The story of a bloody conflict: How the state of Jammu and Kashmir annexed to India?
Elnaz Rahmat Nejad: More than seven decades have passed since India and Pakistan have been at odds over the ownership of the disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir. The two countries have also fought three wars to date.
The beginning of this dispute stems from the failure to properly implement the principles of partition of the region. When the Indian subcontinent was partitioned in 1947, the state of Jammu and Kashmir was one of the 548 princely states of India. The British government had advised the rulers of this region to join either India or Pakistan, taking into account factors such as geographical proximity, cultural affiliation, and most importantly, the desires of the people of that state.
The Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, with complete disregard for the aforementioned considerations and amidst the uprising and rebellion of the people of the state against his oppressive rule, signed the “Instrument of Accession” and announced the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India. This document lacked any legal, moral, or political validity. The signing of this document, which was contrary to the wishes of the people of the said state, can be considered the result of the arbitrary action of a man who despaired of saving his state.
An armed conflict between India and Pakistan led to the referral of the Kashmir issue to the United Nations. Then, a special commission was formed under the name of the “United Nations Commission on India and Pakistan” to examine the issue independently. It was decided to help the parties reach an agreed solution through the said commission.
The most important result of the United Nations Commission on India and Pakistan was the adoption of two resolutions, one on August 13, 1948, and the other on January 5, 1949. According to these resolutions, the governments of India and Pakistan were asked to give the people of the state of Kashmir the opportunity to decide their fate through a referendum to join India or Pakistan. Since that date, India has ignored the resolutions issued by the United Nations Commission on India and Pakistan and the Security Council regarding the referral to the referendum of the people of Kashmir and has continued to occupy that state against the wishes of the people of Kashmir.
The Global Kashmir Freedom Movement has stated in an article: “To justify the illegal occupation of Kashmir, India has tried to convince the world over the years through skillful manipulation of facts that the accession of Kashmir to India was somehow legal. Through its misinterpretations, it has tried to shift the responsibility for the non-implementation of the resolutions of the United Nations Commission on India and Pakistan onto Pakistan. New Delhi’s propagandists have also tried to blatantly mix up different issues. For example, they have argued that the separation of Kashmir from India by referring to the public vote of the Kashmiri people will lead to the disintegration of the unity of India. They have also stated that the health and security of millions of Muslims living in other parts of India may be harmed as a result of the separation of Kashmir.”