Kashmir, Hyderabad And Junagadh Instrument Of Accession:

Outline:

• Background
• Accession Of Instrument
i) Junagadh
ii) Hyderabad
iii) Kashmir


Background:

At the time of partition of the Sub-continent in 14th August in 1947, there were 562 princely states in India. These states were given option to accede either to India or Pakistan keeping in view their geography and the wishes of their people. The Viceroy of India Lord Mountbatten addressed the princes on July 25, 1947 and allowed them:
“Accede to India or Pakistan bearing in mind the geographical situation of their respective states, the composition of their population and the wishes of their people.”
As a result of this provision, most of the 562 princely states acceded to India before 14th August 1947. But the States of Hyderabad and Kashmir-which were the largest states, withheld their announcement of accession either to India or Pakistan due to the contrast in the will of their people and the rulers.
Hyderabad state had an area of 82,000 sq. miles and population of 160,000,000, majority of which were Hindus. On the other hand, Kashmir had an area of 84,471 sq. mile and population of 4,000,000 out of which 77% were Muslims. The Indian government with the active support Lord Mountbatten adopted contrasting grounds to annex Hyderabad, Junagadh, Mangrol, Bantva and Kashmir States. In the case of State of Jammu and Kashmir fraudulent Instrument of Accession was put into operation to annex the state and the wishes of the majority Muslim population were disregarded. But in the case of Hindu majority Hyderabad State the will of the Muslim ruler was disregarded and the state was occupied by force.

Junagadh:

Junagadh was a small State located 300 miles down the coast from Karachi. It had an area of 3337 miles and a population of 700,000. Majority of its population was Hindu and its ruler was a Muslim. Soon after the independence, the rulers of Junagadh and Manavadar announced their accession to Pakistan. Quaid-e-Azam accepted the accession on September 5, 1947 but the government of India rejected by saying:
“such acceptance of accession by Pakistan cannot be regarded by Government of India as an encroachment on India’s sovereignty and territory and inconsistent with the friendly relations that should exist between the two dominions. This action is in utter violation of the principles on which the partition was agreed upon and affected.”
The government of Pakistan offered India to hold dialogue on this issue but India used force and occupied the state of Manavadar in October, 1947, Mangrol on November 1, 1947 and Junagadh on November 7, 1947. Pakistan could not stop Indian aggression because its forces were in the process of organization.

Hyderabad:

Hyderabad was the second largest State of India with an area of 82,000 sq. miles and a population of 160,000,000. Majority of its population was Hindu and its ruler the Nizam was a Muslim. Nizam wanted to accede to Pakistan but Lord Mountbatten forced him to accede to India. Subsequently, a standstill agreement was signed between Hyderabad and India according to which the former could not enter into any kind of relationship with foreign country. However, India broke this agreement and invaded Hyderabad on September 13, 1948, thus this State was also captured by India by flouting all norms and agreements.

Kashmir:

Kashmir was the largest State of India with an area of 84,431 sq. miles and had a population of 4,000,000. Majority of its population was Muslims but its ruler Hari Singh was a non-Muslim. There was a conflict of interests between the wishes of the people and the ruler of Kashmir. The people of Kashmir wanted to accede to Pakistan but its ruler Maharaja Hari Singh thought of Indian interests. Congress leaders and Lord Mountbatten hatched conspiracy to include Kashmir in India. For this purpose, violating standstill agreement with Pakistan, Hari Singh signed instrument of accession with India. Consequently, India occupied the valley through brutal use of force. Thus, the double standards of India adopted were fully exposed when it adopted different stances in respect of the states of Junagadh, Hyderabad and Kashmir.