By Prof. G.M.Athar
GENESIS OF AUTONOMY DISCOURSE IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR:-
The freedom to British India and the creation of sovereign Pakistan in the immediate neighborhood of former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, gave rise to the emergence of three categories of political forces in Jammu and Kashmir, namely pro-Independence Dogra Government led by Maharaja Hari Singh, pro-Pakistan Muslim Conference led by Choudhary Ghulam Abass and pro-India National Conference led by Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah. Initially there was an underlying consensus among all the three political forces in Jammu and Kashmir to have sovereign status for the former princely state, but because of the clash of their interests they diverged in three different directions. Maharaja Hari Singh wanted to continue as the sovereign ruler of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, so he submitted the Standstill Agreement to both India and Pakistan on 12th August 1947. Muslim Conference wanted to ally with Pakistan, so it passed a resolution at Srinagar on 19th July 1947, supporting the accession of Jammu and Kashmir State with Pakistan with respect to defence, foreign affairs and communication.National Conference leader Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah wrote a letter of apology to Maharaja Hari Singh on 27th September in which he expressed his full support to the Government of Jammu and Kashmir against the enemies of the princely state. Soon after his release from the jail on 29th September 1947, while addressing a public gathering at Hazuri Bagh Srinagar on 2nd October 1947, he strongly opposed accession with Pakistan and said, “As long as there is a single drop of blood in my body, I will oppose Jinnah’s two-nation theory”. The party had stood for transfer of power to the popular leadership before any decision on the accession of Jammu and Kashmir State. Some historians have written that the Working Body of National Conference met on 3rd October 1947 under the chairmanship of Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah and passed the resolution to support accession of Jammu and Kashmir State with India, but the decision was kept confidential. Bilkees Tasir in her book has written that in the first week of October 1947, Sheikh Abdullah had secretly gone to Lahore to meet Mohammed Ali Jinnah on the insistence of his leftist friends who had joined Pakistan Muslim League but the Governor General of Pakistan refused to meet him challenging his credentials as the leader of Kashmiri nation but expressed his willingness to discuss Kashmir with Maharaja Hari Singh or any of his representatives. So it becomes very difficult to say with full confidence that what was the actual political stand of Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah before the Pakistani tribal in Kashmir on 22nd October 1947. However, when Maharaja Hari Singh sent his Prime Minister, Meharchand Mahajan to New Delhi on 24th October 1947, to seek military assistance from the Government of India, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, was at the residence of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, and overheard in the next room Mahajan saying that “in case Government of India is reluctant to provide the military assistance, I have orders from the Maharaja to visit Lahore to meet Mohammed Ali Jinnah”. Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah sent a chit of paper to Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru supporting the deployment of Indian troops in Kashmir. To what extent, the assertion is based on facts, can’t be verified but no one can deny the fact that both Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallab Bhai Patel put the conditions of accession of Jammu and Kashmir State with Indian Union and the induction of Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah in the Jammu and Kashmir State adminstration before any military assistance to the princely state can be considered, which indicates two things: one the Government of India wanted the accession of Jammu and Kashmir State with Indian Union appear to have the consent of the popular leadership, and two, there would have been some degree of prior understanding between Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah and the Congress leadership on the question of state’s accession with India and the quantum of autonomy the Jammu and Kashmir State could have within the future Constitution of India.
THE THIRD OPTION FOR JAMMU AND KASHMIR:-
The reference of Kashmir conflict between India and Pakistan to the United Nations on 31st December 1947 was a cause of concern for Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah because his opposition to the accession of Muslim dominated Jammu and Kashmir State with Pakistan was going to be put to the scrutiny of the world body. So when Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah visited New York as part of the Indian delegation to represent Jammu and Kashmir State, he met privately Warren Austin, the US Permanent Representative at the UN on 26th January 1947, to point out that independent country will be the best option for Jammu and Kashmir State. However, in his address to the United Nations Security Council he was critical of Pakistan and soft to India and reiterated the stand of the Government of India that the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir State will be ascertained on the subject of state’s accession with India. His speech at UN can be interpreted as his affirmation that the finalisation of the accession of Jammu and Kashmir State with Indian Union is subject to the will of the people. Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah’s subsequent secret meetings at Srinagar with U.S. Ambassador Loy Henderson in December1950 and Adlai Stevenson, the U.S. Democratic Party Senator in May1953 during which according to U.S. State Department, the Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir State and the National Conference leader vigorously restated that Kashmir should be independent. Former Senior RAW officer, R.K. Yadav in his book “ Mission R and W” has stated that when Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru sent Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad to convince Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah to ratify the accession of Jammu and Kashmir State with Indian Union in July 1953, the Kashmiri leader at ID meeting at Srinagar, insulted him, so Maulana Azad advised Nehru to dismiss Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah before he indulged in any offence against the Indian Union. The above historical facts clearly indicate that Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah was not in favour of accession of Jammu and Kashmir State with Pakistan and confidentiality he was exploring the possibility of establishing an independent country from 26th January 1948 till the defeat of West Pakistan by India in East Pakistan War in December 1971 and the subsequent signing of Shimla Agreement between the two countries in 1972, under which the Cease Fire Line between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir State was renamed as the Line of Control and it was agreed by the two countries to resolve Kashmir issue through bilateralism.
