The Integration of Jammu and Kashmir in Indiaand the Role of the British Government

Abstract

The Partition of India was one of the worst human tragedies. With millions dead in India and Pakistan, it has left deep scars on both sides. Was the Partition of India inevitable? Who were the key decision makers? What was the role of the then leadership in India and of the British who were ruling India? These are some of the questions raised and discussed time and again. Unfortunately, the then conflicts, problems and unrest did not end with the Partition of India. In fact, the Partition created a new discontent between India and Pakistan as two third area of Jammu and Kashmir was occupied by the Pakistani army in 1947 and till date it is under the illegal occupation of Pakistan. Jammu and Kashmir, a princely state, was strategically very important for India and also for Pakistan. With Independence, the princely states, considering their geographical contiguity, had to sign the Instrument of Accession and join either the dominion of India or that of Pakistan. The ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession to join India on October 26, 1947. On October 27, 1947 the Governor General of India, Lord Mountbatten ratified the Instrument of Accession and thus Jammu and Kashmir became a part of India. Despite this, Pakistan used force and occupied territories of the state. On the advice of Mountbatten, the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, took the matter of the Pakistan aggression to the United Nations. Although India had approached the United Nations over the issue of aggression by Pakistan on Indian soil, Pakistan and the West diverted India's complaint of aggression to the alleged controversial accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India by Maharaja Hari Singh. Why did the British and the USA do this? Were they against India? Were they favouring Pakistan? Or was this a part of the ‘Great Game ’, to restrain further expansion of the Soviet influence in the region? This paper attempts to explore the role and intentions of the British government with regard to the accession of the state of Jammu and Kashmir to India, and the controversies therein.