Text of Pakistan Prime Minister s reply cabled on November 24, 1947 to the British Prime Minister
Text of Pakistan Prime Minister's reply cabled on November 24, 1947 to the British Prime Minister''
"Many thanks for your telegram of November 22nd regarding Kashmir. Your suggestion of having recourse to the International Court of Justice appears to be based on an inadequate appreciation of the realities of the situation in Kashmir. You have focussed your attention solely on the last process in the solution of the Kashmir question, namely, the holding of a plebiscite and have Copy cabled to Nehru also.
ignored the essential pre-requisites for a free and unfettered exercise of the will of the people. These are: Firstly, cessation of fighting and withdrawal of all outside forces, Indian or tribesmen, as well as of large number of armed Sikhs and Rashtriya Sewak Sangh who have entered the State since beginning of trouble; Secondly, the establishment of an impartial interim administration which would put a stop to repression of Muslims and give free and equal opportunity to all political parties in the State. Without these two essential pre-requisites there is no chance of a free verdict of the people of the State on the question of accession.
2. The oft-repeated promises of the India Government and Pandit Nehru that they are willing to have a plebiscite in Kashmir are intended to mislead the world. There is no dispute
That plebiscite must be held as early as possible to ascertain the free will of the people of Kashmir. This is not the question in dispute; it is axiomatic. The real issue is how this is to be done. You say the question has become intractable. It has been made purposely so by the Indian Government. If the Indian Government is honestly and genuinely desirous of a fair and peaceful settlement of the Kashmir issue they should immediately agree that fighting must cease and not take shelter behind the slogan that raiders must be driven out. It is not the so-called raiders but the people of Kashmir who are fighting against heavy odds to end Dogra tyranny and to prevent Kashmir from falling into the hands of the Indian Dominion. The Azad Kashmir forces are almost wholly composed of the sons of the soil and even foreign observers have testified that wherever they have gone they have been welcomed as forces of liberation. We are ready to exercise all our influence on Azad Kashmir forces to stop fighting and to see that any tribesmen with them are not only stopped from fighting but are made to leave Kashmir. These tribesmen, it should be remembered, are the kith and kin of those for whom they are fighting.
3. The India Government are also trying to mislead the world by stating that people of Kashmir asked them through Sheikh Abdullah to send their troops to Kashmir. Sheikh Abdullah has been a paid agent of Congress for the last two decades and with the exception of some gangsters whom he has purchased with Congress money he has no following among Muslim masses. It is astonishing that Pandit Nehru, who knows these facts, should proclaim this Quisling to be the acknowledged leader of Muslims of Kashmir.
4. The India Government's insistence upon the retention of their troops in Kashmir until they have restored law and order to their own satisfaction can only mean that India troops will stay in the State until they have crushed by military force all opposition to their permanent occupation of Kashmir. The methods by which maintenance of law and order is used to consolidate an alien rule that is well known. The Muslim population of the State has been feeling impact of those methods in full force. The true leaders of Muslims, and politically conscious among them, are, with their families, the special targets of this repression. In spite of protestation of India Government the number of Muslim refugees into Pakistan swells day by day and is now over 200,000 (two hundred thousand). All these refugees
bring with them horrible tales of most inhuman atrocities. I repeat that what India Government is after, is permanent occupation of Kashmir and they know they cannot achieve this object until they have changed composition of population by converting Muslim majority into a minority. Behind their high- sounding phrases stands this hideous reality—their elimination and demoralisation of the whole population by violent means—and any proposal which fails to tackle this basic fact offers no real solution.
5. The above analysis shows that first, fighting must stop and all outside forces must withdraw and secondly, which is no less essential, that Kashmir Administration must be taken over by an impartial and independent authority immediately. Not until these conditions are fulfilled is there any hope of getting a free plebiscite which, in our opinion, need not wait till the spring.
6. I hope you now realise the actual position. If you would consider these basic facts you will, I hope, support our proposal that U.N.O. should immediately send out a Commission to undertake the tasks outlined in para 5 above. This Commission should have under it an International Police Force to maintain Law and order. The composition of this Force can be left to decision of U.N.O. Commission. We, on our part, would be prepared to accept a force drawn solely from Commonwealth."