^^continued
Maharaja's complaint to Patel
The constitutional head of the State, Maharaja Hari Singh, was highly dismayed over the anti-Hindu activities of Sheikh Abdullah. The Sheikh had almost descended to the level of an anti-national rebel. He was simply worried over Kashmir and its Muslims. There was danger of an end of Hindus of Kashmir and Hindus and Muslims of Jammu and Ladakh. According to Gourinath Rastogi, "what to speak of India, the Sheikh was not even interested in the protection of the entire state. His sole aim was to protect the Kashmir valley. The events of Gilgit, Kotli, Baltistan, Mirpur, Muzaffarabad and Bhimber lend evidence to it. Soon after the state's accession with India on October 27, 1947 the Indian Army had reached Srinagar by air. The Indian troops had liberated the entire valley from the occupation of Pakistani invaders within 10 days upto November 7. The troops had to march ahead to liberate the remaining areas of the state. The Military Governor of Gilgit, Brigadier Ghansara Singh, people of Mirpur, Bhimber, Kotli and Muzaffarabad and the Hindu leaders of the Jammu region were imploring in front of the officers of the Indian Army, requesting the troops to liberate these areas from the clutches of Pakistanis. But the Indian forces were not allowed to move forward. The Army commander of Jammu province, Brigadier Pranjaype, told Hindu leaders of Jammu the reason behind this, saying "Nehru had given the overall command of the Indian Army to Sheikh Abdullah and, therefore, the Army cannot move forward without his orders".
While giving information about the fundamentalist and conspiratorial attitude of Sheikh Abdullah Maharaja Hari Singh wrote a long letter to Sardar Patel. The Maharaja had written that even after the elapse of two months, the Indian troops were still in Uri. The main spots of Mirpur and Kotli have been lost after a defeat and the defeat "is a major blow for us. It has wounded the image of the Indian soldiers. Till now the Indian troops have not captured even a single town... In this context my position is precarious".
The Maharaja wrote to Patel that he had supported the Indian Union under the belief that the Indian Union "will not allow us to stoop". There was no purpose of keeping the State with India if the Indian Union is not able to restore "to us our lost territory and if it is prepared to hand us over to Pakistan under the Security Council resolution". He even told the Sardar that he was prepared to take the command of the Kashmiri and the Indian troops because the country that cannot be understood by "your generals for months and years is better known to me".
This letter indicates Maharaja's pitiable and dishonourable condition. He was pained and troubled over the plunder, destruction and defeat of his state. He was hurt by the compulsions of the Indian Army, anti-national actions of Sheikh Abdullah, intrigue of Muslim soldiers in Kashmir Army, unstable policy of the Government af India and the procrastination of the Security Council. But he was helpless. His mind was in tears on seeing his people in difficulty.
Mehar Chand Mahajan's communciation to Patel
Mehar Chand Mahajan too wrote a letter to Sardar Patel informing him about the plight of the Maharaja. Describing the Sheikh as a feelingless creature, he informed Patel about his (Shiekh's) fascist misrule. He wrote in his letter that the feelingless Sheikh, who had pledged faith in the Maharaja of Kashmir, was now wishing to drag the Maharaja to the court and was demanding his resignation. His new outlook is that let the Maharaja retain Jammu, Kathua and Udhampur and handover the rest of the geographical area to Pakistan. Now he was trying to meet the leader of the Muslim Conference Party, Ch. Abbas, in Jail, in order to secure his approval to his proposal.
Mr. Mahajan, in his letter, informed Patel that a situation had reached a stage when Sheikh Abdullah was openly insulting the Maharaja and was daily giving display to his communal bent of mind". "If you permit, I could submit comprehensive details and material which can throw light on the administrative capacity, communal bent of mind of Sheikh Abdullah and his open insults to the Maharaja through the assistance of the National Guards. He has come to realise that he can do whatever he likes. After receiving your reply I shall submit, for your perusal, important examples on the corrupt administration of the Sheikh and on his fascist misrule".
The two letters of the Maharaja and Mehar Chand were thrown in the dustbin because of the obduracy of Nehru. In front of Nehru, Sheikh Abdullah was the only saviour of Kashmir and the nationalist and the rest of the nationalist Muslims and Hindus, including the Maharaja, Mehar Chand Mahajan, Patel, Acharya Kriplani, Shyama Prasad Mookherjee, Pandit Premnath Dogra, were all unwise.
