Understanding the Kashmir Issue (Part - II) – the UN Debacle

When we last left our narrative, the Indian Army was pushing back the intruders from Pakistan and freeing up areas under the control of these invaders. In November, Nehru wrote to Maharaja Hari Singh to make Sheikh Abdullah (of National Conference) the administrative head of Jammu and Kashmir. However the Pakistan Govt. under the then Prime Minister, Liaquat Ali Khan, refused to recognize the Sheikh Abdullah administration as valid.

As early as December 1947, Nehru had, in a letter to Maharaja Hari Singh outlined four possible solutions towards resolving the Kashmir issue. A brief mention of these would immensely interest the reader because even after more than 60 years of turmoil, these are very same options being discussed till date:

1. A plebiscite (is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal) to let the inhabitants of Kashmir decide their own fate – join India or join Pakistan
2. An independent Jammu and Kashmir with its defense guaranteed by both India and Pakistan.
3. Partition – Give Jammu and Ladakh portion (Hindu and Buddhist dominated) to India and the rest northern and western section (Muslim dominated) to Pakistan. I personally love this option.
4. Give Jammu and the valley of Kashmir (including Srinagar) to India and the rest to Pakistan.

However, coming back to the Indian army pushing back the invaders – the army made rapid progress and recovered substantial territory from the invaders. However before the entire State could be freed, winter set in and a cease fire was declared.

On 1^st January 1948, Nehru decided to take the matter to the United Nations. The sole objective of doing this was to request the UN to help evict the invaders from Pakistan from the areas in Northern and Western parts of the State still under their control. This turned into a disaster and a foreign policy nightmare for Nehru.

Pakistan was represented by the extremely gifted Sir Zafrullah Khan. He turned the issue on its head and portrayed the invasion as a natural reaction of Muslims coming to the aid of their brothers being persecuted by the Maharaja. He managed to convince the UN that the Kashmir issue was the incomplete remnant from Partition and was yet to be resolved. He was so effective that the agenda item on UN was changed from the J&K question to India and Pakistan question.

Pakistan suggested withdrawal of all forces (Indian and Pakistani) from the State, holding of a plebiscite under UN auspices and under an impartial administration. India was at a moral loss. For, in Junagadh, as my readers will recollect from my last post, although the Nawab had acceded to Pakistan and Pakistan had already accepted it, the Indian govt did not recognize that on the ground that the majority population was Hindu. In fact the Indian Govt had forced a plebiscite in Junagadh and taken the results as valid proof for the accession of Junagadh to India. Now Pakistan wanted to repeat the exact same thing in J&K. Both the British as well as the Americans supported the Pakistan demand in the UN. Nehru dithered.

Meanwhile in March-1948, as the snows started melting, the Indian army was ordered to renew its efforts to push back the invaders. The LOC kept changing on a daily basis. On the other side of the LoC, Pakistan had sponsored an Azad Kashmir govt. from among the local population and helped them raise an army to fight the Indians and retain the areas still under their control. The Indian army freed and occupied the areas up to Ladakh, Leh Dras and Kargil before winter set in again and hostilities had to be halted. This was how the LOC looked then and continues to look now – as seen in the map, some areas were later taken over by the Chinese, but more on that later.