APROPOS the editorial ‘IHK poll delay’ (March 15). Federal Information Minister Fawad Hasan Chauddhry has also criticised the delay. Polls, what Polls? Under the hypnotic spell of Indian propaganda, we naively accept the Indian-held Kashmir’s ‘assembly’ and the preceding illegal and doubtful ‘instrument of accession’ as fait accompli. No sir, they aren’t. The ‘Accession instrument’ is a myth, unregistered with the UN.

Alastair Lamb, in his book Incomplete Partition (Chapter VI: The Accession Crisis, pp. 149-151) points out that Mountbatten wanted India not to intervene militarily without first getting the ‘instrument of accession’ from Maharajah Hari Singh. Not doing so would amount to ‘intervening in the internal affairs of what was to all intents and purposes an independent state in the throes of civil conflict’. But, India did not heed his advice. It marched its troops into Kashmir without the maharajah’s permission, an act of aggression.

Lamb says ‘timing of the alleged Instrument of Accession undoubtedly affected its legitimacy’ (p.172, ibid). He adds ‘If in fact it took place after the Indian intervention, then it could well be argued that it was either done under Indian duress or to regularise an Indian fait accompli.”

According to Wolpert, V. P. Menon returned to Delhi from Srinagar on the morning of Oct 26 with no signed Instrument of Accession. Only after the Indian troops had started landing at Srinagar airfield on the morning of Oct 27 did V. P. Menon and M. C. Mahajan set out from Delhi for Jammu.

The Instrument of Accession, according to Wolpert, was only signed by Maharajah Sir Hari Singh after Indian troops had assumed control of the Jammu and Kashmir state’s summer capital, Srinagar.

Polls are just a palliative, not a panacea, for Kashmir. Pull back troops and soften borders, if not hold a plebiscite for the time being.

Saman Jaaved
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, March 21st, 2019