Article 370 gives constltutional validity to separatism
Now Jenab Sheikh Mohd. Abdullah got engaged in the task of giving practical shape to his efforts for total Islamisation of Kashmir and its complete independence. The Sheikh was the Prime Minister and not the Chief Minister of the State. The State was governed by its own constitution and not by the Constitution of India. The National Conference flag was the State flag and not the tricolour. The Indians needed a permit for visiting Jammu and Kashmir. There were several other such separatist concessions and customs which Nehru offered, as his gift, in connection with the delight on Sheikh becoming the Sultan of the State. But the Sheikh was not satisfied with it. There was one special reason behind this dissatisfaction of Sheikh Abdullah despite having the blessings from the Prime Minister of India, support of the UN Security Council and Pakistan. He had fears that Hindus of India may come and settle in the land of Kashyap Rishi. He had fears that the Kashmiri Muslims may be swept by the national mainstream. He had fears that Kashmir may be recognised on the basis of its ancient culture, Kashmir may be amalgamated like other states in India after Pt. Nehru. Such fears would spoil his sleep. In order to realise his dream of total independence for Kashmir, it was necessary to keep Jammu and Kashmir away from India permanently. He needed such an instrument through which he could protect the seed, he had sown, of separatism in Kashmir. He again took Nehru for a ride and brought him under the clutches of his schemes. By incorporating Article 370 in the Constitution of India, Nehru offered him that instrument.
Article 370 of the Constitution gave constitutional validity to Abdullah's separatist ideas and international intrigues and gave a special position to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It also affixed stamp on the historical fact that the Muslim majority region cannot remain with India. The details of this Article are given in the succeeding chapters.
The Sheikh started giving practical shape to all his antinational ideas and activities. Many schemes were implemented in broad daylight which related to the recruitment of members of the National Conference and the Peoples United Front, in the Government services, full support to the activities of Jamait-e-Islami, anti-India teachings in schools, secret links with Pakistsni leaders, atrocities on Kashmiri Pandits, development of Kashmir region at the cost of Jammu and Ladakh provinces. Pt. Nehru received information about it but he adopted "I do not agree" policy. When there was no other alternative, the nationalists of Jammu and Kashmir launched a powerful agitation under the leadership of Pt. Premnath Dogra. The agitators formed Praja Parished which launched the agitation for three years. The Sheikh broke all the records in crushing this peoples' movement. People sacrificed, filled the jails, tolerated atrocities from the Kashmir police but kept alive the flame ofthe struggle. But all this did not open the eyes of Nehru.
Sheikh exposed and Nehru slightly yielded
Many other leades informed Nehru about the split personality of Sheikh Abdullah. Those very days a member of the Indian Constituent Assembly. Sh. M.L. Chottopdhiya, went to Kashmir for rest along with his colleague, Dr. Raghuvir. They prepared a comprehensive report about the Sheikh after holding discussions with representatives of people, social and religious leaders in the state and submitted that report before a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee of the Congress. This report carried an account of the Sheikh's scheme of having an independent Kashmir. According to Gourinath Rastogi, the Sheikh himself had givsn a proof of his desire for carving out an independent Kashmir during hiis interview with two British Journalists, Michael Davidson and Ward Price. When reports about it were published in the newspapers, Sardar Patel summoned Sheikh Abdullah and pulled him up and the Sheikh assured him that such a mistake will not be repeated. But in reality there was no change in his intentions. And the intelligence officer who had reported the matter regarding the interview was forced to Quit Kashmir. In November 1952 the defeated Democratic Party candidate, in the Presidential elections in the United States, Steevenson, had close links with Sheikh Abdullah and the two together were preparing the scheme for Independent Kashmir.
Prime Minister Nehru visited Srinagar in May 1953. By chance, that time the five-day convention of the National Conference was going on. The report about the Sheikh's anti-India, pro-Pakistan, and separatist speeches at the convention reached Nehru. Nehru invited top leaders of the National Conference to his place. The Sheikh too was present. Nehruji tried to bring them on the right path by talking about the history of India, heritage of Kashmir and the unity of the country. Instead of accepting the guidance of Nehru, the Sheikh tried to ridicule him. The Director of the Intelligence Bureau, Mr. G.K. Handoo, who had accompanied Nehru to Srinagar as his security chief, and the Union Home Minister, Mr. Kailashnath Katju, submitted several secret documents to Nehruji. After perusing these documents Nehru told the Sheikh "Sheikh Sahib till now I was behaving with you as Jawaharlal Nehru but henceforth I shall be behaving with you in the capacity of a Prime Minister." It means Nehru himself had admitted that till then all the decisions on Kashmir were taken by Nehru in the capacity of a friend of Sheikh Abdullah and not as Prime Minister of India.
After this, Nehru sent Maulana Azad to Srinagar to bring the Sheikh on the right path. Even being unwell, Maulana came to Srinagar on the suggestion of Nehru. Maulana tried to make the Sheikh understand things during his long meeting with him. He had told him that the welfare of Kashmir lay in being with India. The Muslims and their religion were safe in India. The Sheikh dubbed a great leader like Maulana Azad as an enemy of the Muslims and a stooge of Hindus. On returning to Delhi, Maulana Azad conveyed his experiences to Nehru and suggested to him to dismiss the Sheikh immediately.
A member of the UNCIP mission, Joseph Karbel, in his report "Danger in Kashmir" has given a correct and meaningful account about the Sheikh.
