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Sir
Hari Singh Bahadur, Maharaja of J & K who signed "Instrument of
Accession" with India in 1947
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J&K was one such princely
State ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh. He was dithering over the merger issue in
October 1947 when Pakistan invaded J&K and tried to annex it by force,
Maharaja asked for India’s help. Sardar Ballabh Bhai Patel, then Home Minister
of India, agreed to provide help on 26 October 1947.
Hari Singh Ji signed Instrument of Accession with India on 27 October
1947 Lord Mount Battens as Governor General Of India and representative of
British Crown, accepted the accession with a remark that
"As soon as the law and order in Kashmir restored the question of
states accession should be decided by reference to the people."
Lord Mount Battens did to contradictory things. On the one hand he
accepted the merger; on the other hand he put the conditions for merger. The
remark of Lord Mount Batten was superfluous and in violation of provision of ‘India
(Independence) Act’ passed by British Parliament. The act did not provide for
plebiscite in any of the princely states for deciding the issue of merger. It
only called upon the rulers of princely States to decide whether to merge with
India or Pakistan.
It was a grave Constitutional
error on the part of Lord Mount Battens. India has paid heavy Political price for
that error in the term of 5 decades old frictional relation with Pakistan.
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