately to decide.

    “And let me make it clear that it has been our policy all along that where there is a dispute about the accession of a State to either Dominion, the accession must be made by the people of the State”.

    (Broadcast to the Nation: All India Radio, 2nd November, 1947)

  7. “We have declared that the fate of Kashmir is ultimately to be decided by the people. The pledge we have given not only to the people of Kashmir but to the world. We will not and can not back out of it”.

    (Statement in New Delhi: All India Radio, 3rd November, 1947)

  8. “…….Where the State has not acceded to that Dominion whose majority community is the same as State’s, the question whether State has finally acceded to one or other Dominion should be ascertained by reference to the will of people”.

    (Telegram to Prime Minister of Pakistan, 8th November, 1947)

  9. “Kashmir should decide question of accession by plebiscite or referendum under international auspices such as those of the United Nations”.

    (Letter to Prime Minister of Pakistan, 21st November, 1947)

  10. “In order to establish our bonafides, we have suggested that when the people are given the chance to decide their future, this should be done under the supervision of an impartial tribunal such as the United Nations Organisation. The issue in Kashmir is whether violence and naked force should decide the future or the will of the people”.

    (Statement in Indian Constituent Assembly, 25th November, 1947)

  11. “…. I confess, however, that I find myself unable to suggest anything beyond what I have offered already, namely, to ask UNO to send impartial observers to advise us regarding the plebiscite”.

    (Telegram to Prime Minister of Pakistan, 12th December, 1947)

  12. “Even at the moment of accession, we went out of our way to make a unilateral declaration that we would abide by the will of the people of Kashmir as declared in a plebiscite or referendum. We insisted further that the Government of Kashmir must immediately become a popular government. We have adhered to that position throughout and we are prepared to have a plebiscite, with every protection for fair voting, and to abide by the decision of the people of Kashmir”.

    “……Ultimately there is no doubt in my mind that, in Kashmir as elsewhere, the people of Kashmir will decide finally, and all that we wish is that they should have freedom of decision without any external compulsion”.

    (Statement in Constituent Assembly of India, 5th March, 1948)

  13. “It has always been our view that, in the event of a plebiscite, the people of Kashmir should decide their future for themselves”.

    (Telegram to UN Representative for India and Pakistan, 16th August, 1950)

  14. “…..We all agreed that it is the people of Kashmir who must decide for themselves about their future externally or internally. It is an obvious fact that, even without our agreement, no country is going to hold on to Kashmir against the will of the Kashmiris”.

    (Press Conference in London, 16th January, 1951, reported in The Statesman, New Delhi on 18th January, 1951)

  15. “We had given our pledge to the people of Kashmir and subsequently to the United Nations; we stood by it and we stand by it today. Let the people of Kashmir decide”.

    (Statement in Indian Parliament, 12th February, 1951)

  16. “First of all, I would like to remind you of the fateful days of 1947 when I came to Srinagar and gave the solemn assurance that the people of India would stand by Kashmir in her struggle. On that assurance, I shook Sheikh Abdullah’s hand before the vast multitude that had gathered there. I want to repeat that the Government of India will stand by that pledge, whatever happens. That pledge itself stated that it is for the people of Kashmir to decide their fate without external interference. That assurance also remains and will continue”.

    (Address at public meeting in Srinagar, 4th June, 1951)

  17. “People seem to forget that Kashmir is not a commodity for sale or to be bartered. It has an individual existence and its people must be the final arbiters of their future”.

    (Report to All-India Congress Committee, reported in The Statesman, New Delhi, 9th July, 1951)

  18. “We have taken the issue to the United Nations and given our word of for a peaceful solution …….. As a great nation, we can not go back on it. We have left the question for final solution to the people of Kashmir and we are determined to abide by their decision”.

    (Statement reported in Amrita Bazar Patrika, Calcutta, 2nd January, 1952)

  19. “India is a great country and Kashmir is almost in the heart of Asia. There is an enormous difference not only geographically but in all kinds of facts there. Do you think (in dealing with Kashmir) you are dealing with a part of U.P or Bihar or Gujrat?”

    (Statement in Indian Parliament, 26th June, 1952)

  20. “I want to stress that it is only the people of Kashmir who can decide the future of Kashmir. It is not that we have merely said that to the United Nations and to the people of Kashmir; it is our conviction and one that is borne out by the policy that we have pursued, not only in Kashmir but everywhere. Though these five years have meant a lot of trouble and expense and in spite of all we have done we would willingly leave Kashmir if it was made clear to us that the people of Kashmir wanted us to go. However sad we may feel about leaving. We are not going to stay against the wishes of the people. We are not going to stay against the wishes of the people. We are not going to impose ourselves on them at the point of the bayonet.

    “I started with the presumption that it is for the people of Kashmir to decide their own future. We will not compel them. In that sense, the people of Kashmir are sovereign”.

    (Statement in Indian Parliament, 7th August, 1952)

  21. “The most feasible method of ascertaining the wishes of the people was by fair and impartial plebiscite”.