DEVELOPMENT AND EROSION OF AUTONOMY IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR STATE:-
The autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir State within Indian Union began on 26th October 1947, when Maharaja Hari Singh was compelled by the deterioration of security situation in his kingdom to surrender his control over defence, foreign affairs and communication to the Central Government. The Article 370 granting special status to Jammu and Kashmir State within Indian Union, was incorporated into the Constitution of India on 17th October 1949. The Schedule Ist of the Constitutional Application Order for Jammu and Kashmir on 26th January 1950 spelt out the future Indo-Kashmir constitutional relationship based on the Instrument of Accession of Jammu and Kashmir State with Indian Union.The Delhi Agreement between Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah announced by the Prime Minister Nehru on 24th July 1952, laid down the broader contours of autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir State within India. The main features of Delhi Agreement were that the Jammu and Kashmir State was allowed to have its own Constitution, State Flag , Sadr-e-Riyasat, Wazir-e- Azam, and the citizens of Jammu and Kashmir State were recognized as the citizens of India as well. The Constitution Application Order in February 1954 further extended the jurisdiction of India on Jammu and Kashmir State. The Jammu and Kashmir State Constituent Assembly did ratify the accession of Jammu and Kashmir State with Indian Union on 16th February 1954 and adopted the Jammu and Kashmir Constitution on 17th November 1956, which after the concurrence of the President of India was implemented by the Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammed Government on 26th January 1957. The jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of India, Election Commission of India and the office of the Auditor General of India mentioned in the Constitutional Order of 1950 were implemented by the Bakhshi Ghulam Mohammed Government. On 30thJanuary 1965 Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq resigned as the last Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and took oath as the first Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir State. Under the 6th Amendment of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir State the nomenclature of Sadr-e-Riyasat, was changed to Governor of the state and his method of appointment, functions and powers were also changed.The Indian Administrative Service cadres were extended to Jammu and Kashmir State by Ghulam Mohammed Sadiq Government. The Government of Syed Mir Qasim handed over the control on Kashmir Militia to the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India and the name of the forces was changed to Jammu and Kashmir Light Infantry. There was an extension of several Central laws to Jammu and Kashmir during the time of other Chief Ministers as well beginning with Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah in February1975 and ending with Ms Mehbooba Mufti in June 2018. Finally on 5th August 2019, the BJP led NDA Government at the Centre made Article 370 of the Indian Constitution in operational, abolished the Article 35-A of the Indian Constitution and bifurcated the Jammu and Kashmir State into the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory and the Ladakh Union Territory. The decisions were implemented on 31st October 2019.
