Perspectives On Kashmir by Raju Gc Thomas

Author:Raju Gc Thomas [Thomas, Raju Gc]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Asia, India & South Asia
ISBN: 9780429301483
Google: 8TfhxgEACAAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2019-01-15T03:01:46+00:00

Phase II: Imprisoned Ethnic Nationalism, Emasculated Religious Nationalism and the Triumph of Secular Nationalism (1953-83)

Sheikh Abdullah's arrest removed the most powerful exponent of Kashmiri nationalism from the political scene.64 His successor, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed, though a leading member of the National Conference, was an advocate of a complete union with India. New Delhi and Srinagar resumed a normal relationship at the governmental level, and to soothe any possible sense of injury in the Valley, the Government of India started pouring in developmental funds that would build roads, hospitals, schools and bring electricity to the Valley. Constitutional developments got under way independently. Over time, a combination of internal and external developments began to freeze the existing division of Kashmir. A third of Jammu and Kashmir, under Pakistan's control at the time of ceasefire, was brought increasingly under Pakistan's political control, whereas the Indian side of Kashmir went through a similar logic under Indian tutelage.

Externally, the absorption of the subcontinent into the Cold War was the most significant development. In effect, it made the UNCIP resolution irrelevant. In 1954-55, on grounds that Pakistan was on the periphery of the Soviet Union, the U.S. offered a security alliance to Pakistan. Pakistan accepted the deal, despite India's protests that the arms supplied by the U.S. would be used against India, not against the Soviet Union for whom Pakistan was hardly a match. Rather than pulling out its troops from Kashmir, which the U.N. recommended, Pakistan, argued Nehru, would actually bolster its battered armed forces in Kashmir. The Soviet Union seized the opportunity. Abstaining earlier from the Kashmir debates in the Security Council, it began supporting India's stand at international forums. Being a permanent member of the Security Council, the Soviet Union could veto any U.N. resolution passed against India. On the other hand, receiving U.S. support, Pakistan also did not have to pull out of Kashmir. The Security Council became irrelevant to a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir problem. Rather than a decision-making body, the United Nations simply became a debating body. A plebiscite did not take place, for its prior conditions could not, and would not, be met.

Internally, with Abdullah gone from the scene, the J&K Constituent Assembly approved a merger with India in early 1956.65 On March 29, 1956, Nehru, in a famous speech in the Indian parliament, withdrew the offer of plebiscite on three grounds: (a) that for a plebiscite to take place under the U.N. terms, Pakistan had to first withdraw its forces from "occupied Kashmir," called "Azad (independent) Kashmir" by Pakistan; (b) that Kashmir's Constituent Assembly had approved the merger with India and accepted India's constitution; and (c) that the drawing of the subcontinent into the Cold War's security alliances had changed the objective situation drastically, for it reflected Pakistan's desire to seek military solutions-something intolerable and a sign of bad faith, according to Nehru.66

Nehru was right about the first and third points, but the second point represented a change in his position. To show his liberal credentials, Nehru

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