    (Joint communiqué of the Prime Ministers of India and Pakistan issued in Delhi after their meeting on 20th August, 1953)

  22. “As a result of the plebiscite over the entire state, we would be in a position to consider the matter, so that the final decision should cause the least disturbance and should take into consideration geographical, economic and other important factors.

    “I should like to make it clear that there is no intention on my part to exclude the UN from this question of Kashmir.

    (Letter to Prime Minister of Pakistan, 3rd September, 1953)

  23. “Our object is to give freedom to the people of Kashmir to decide their future in a peaceful way so as to create no upset, as we said in our joint statement”.

    (Letter to Prime Minister of Pakistan, 10th November, 1953)

  24. “India will stand by her international commitments on the Kashmir issue and implement them at the appropriate time.

    “The repudiation of international commitments would lower India’s prestige abroad”.

    (Statement reported in The Time of India, 16th May, 1954)

  25. “But so far as the Government of India are concerned, every assurance and international commitment in regard to Kashmir stands”.

    (Statement in Indian Council of States, 18th May, 1954)

  26. “Kashmir is not a thing to be bandied about between India and Pakistan but it has a soul of its own and an individuality of its own. Nothing can be done without the goodwill and consent of the people of Kashmir”.

    (Statement in Indian Parliament, 31st March, 1955)

CHAPTER – II

  1. “The people of Kashmir would be free to decide their future by the recognized democratic method of plebiscite or referendum, which in order to ensure complete impartiality may be held under international auspices.”

    (Letter from Government of India to UN, 31st December, 1947)

  2. “In accepting the accession they [the Government of India] refused to take advantage of the immediate peril in which the State found itself and informed the Ruler that the accession should finally be settled by plebiscite as soon as peace had been restored. They have subsequently made it quite clear that they are agreeable to the plebiscite being conducted if necessary under international auspices.

    “On the question of accession, the Government of India has always enunciated the policy that in all cases of dispute the people of the State concerned should make the decision.

    “We have no further interest, and we have agreed that a plebiscite in Kashmir might take place under international auspices after peace and order have been established.

    “We desire only to see peace restored in Kashmir and ensure that the people of Kashmir are left free to decide in an orderly and peaceful manner the future of their state. We have no further interest, and we have agreed that a plebiscite in Kashmir might take place under international auspices after peace and order have been established.”

    Gopalaswami Ayyangar, (Statement at the Security Council, 15th January, 1948)

  3. “The question of accession is to be decided finally in a free plebiscite, on this there is no dispute”.

    (White Paper on Kashmir issued by Government of India, 1948)

  4. My government has always taken the view that resolutions, if they are passed, must be implemented.”

    Krishna Menon, (Statement at UN General Assembly, 5th April, 1951)

  5. We adhere strictly to our pledge of plebiscite in Kashmir – a pledge made to the people because they believe in democratic government …… We don’t regard Kashmir as a commodity to be trafficked in”.

    Krishna Menon
    (Press statement in London, reported in the Statesman,
    New Delhi, 2nd August, 1951)

  6. “The Government of India not only reaffirms its acceptance of the principle that the question of the continuing accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to India shall be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite under the auspices of the United Nations, but is anxious that the conditions necessary for such a plebiscite should be created as quickly as possible”.

    (Letter from Govt. of India to UN Representative for India and Pakistan, 11th September, 1951)

  7. “We do not seek to go behind the UNCIP resolutions, or to ignore the vital elements of principle contained in them. ……We have always adhered to the UNCIP resolutions….. We cannot be a party to the reversal of previous decisions taken by the United Nations Commission with the agreement of the parties.”

    Mrs. Vijay Lakshmi Pandit,(Statement at the Security Council, 8th December, 1952)

  8. “I want to say for the purpose of the record that there is nothing that has been said on behalf of the Government of India which in the slightest degree indicates that the Government of India or the Union of India will dishonour any international obligations it has undertaken.”

    Krishna Menon (Statement at UN Security Council, 24th January, 1957)

  9. “If, as a result of a plebiscite, the people decided that they did not want to stay with India, then our duty at that time would be to adopt those constitutional procedures which would enable us to separate that territory.”

    Krishna Menon, (Statement at UN Security Council, 8th February, 1957)

  10. “The resolutions of January 17, 1948 and the resolutions of the UNICP, the assurances given, these are all resolutions which carry a greater weight – that is because we have accepted them, we are parties to them, whether we like them or not.”

    Krishna Menon, (Statement at UN Security Council, 20th February, 1957)

  11. “These documents (UNCIP reports) and declarations and the resolutions of the Security Council are decisions; they are resolutions, there has been some resolving of a question of one character or another, there has been a meeting of minds on this question where we have committed ourselves to it.”

    Krishna Menon, (Statement at the Security Council, 9th October, 1957)

  12. “India believes that sovereignty rests in the people and should return to them.”

    Krishna Menon, (The Statesman, Delhi, 19th January, 1962)

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