REVIVAL OF AUTONOMY DISCORSE IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR:-
The Jammu and Kashmir Political Conference established by Ghulam Mohiuddin Kara in 1952 and the Jammu and Kashmir Plebiscite Front established on 9th August 1955 by Mirza Afzal Beigh started the demand for people’s right of self-determination in the Indian Administered Jammu and Kashmir State. It was in fact after the signing of Shimla Agreement by Pakistan with India in 1972, under which Pakistan agreed with India to resolve the Kashmir issue through bilateralism. Sheikh Abdullah as well as the Plebiscite Front leadership was demoralized because of the partition of Pakistan in 1971 as the country was supporting politically, diplomatically and financially the separatist movement in Kashmir. In 1972 Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah began to soften his stand on Kashmir by saying that the accession of Jammu and Kashmir State with Indian Union is not a subject of dispute but the actual dispute is regarding the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir State. Meanwhile he began indirect negotiations with Mrs Indra Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India.The Government of India was not prepared to restore back the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir State but was ready to have power sharing with the Plebiscite Front leadership. Finally Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah who was neither a member nor an office bearer of Plebiscite Front pressurized Afzal Beigh to sign the Beih-Parthasarthy Accord on 13th November 1974 under which the Government of India gave an assurance that it will have a review of the laws extended to Jammu and Kashmir State from 1953 to 1974. On 15th February 1975 the Plebiscite Front was dissolved by Mirza Afzal Beigh to take oath as a Cabinet Minister along with Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, D. D. Thakur and Sonam Narbu on 25th February 1975. Since the Jammu and Kashmir State Pradesh Congress Committee refused to elect Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah as the head of the Congress In the State Legislature in 1975, so Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah established Jammu and Kashmir National Conference. The decision angered the Congress so it withdrew its support to the Abdullah Government and the Governor B.K. Nehru dissolved the Assembly to pave the way for fresh elections in the state.The National Conference won the 1977 elections with sizeable majority but the deterioration of relationship between Congress and National Conference as well as the establishment of Janta Party Government at the Centre exhausted the chances of review of the central laws in Jammu and Kashmir State. Then on 8th September 1982, the Sheer-i-Kashmir expired after a brief illness which left the issue of autonomy unaddressed by New Delhi. Dr Farooq Abdullah won the 1983 elections because of the sympathy votes but after his Rajiv-Farooq Accord in 1986, the National Conference and Congress entered into an electoral alliance in 1987. The rigging of elections in 15 Assembly segments by National Conference-Congress alliance against Muslim United Front in Kashmir on 23rd March 1987 and the misuse of Divisional Police and Civil Administration to suppress and torcher the MUF candidates and political workers frustrated the political opposition in the State. Pakistani agencies took advantage of this frustration among the MUF candidates, political workers and voters to sponsor guerilla warfare against the Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir State. from July 1988 onwards.
DECAY OF AUTONOMY DISCORSE IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR:-
The Indian mainstream political parties like National Conference, People’s Democratic Party, Pradesh Congress Committee, Communist Party of India (Marxist), People’s Conference, People’s Democratic Front and other groups have been pleading for the restoration of autonomous status of Jammu and Kashmir to remain politically relevant in the troubled state. In 1996 the National Conference led by Dr Farooq Abdullah, came to power on the slogan of Greater Autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir State. Six years later the People’s Democratic Party led by Mufti Mohammed Syeed, raised the slogan of Self-Rule for Jammu and Kashmir to form the Coalition Government with Congress in the State in 2002. However, the slogans of both the parties proved just election strategies to garner the public support.The slogan of autonomy had lost its electoral significance in 2008 and 2014 elections in the State. People of Kashmir wanted to have peace and development in the State. The appointment of Satyapal Malik as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir State to facilitate the constitutional breakdown in the State and to clear the way for unconstitutional encroachment by the BJP led Government at the Centre.The deployment of thousands of additional troops by New Delhi in Kashmir and cancelling the Amaranth Yatra as well as asking the tourists to leave Kashmir immediately created the situation of fear and uncertainty in the state in early August 2019. The Indian mainstream political parties met at the residence of National Conference President Dr Farooq Abdullah and passed the Gupkar Declaration on 4th August 2019, under the chairmanship of the senior most leader of Kashmiri nation, warning the Central Government against any tampering with the special status of Jammu and Kashmir State. The political leaders, political workers, civil society members and thousands of youth were arrested, the internet and telephone connections were jammed and the curfew was imposed in the entire Jammu and Kashmir State. On 5th August the special status of Jammu and Kashmir State was revoked unconstitutionally by the both houses of parliament. The undemocratic action has shaken up the people of Jammu and Kashmir State and completely shrunken the support base of Indian mainstream political parties in the state. The people of the state in general and Kashmir in particular feel having politically looted by New Delhi. There are no expectations from the Central Government anymore and the people feel psychologically devastated. BJP and other Hindu nationalist organizations in India have celebrated the revocation of the special status of Jammu and Kashmir State but the act has created a very wide psychological gulf between India and the people of Jammu and Kashmir. The long term implications of such an undemocratic act would prove highly obnoxious and disastrous for the unity and territorial integrity of Indian Union.
The author can be mailed at ghathar@ yahoo.co.in.
Views expressed are personal.
