Instrument of Accession (Jammu and Kashmir)
| Instrument of Accession of Jammu and Kashmir state to the Union of India | |
|---|---|
| Type | Accession Treaty |
| Signed | 26 October 1947 |
| Location | Srinagar/Delhi |
| Sealed | 27 October 1947 |
| Effective | 27 October 1947 |
| Condition | Acceptance by the Governor-General of India |
| Expiration | Perpetual Validity |
| Signatories |
  |
| Parties |
|
| Depositary | Dominion of India |
| Language | English |
The Instrument of Accession is a legal document executed by Maharaja Hari Singh, ruler of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, on 26 October 1947.[1][2] By executing this document under the provisions of the Indian Independence Act 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh agreed to accede to the Dominion of India .[3][4]
In a letter sent to Maharaja Hari Singh on 27 October 1947, the then Governor-General of India, Lord Mountbatten accepted the accession with a remark, “it is my Government's wish that as soon as law and order have been restored in Jammu and Kashmir and her soil cleared of the invader the question of the State's accession should be settled by a reference to the people.” [5] Lord Mountbatten’s remark and the offer made by the Government of India to conduct a plebiscite or referendum to determine the future status of Kashmir led to a dispute between India and Pakistan regarding the legality of the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India.[6][7] India claims that the accession is unconditional and final while Pakistan maintains that the accession is fraudulent.[8]
The accession to India is celebrated on Accession Day, which is held annually on October 26.[9]
The full text of the Instrument of Accession (Jammu and Kashmir) executed by Maharaja Hari Singh on 26 October 1947 and accepted by Lord Mountbatten of Burma, Governor-General of India, on 27 October 1947 (excluding the schedule mentioned in its third point) is as follows:[10]
| “ | Whereas the Indian Independence Act 1947, provides that as from the fifteenth day of August, 1947, there shall be set up an Independent Dominion known as India, and that the Government of India Act, 1935 shall, with such omission, additions, adaptations and modifications as the governor-general may by order specify, be applicable to the Dominion of India.
And whereas the Government of India Act, 1935, as so adapted by the governor-general, provides that an Indian State may accede to the Dominion of India by an Instrument of Accession executed by the Ruler thereof. Now, therefore, I Shriman Inder Mahander Rajrajeswar Maharajadhiraj Shri Hari Singhji, Jammu and Kashmir Naresh Tatha Tibbetadi Deshadhipathi, Ruler of Jammu and Kashmir State, in the exercise of my sovereignty in and over my said State do hereby execute this my Instrument of Accession and
Given under my hand this 26th day of OCTOBER nineteen hundred and forty seven. Hari Singh Maharajadhiraj of Jammu and Kashmir State. I do hereby accept this Instrument of Accession. Dated this twenty seventh day of October, nineteen hundred and forty seven. (Mountbatten of Burma, Governor General of India). |
” |
Some scholars have questioned the official date of the signing of the accession document by the Maharaja. They maintain that it was signed on 27 October rather than 26 October. However, the fact that the Governor General accepted the accession on 27 October, the day the Indian troops were airlifted to Kashmir, is generally accepted.[11][12] An Indian commentator, Prem Shankar Jha, has argued that the accession was actually signed by the Maharaja on 25 October 1947, just before he left Srinagar for Jammu.[13]
See also
References
- ↑ Justice A. S. Anand, The Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir (5th edition, 2006), page 67
- ↑ Kashmir, Research Paper 04/28 by Paul Bowers, House of Commons Library, United Kingdom. Archived 2009-03-26 at the Wayback Machine., page 46, 2004-03-30
- ↑ Patricia Gossman, Vincent Iacopino, Physicians for Human Rights,”The crackdown in Kashmir” (1993),page 10
- ↑ Bruce B. Campbell, Arthur David Brenner,” Death squads in global perspective: murder with deniability”(2002),page 271
- ↑ Thomas Bruce Millar,” The Commonwealth and the United Nations ”( 1967),page 26
- ↑ Sumit Ganguly, “Conflict unending: India-Pakistan tensions since 1947”(2001),page 154
- ↑ KASHMIR QUESTIONS by A.G. NOORANI
- ↑ Kashmir: The origins of the dispute by Victoria Schofield
- ↑ "Jammu all set to celebrate accession day". Sify. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
- ↑ "Instrument of Accession executed by Maharajah Hari Singh on October 26, 1947". 26 October 1947.
- ↑ Schofield, Victoria (2003) [First published in 2000], Kashmir in Conflict, London and New York: I. B. Taurus & Co, pp. 56–58, ISBN 1860648983
- ↑ Andrew Whitehead, A Mission in Kashmir, (2007) - available online http://www.andrewwhitehead.net/full-text-a-mission-in-kashmir.html
- ↑ Jha, Prem Shankar (2003), The Origins of a Dispute: Kashmir 1947, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-566486-7
Further reading
- Whitehead, Andrew (2007), A Mission in Kashmir, Penguin, ISBN 978-0-670-08127-1
External links
- Venkatesh Nayak, Exclusive: For the First Time, a True Copy of Jammu & Kashmir’s Instrument of Accession, The Wire, 26 October 2016.
- Proclamation of May 1, 1951 on Jammu & Kashmir Constituent Assembly by Yuvraj (Crown Prince) Karan Singh from the Official website of Government of Jammu and Kashmir, India
- Conflict in Kashmir: Selected Internet Resources by the Library, University of California, Berkeley, USA; University of California, Berkeley Library Bibliographies and Web-Bibliographies list
priyanka bhujwa, The Instrument of Accession was a legal document first introduced by the Government of India Act 1935 and used in 1947 to enable each of the rulers of the princely states under British paramountcy to join one of the new dominions of India or Pakistan created by the Partition of British India.