This is an authoritative perspective of a great General and Governor of J&K. Vartha This article, by Lt Gen S K Sinha, on various aspects of the suffocating Article 370 ( J&K ) contains many startling facts, hitherto unknown to most. It is not widely known that Lord Mountbatten accepted conditions set out by Raja Hari Singh in a letter addressed to him by the Raja - but which find no place in the instrument of accession signed by the same Raja ! Mountbatten could have rejected the letter. Was there some ulterior British design to leave behind a festering problem ? Similarly, the punitive exploitation of Art 370, much beyond its purport, by Sheikh Abdullah, is another revelation. It appears that much of the chronic harm stems not as much from Art 370, as it is from Sheikhs misdemeanor to the hilt. Lt Gen S K Sinha has presented the multiple dimensions of Art 370 cogently, and has hinted at a less likely solution, for what ever it is worth !! Nov 03, 2014/ The Asian Age. Time to bury Article 370 | The Asian Age Lt Gen S.K. Sinha ( Retd ) Ex - VCOAS. ( The writer, a retired lieutenant-general, was Vice-Chief of Army Staff and has served as governor of Assam and Jammu and Kashmir. ) Introduction. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called for public debate on Article 370 and not for it being struck down as such. A decision on this controversial issue should be taken through a democratic process. Origin of Art 370. ( J & K ) We need to discuss the origin and history of Article 370. All the 555 Princely States in India and the seven in Pakistan joined their respective Dominion after Partition. They, word by word, signed the same Instrument of Accession drafted before Independence. Rajas to decide on accession to India or Pakistan - not the state subjects. The rulers of Princely States were required to decide to which Dominion their state would accede. The Indian Independence Act of 1947 did not stipulate for the people of the state to have any say in the matter. Muhammad Ali Jinnah supported this. His hidden agenda was to acquire Hyderabad, the richest and the largest Princely State of the size of France, and some other Princely States with Muslim rulers, like Bhopal. The Indian National Congress before Independence wanted the people of the state rather than the ruler to decide the future status of the state. Jinnah hoped Pakistan would get both Hyderabad and Kashmir, the former on legal grounds, and Kashmir, due to geographical compulsions, would fall like a ripe plum into his lap. Maharaja Hari Singh tried to keep J & K independent. Maharaja Hari Singh had a Hobson’s choice. He realised that being a Hindu, he would have no future in Pakistan. He also realised that if he acceded to India, his future would be no different. He had detained Jawaharlal Nehru at the border, preventing him from entering the state to defend his friend, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, facing trial in a court of law. He vacillated and toyed with the idea of becoming an independent ruler. Pakistani invasion of J & K - 22 Oct 1947. Impatient at the delay in the maharaja taking a decision, Jinnah ordered an invasion of Kashmir on October 22, 1947, led by Maj Gen Akbar Khan of the Pakistan Army. The invading force comprised thousands of tribal Lashkars and Pakistan Army personnel in civvies. Overcoming brave resistance of meagre state forces, the enemy reached Baramulla on October 25.( In three days. ) Srinagar was now defenceless. Maharaja Hari Singh fled to Jammu. Raja Hari Singh signs accession to India ; with a letter to Mountbatten, setting out conditions. It was in these circumstances that the maharaja signed the Instrument of Accession, on the afternoon of October 26, 1947. He was like a drowning man needing immediate succour and in no position to lay down conditions for his accession of the state. No other ruler had signed the Instrument of Accession when he was in such a desperate position. Yet in his letter to Lord Mountbatten he stated that his accession would be confined to defence, foreign affairs, communications and currency only. He also stated that he would immediately hand over power to Sheikh Abdullah, his bitter opponent who had launched the Quit Kashmir movement against him. He knew that unless he did so, Nehru would not accept his accession. As for making the accession conditional, he had no axe to grind. This conditional accession by J & K is basis for dispute. Kashmir was the only state in which accession became conditional. Kashmirs accession was limited to only defence, foreign relations, communications and currency. Sheikh Abdullah takes gullible Nehru for a ride ! During that critical period Sheikh Abdullah was staying with Nehru in Delhi. Possibly the Sheikh exploited his close friendship with a trusting, visionary and idealistic friend. Jawaharlal and the Congress had lost the war for secularism, when undivided