There is lots of confusion as regards Indian attempts to change the status of Kashmir. Under Indian and International law, this is impossible. If India does, the protests will only escalate by isolating pro Indian Muslim elements. This is a timeline of how India has nibbled in past 7 decades to absorb Kashmir.
1. August 14/15 1947 – Kashmir Maharaja signs a “Standstill Agreement” with Pakistan. Pakistan later says the Maharaja’s accession to India violates the Standstill Agreement. October 1947:
2. MAHARAJA’S LETTER to Lord Mountbatten saying he wants to accede to India
3. 27 October 1947: INSTRUMENT OF ACCESSION. It is a very debatable documents exposed by FM Manek Shaw in his memoirs.
4. Jan 17 1948: UNSC Resolution 38 is on Kashmir: calls India and Pakistan to halt aggression against each other in Kashmir:
5. Jan 20, 1948, UNSC Resolution No. 39 offers India and Pakistan assistance to solve Kashmir by setting up a commission.
6. 21 April 1948: UNSC Resolution No. 47 is a non-binding resolution that sends a commission, now expanded from 3 to 5 members, to the subcontinent, to see how plebiscite can be made possible. “The resolution recommended that in order to ensure the impartiality of the plebiscite Pakistan withdraw all tribesmen and nationals who entered the region for the purpose of fighting and that India leave only the minimum number of troops needed to keep civil order. The Commission was also to send as many observers into the region as it deemed necessary to ensure the provisions of the resolution were enacted. Pakistan ignored the UN mandate and continued fighting, holding on to the portion of Kashmir under its control. Subsequently India refused to implement the plebiscite claiming the withdrawal of Pakistan forces was a prerequisite as per this resolution
7. 5 March 1948: The Maharaja issued a PROCLAIMATION replacing the Emergency Administration by a popular interim Government headed by Sheikh Abdullah.
8. 3 June 1948: UNSC Resolution No. 51 re-affirms the previous resolutions and asks the commission to carry out its work under the UNSC mandate in Kashmir.
9. 17 October 1949: Indian Constituent Assembly adopts article 370 granting Kashmir special status, thereby integrating Kashmir into the Indian Constitution* This is now an obstacle for India.
10. 1 May 1951 - Yuvraj Karan Singh in whose favour, the Maharaja had earlier abdicated, issued PROCLAMATION for forming a Constituent Assembly in J&K. Sheikh Abdullah’s NC wins all 75 seats to the Constituent Assembly amid allegations of rigging. October that year, the Constituent Assembly held its first meeting.
11. 30 March 1951: UNSC Resolution No 91 . This resolution takes note of the United Nations Representative for India and Pakistan, stating that the main point of difference of preparing the state of Jammu and Kashmir for the holding of a plebiscite were as follows; the procedure for and extent of demilitarization, the degree of control over the exercise of the functions of government necessary to ensure a free and fair plebiscite. A new head of the representation is appointed, who is asked to continue efforts to make a plebiscite possible. The resolution, importantly, takes note of the election in which Sheikh Abdullah won and says that it does not do away with the need for a plebiscite.
12. 10 November 1951: UNSC Resolution No 96: Ceasefire, both sides agree to plebiscite, etc.
13. July 1952: Sheikh Abdullah signs the DELHI AGREEMENT “providing for the autonomy of the State within India and of regions within the State.” Sheikh Abdullah’s speech to the Constituent Assembly on the occasion:
14. 23 December 1952: UNSC Resolution No. 98 urges India and Pak to mutually agree on the number of troops they will each have on their side of the ceasefire line in Kashmir for plebiscite.
15. 8 August 1953, Sadr-i-Riyasat Karan Singh dismisses Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah and appoints Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed as the new Prime Minister. Under the Chief Ministership of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed, the J&K Assembly ratifies the state’s accession to India, while Sheikh Abdullah is in jail; he had procrastinated over and in effect refused to ratify the agreement. RATIFICATION DOCUMENT? This is in violation of UNSC 91.
16. J&K Assembly adopts a fresh Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir, 1956: This Constitution makes J&K a part of India.
17. 24 January 1957: UNSC Resolution 122 says that such acts (the new J&K Constitution) do not make for a final settlement of Kashmir. This marks the point since when India gave up pretending it was interested in the plebiscite.
18. United Nations Security Council Resolution 123 was adopted on February 21, 1957 after the conflict over Jammu and Kashmir intensified. The council requested that the President of the Security Council visit the subcontinent and, along with the governments of India and Pakistan, examine any proposals which were likely to contribute to the resolution of the dispute.
19. United Nations Security Council Resolution 126 was adopted on 2 December 1957. It was the last of three resolutions passed during 1957 to deal with the dispute between the governments of India and Pakistan over the territories of Jammu and Kashmir. It followed a report on the situation by Gunnar Jarring, representative for Sweden which the council had requested in resolution 123. It requests that the governments of India and Pakistan refrain from aggravating the situation, and instructs the United Nations Representative for India and Pakistan to visit the subcontinent and report to the council with recommended action toward further progress.
20. 1964: India extends Articles 356 and 357 of the Indian Constitution to Kashmir, whereby it candismiss elected governments and impose central rule. There are protests against this. India’s promises, in accession agreement as well as Article 370, are being eroded.
21. January 1966: After the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965, the two countries sign the TASHKENT DECLARATION in which they agree to revert to the pre-war ceasefire line.
22. 21 November 1964: J& K State Assembly passes a resolution applying Article 356
23. 10 April 1965 – J&K Assembly passes its sixth amendment to the state constitution whereby the elected Sadr-i-Riyasat will be replaced by a Delhi-appointed Governor. Sadr-i-Riyasat Karan Singh became Governor and remained so till 1967.
24. July 1972 – As a result of the Indo-Pakistan War of 1971 that led to the creation of Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan sign the SHIMLA AGREEMENT in which they agree to settle Kashmir bilaterally and that until such time as they do so they will respect the ceasefire line in Kashmir as the Line of Control.
25. 1974 – Sheikh Abdullah is released and becomes Chief Minister as per the Indra Sheikh Accord.
The accord resulted in severely curtailed autonomy. Sheikh Abdullah gave up the demand for a plebiscite to decide the fate of Kashmir in return for the people being given the right to self-rule by an elected government.
26. 30 July 1986 Article 249 - the power of Parliament to enact laws on State list subjects in national interest applied to J&K.
27. 1990- The Armed Forces (Jammu & Kashmir) Special Power Act, 1990 No. 21 of 1990
28. 22 February 1994 – Lok Sabha resolution says J&K an integral part of India and demands AJK back.
29. Indus Basin Water Treaty. India and Pakistan were on the verge of war over Kashmir. There seemed to be no possibility of negotiating this issue until tensions abated. One way to reduce hostility . . . would be to concentrate on other important issues where cooperation was possible. Progress in these areas would promote a sense of community between the two nations which might, in time, lead to a Kashmir settlement. Accordingly, I proposed that India
and Pakistan work out a program jointly to develop and jointly to operate the Indus Basin river system, upon which both nations were dependent for irrigation water. With new dams and irrigation canals, the Indus and its tributaries could be made to yield the additional water each country needed for increased food production. In the article, I had suggested that the World Bank might use its good offices to bring the parties to the agreement, and help in the financing of an Indus Development program.
30. Pakistan must not abandon its legal position on Kashmir. India violations of UNSC Resolution 91 and 122 makes Indian actions illegal. Experts in International Law should make a case.
