24101958  Letter dated 24 October 1958 from the representative of India Arthur S. Lall to the President of the Security Council

Letter dated 24 October 1958 from the representative of India Arthur S. Lall to the President of the Security Council

1. I have the honour to refer to the letter of the acting permanent representative of Pakistan dated 27 August 1958 [S/4092].

2. He has sought to argue that "that the Security Council does not entertain India's contention is evident from all of its resolutions generally...". Furthermore he has advanced the plea that the decision of the Security Council to continue consideration of the issue is in itself conclusive proof that at no stage did it ever consider the issue to fall within the domestic jurisdiction of either India or Pakistan. Neither argument has any foundation in fact.

3. There is not a single provision in the Security Council resolution of 17 January 1948, or the United Nations Commission's resolutions of 13 August 1948 [S/1104, para. 75] and 5 January 1949 [S/1196, para. 15]-the basic resolutions on this matter which India and Pakistan both have accepted--which gives Pakistan any locus standing in Jammu and Kashmir. Furthermore, Sir Owen Dixon, United Nations representative for India and Pakistan, stated that the Pakistan invasion of Jammu and Kashmir is inconsistent with international law. It is a matter of the highest importance that neither the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan nor the Security Council nor indeed any of the three resolutions-has at any time. questioned the legality of Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India, or the lawful presence of Indian troops in Jammu and Kashmir, which is Indian territory. On the other hand, the resolutions require India to keep sufficient troops in Jammu and Kashmir for its security, including the observance of law and order.

4. The acting permanent representative of Pakistan has torn out of their context extracts from certain statements made by the Prime Minister of India and telegrams which he sent to the Prime Minister of Pakistan. He has withheld mentioning the crucial fact which the Prime Minister of India has emphasised time and again, namely that the problem has been created and bedevilled by Pakistan's aggression, which continues to this day, and without the ending of which it is futile to look for a lasting solution. One extract from a speech made by the Prime Minister of India in Parliament on 7 August 1952 from which the Pakistan representative has chosen to give four extracts [S/4092, annex] will show the danger of quoting passages out context: "... All this is much more than can be said for Pakistan in this matter, because the entire Kashmir business is based on a fundamental lie-the lie Pakistan has told in denying that she invaded Kashmir... . The armies of Pakistan were in Kashmir for six months and then they denied the whole thing. When you base a case on a lie, the lie has to be repeated; and it was repeated in the Security Council month after month. Their armies were still in Kashmir and their Foreign Minister went on saying that they were not there. That was an astonishing thing. When the United Nations Commission was here and was on the point of going to the front and when there was no possibility of concealing this fact any longer, they admitted it..."

5. As for fundamental human rights and the dignity and worth of the human person, which are emphasized towards the end of the letter from the acting permanent representative of Pakistan, the following press comments in Pakistan are a sorry commentary on the actual state of affairs in that part of Jammu and Kashmir which Pakistan has seized by force:

"The decisions for the formation of all Governments installed in Azad Kashmir during the last ten years were taken in Karachi. The were all undemocratic and were forced upon the masses from Karachi. These Governments were against the claims of Pakistan that she wanted to achieve the right of self-determination for the Kashmiris."

(Insaf, 14 December 1957)

"The way democracy has been trampled underfoot for ten years in the area called Azad Kashmir has tarnished Pakistan's reputation, and Azad Kashmir is an area over which India has no control. India has never placed hurdles in democratising the administration in this region, in forming a popular Government, and in enabling the people to exercise their right of self-determination.... All this could be done by Pakistan".

(Awaz-E-Haq, April 1958)

6. In regard to the subsequent letter from the acting permanent representative of Pakistan, dated 10 September 1958 [S/4095], I wish simply to draw attention to my letter dated 15 August 1958 [S/4086] in which I have stated that the Government of India did not think it proper or dignified that the Security Council should be burdened with baseless and tendentious communications.

7. I request that this latter be circulated to the members of the Security Council as a Security Council document.

(Signed) Arthur S. LALL

Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations

(Source: UN Document No. S/4107.)