ISLAMABAD: Nawab of Junagarh Muhammad Jahangir Khanji on Monday appealed to Prime Minister Imran Khan to become an ambassador of Junagarh as he did in the case of Kashmir and highlight the issue of liberation of the state from Indian occupation at all international forums.

Addressing a press conference, he said a secretariat of Junagarh should be established in Islamabad to bring the princely state closer to Pakistan.

He said Nov 9 was observed as a black day as on this day in 1947 India occupied the territory of Junagarh. The occupation was against the international law and norms, he added.

Nawab Khanji said that a living nation should remember its history and act accordingly.

Junagarh, he said, had a territory of 4,000 square miles and a 100-mile coastline along the Arabian Sea with many ports. Among the 562 princely states in the Sub-continent, Junagarh was the sixth richest and a welfare state which provided free education to its citizens and took responsibility to provide healthcare facilities to all of them, he added.

He recalled that in October 1947, during his visit to Pakistan his grandfather Nawab Mahabat Khan signed an agreement of accession to Pakistan. During the visit, his grandfather held a meeting with Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah and decided to accede the state to Pakistan. The treaty of accession was ratified by the Constituent Assembly of Pakistan.

In the absence of his grandfather, India landed its troops and occupied the territory of Junagarh on November 9, 1947, he said.

The Nawab said that after the creation of India and Pakistan, the sovereign rulers of the states were given the right of choice to stay independent or accede to India or Pakistan.

He said that Pakistan took the case of occupation of Junagarh to the United Nations Security Council.

He vowed to continue struggle for the liberation of Junagarh.

“I will not rest and will not stay quiet till I have achieved my goal of the liberation of Junagarh,” he said.

The Nawab said that Junagarh was part of Pakistan and it would remain so.

He said that Hindu and Muslim communities in Junagarh still expressed their loyalties to the Nawab of Junagarh. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi should know that Junagarh would be part of Pakistan, he said.

He said it was a dream of the Quaid-i-Azam and his grandfather that Junagarh should be part of Pakistan.

In reply to a question, he said 2.5 million people belonging to Junagarh lived in Pakistan.

He said his grandfather never claimed any property or benefits in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, November 10th, 2020