The numbers told the whole story. At the Bharatiya Janata Party’s office in Srinagar on Tuesday, a handful of party faithful turned up to celebrate Accession Day. Elsewhere in Kashmir Valley, a total shutdown marked the 68th anniversary of the day the Indian army landed in the state, effecting its accession.
Every year, people in Kashmir observe October 27 as a “black day” and the region shuts down in response to calls for bandh by separatist leaders like Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Geelani. This year too, Geelani denounced the “Indian occupation” of Jammu and Kashmir on the occasion.
“27 October, 1947, is that unfortunate and unlucky day for Kashmiris on which their freedom was forcibly snatched from them, and India against the wishes of the people landed its troops here,” said Geelani. “The people of the Jammu and Kashmir were neither asked for their views about that forced occupation on that day and nor are their wishes and aspirations being respected today.”
Disputed history
Jammu and Kashmir’s accession is immersed in dispute. According to the most widely cited version of history, Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of the then princely state of Kashmir, wrote to India’s last Governor General Lord Mountbatten after India’s independence, seeking military help against invading Pathan tribesmen.
In reply, Mountbatten said his government had accepted the accession of Kashmir to the dominion of India but the last word rested with the people of the state.
“The question of accession should be decided in accordance with the wishes of the people of the state,” Mountbatten wrote. “It is my Government’s wish that as soon as law and order have been restored in Kashmir and her soil cleared of the invader, the question of the State’s accession should be settled by a reference to the people.”
However, the promised plebiscite never took place, and Hari Singh reportedly signed the Instrument of Accession in Jammu on October 25 or October 26 (the date is disputed too). According to this version of events, the Indian Army airdropped into Srinagar on October 27, completing the accession.
Several researchers and historians have contested this account, as also the existence of the accession document. It is argued by them that India had created the circumstances that forced Hari Singh to allow Indian troops into the state. For instance, Alastair Lamb, the author of Kashmir: A Disputed Legacy, has criticised India’s position on the accession, claiming that its troops were in Kashmir days before October 27.
'Significance for nationalists'
Predictably, for the BJP, a member of the ruling coalition with the Peoples Democratic Party, there is no debate to be had on the state’s past or the present. Earlier, when the saffron party announced its plans to celebrate Accession Day, it underscored the day’s significance for nationalists.
On Monday, at a programme in Jammu, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh asserted that the accession to India was complete and final. “Maharaja Hari Singh deserves a salute for his decision on accession, which was legally and constitutionally valid,” he said. “People from all three regions of the state had endorsed it.”
Singh, in fact, blamed India for handing over the state to National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah and forcing out the maharaja.
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Every year, people in Kashmir observe October 27 as a “black day” and the region shuts down in response to calls for bandh by separatist leaders like Hurriyat Conference chairman Syed Ali Geelani. This year too, Geelani denounced the “Indian occupation” of Jammu and Kashmir on the occasion.
“27 October, 1947, is that unfortunate and unlucky day for Kashmiris on which their freedom was forcibly snatched from them, and India against the wishes of the people landed its troops here,” said Geelani. “The people of the Jammu and Kashmir were neither asked for their views about that forced occupation on that day and nor are their wishes and aspirations being respected today.”
Disputed history
Jammu and Kashmir’s accession is immersed in dispute. According to the most widely cited version of history, Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of the then princely state of Kashmir, wrote to India’s last Governor General Lord Mountbatten after India’s independence, seeking military help against invading Pathan tribesmen.
In reply, Mountbatten said his government had accepted the accession of Kashmir to the dominion of India but the last word rested with the people of the state.
“The question of accession should be decided in accordance with the wishes of the people of the state,” Mountbatten wrote. “It is my Government’s wish that as soon as law and order have been restored in Kashmir and her soil cleared of the invader, the question of the State’s accession should be settled by a reference to the people.”
However, the promised plebiscite never took place, and Hari Singh reportedly signed the Instrument of Accession in Jammu on October 25 or October 26 (the date is disputed too). According to this version of events, the Indian Army airdropped into Srinagar on October 27, completing the accession.
Several researchers and historians have contested this account, as also the existence of the accession document. It is argued by them that India had created the circumstances that forced Hari Singh to allow Indian troops into the state. For instance, Alastair Lamb, the author of Kashmir: A Disputed Legacy, has criticised India’s position on the accession, claiming that its troops were in Kashmir days before October 27.
'Significance for nationalists'
Predictably, for the BJP, a member of the ruling coalition with the Peoples Democratic Party, there is no debate to be had on the state’s past or the present. Earlier, when the saffron party announced its plans to celebrate Accession Day, it underscored the day’s significance for nationalists.
On Monday, at a programme in Jammu, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh asserted that the accession to India was complete and final. “Maharaja Hari Singh deserves a salute for his decision on accession, which was legally and constitutionally valid,” he said. “People from all three regions of the state had endorsed it.”
Singh, in fact, blamed India for handing over the state to National Conference founder Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah and forcing out the maharaja.