NEW DELHI: In the Constituent Assembly (legislative) today [Nov 25], Pandit Nehru in a statement on Kashmir said: “I am completely convinced that every action that the Government of India has taken in regard to Kashmir has been straight and above board and I can defend it at any time before the world. … We have sufficient evidence in our possession to demonstrate that the whole business of Kashmir raids, both in Jammu Province and in Kashmir proper, was deliberately organised by high officials of the Pakistan Government. They helped tribesmen and ex-servicemen to collect, they supplied them with the implements of war, with lorries, with petrol and with officers. …

“It is impossible to escape the conclusion that the raids in Kashmir were carefully planned and well organised by the Pakistan authorities with the deliberate object of seizing the state by force, and then declaring its accession to Pakistan. This was an act of hostility not only to Kashmir but to the Indian Union.”

Pandit Nehru declared: “The Pakistan Government have proposed simultaneous withdrawal of our forces and raiders from Kashmir. This was a strange proposal and could only mean that the raiders were working at the instance of the Pakistan Government.” — News agencies

Published in Dawn, November 26th, 2022