India was partitioned. Nehru now hoped to win the battle for secularism in Kashmir. Sheikh Abdullah came out in his true colours in 1953 when he was found negotiating with the US ambassador in India to have an independent Kashmir. He had to be dismissed and held in detention for several years. On Art 370 - Ambedkar refused ; but Gopalaswamy Iyyangar obliged Nehru. Dr B.R. Ambedkar, the principal drafter of our Constitution, refused to draft any special concessions for Kashmir without the latter fully reciprocating. He told Sheikh Abdullah, “I, as the law minister of India, will never do it.” Nehru then commissioned N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar to draft a special Article for Kashmir. He said there were ongoing military operations in Kashmir and the issue had been referred to the United Nations and, hence, special provisions were necessary for Kashmir. Accordingly Ayyangar drafted Article 370 and persuaded Ambedkar and Sardar Patel not to raise any objection. Wily Abdullas abhorrent exploitation of Art 370. Sheikh Abdullah took full advantage of Article 370 to impose various conditions. * Indians visiting Kashmir had to take a permit from their district magistrate !!! This was almost like getting a visa to go to a foreign country. * The Indian national flag was not to be flown in Kashmir. * No Indian could buy immovable property in Kashmir although Kashmiris could do so in the rest of India. * Even the 30,000 Hindu and Sikh refugees coming out of West Pakistan to Jammu area were not given full citizenship ( in J& K ) They cannot vote in state elections, acquire immovable property or get government service in the state or their children admission in state government technical colleges. Differential treatment to Hindu / Sikh and Muslim refugees. These erstwhile refugees have now become over one lakh and they are still virtually stateless citizens. On the other hand, Tibetan Muslim refugees, who came to Srinagar in 1950 when China occupied Tibet, were given full-fledged Indian citizenship. Subsequent loosening of conditions under Art 370. a ) After the martyrdom of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee in mysterious circumstances in 1953, the pernicious permit system was revoked and the Indian national flag allowed to fly in the state along with the state flag. ( Me : Not clear - What is the connection between S P Mookerjees death and relaxing of conditions ? ) b ) After Sheikh Abdullah was dismissed in 1953, his successor, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, agreed to several amendments to Article 370 following the prescribed procedure. The jurisdictions of the Supreme Court, the Election Commission and the Comptroller and Auditor General were extended to Kashmir. The Prime Minister of Kashmir was re-designated chief minister, as in other Indian states. The Sadr-e-Riyasat was also re-designated as governor, to be appointed by the Central government. Important - Art 370 is temporary in nature & is locally applicable to J & K - Not a national issue, as is being projected politically. Article 370 was a temporary measure included in our Constitution. It was something primarily concerning the people of Kashmir only. Today the secular brigade, through its policy of appeasement for vote-bank considerations, has made Article 370 a national issue of grave concern for all Indian Muslims. Hitherto all discussion of the Kashmir problem has been focused both nationally and internationally on Kashmiri-speaking Muslims and ignoring other Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists and Sikhs. The separatists in the state are mostly Kashmiri-speaking Muslims. Important - Very few non-Kashmiri-speaking Muslims have taken to terrorism or separatism. Gujjars, Bakharwals, Shia Muslims of Kargil and, of course, Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists have nothing to do with these two maladies afflicting the state. Kashmiri-speaking Muslims constitute about 45 per cent of the population of the state residing in only 10 per cent of the land space in Indian-administered Kashmir. State Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir are being held in November 2014. The BJP seems to have got some foothold even in the Valley. BJP has a chance to consign Art 370 to dustbin, if it gains 44 seats in J&K assembly. If at any stage now or later the BJP attains its 44-plus target in the Assembly, Article 370 could be given a fitting burial by a suitable resolution passed by the state Assembly. This could happen in 2014-15 or after the next Assembly elections in the state, when the BJP has established its credentials in the Valley through good governance. That would be the best way of throwing Article 370 into the dustbin of history. ++++++++++++++++++++++
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 09:11:12 +0000
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