"In May 1949 Sheikh Abdullah had assured Jawaharlal Nehru that 'I want you to believe that Kashmir is your's. No power in the world can separate us. Every Ksshmiri feels that he is an Indian and India is his motherland'. From time to time he made a repeated mention about the total independence of Kashmir and on other occasions he announced that the idea of independence was not practicable. In 1952 he declared that 'our state is neither under the legal domination of the Indian Parliament nor that of any Parliament from outside the state. India or Pakistan, any country cannot be a spike in our wheel of progress'. After some days he described Ksshmir as such a bridge between India and Pakistan that can unite the two in one country. Two days later he said that the relations between Pakistan and India were strong and stable and no power on the earth can separate us. Again he made an announcement that 'Kashmir's existence does not depend on India's money, trade or security forces snd he does not attach any importance to the strings of Indian assistance. He cannot be forced to stoop by threats'. The fsct is that he, while raising Kashmir, step by step, carried it far away from India. One of his political rivals has described him as communal in Ksshmir, communist in Jammu and a nationalist in India."
In the description of Joseph, the real face of Sheikh Abdullah is magnified. He gave a display of this character while crushing the Praja Parishad movement. By then the movement had received support from India. Nehru too was apprised of the dictatorial behaviour of the Sheikh and his black laws. Nehru was caught in two minds. When Dr. Shyamaprasad Mookherjee violated these black laws and reached the Jammu barder, he was arrested and sent to Srinagar Jail where he died in mysterious circumstances. The entire country was rocked by this sacrifice. When the flames of revolt against the Sheikh and the murder of Dr. Mookherjee rose from all corners of India, it opened the eyes of Nehru. In order to assess the situation in Kashmir Nehru reached Srinagar. The result: Sheikh was imprisoned.
National character of Nehru ?
Here many questions arise. Why was it that a leader like Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru did not know the anti-national inclinations of the Sheikh for so many years ? If he had known it, why he kept on tolerating disservice to the nation ? Why did he deliberately adopt such a policy through which Kashmir has become a permanent problem ? Did he give more importance to personal friendship than the country ? Was he too willing to see Kashmir as an independent state ?
The then Deputy Chief of the Intelligence Bureau, Mr. B.N. Malik, has lifted the curtain from it in his book "My days with Nehru". He writes:
'Then suddenly to our utter surprise Pandit Nehru started talking bitterly against Sheikh Abdullah's communalism. He traced the Sheikh's history from 1930 onwards and mentioned how he had started his career with the Muslim Conference, which was an out and out communal organisation. He said that as a result of pressures from outside and also seeing the development of the People's Movement in the rest of India and for purely tactical reasons and probably under the advice of some of his more liberal followers, the Sheikh had converted the Muslim Conference into the Political Conference to give it a non-communal appearance. At this time Pandit Nehru suddenly looked at me and enquired whether I had come across some information of possible British connivance in that movement. I replied in the affirmative. He continued his talk against the Sheikh and mentioned all his communal activities throughout the period he had acted as the National Conference leader. It was the Pakistani aggression which had mellowed him a little for a short time, because the tribals had committed gruesome atrocities on the Muslim population in the valley. But, as soon as he became the Prime Minister, he came out in his true colours once again and started his anti-Hindu activities. In contrast, he praised Bakshi and Sadiq for their completely non-communal outlook and said that these two were really secular-minded persons who required all support from India. Pt. Nehru said that all trouble in Kashmir was due to the Sheikh's communal outlook and it was he who was not allowing the state to settle down to peace and stability. The Sheikh always talked about the rights of the Muslims, forgetting that the Hindus also formed nearly 35 per cent of the population of the state and he never showed any consideration for them. Pt. Nehru mentioned thal politically he and other Indian leaders had to go along with the Sheikh for a considerable period and they had also helped him and played him up hoping that by coming in contact with secular India, where Muslims and Hindus and persons of all other denominations were living together and enjoying a peaceful life. Sheikh Abdullah would be able to get rid of his communalism; but communalism was a disease with him and he could never get rid of it and his entire outlook and behaviour were based on the fact that Kashmir valley had a Muslim majority. Therefore, he was not at all surprised that the Sheikh had conspired with Pakistan to overthrow the non-communal and secular Government of Bakshi and Sadiq. What Pt. Nehru said was factually correct and was similar to what Sardar Patel had stressed to me in 1949. At the end he wished G.S. Pathak a success and concluded by saying that he himself was allergic to these protracted political trials and he suggested that every effort should be made to expedite it."
The above revelation from Malik has tied Nehru's entire life, his mind and national character to a deep question mark.
the link to the article
http://www.kashmir-information.com/ConvertedKashmir/Chapter18.html
Maharaja's complaint to Patel
The constitutional head of the State, Maharaja Hari Singh, was highly dismayed over the anti-Hindu activities of Sheikh Abdullah. The Sheikh had almost descended to the level of an anti-national rebel. He was simply worried over Kashmir and its Muslims. There was danger of an end of Hindus of Kashmir and Hindus and Muslims of Jammu and Ladakh. According to Gourinath Rastogi, "what to speak of India, the Sheikh was not even interested in the protection of the entire state. His sole aim was to protect the Kashmir valley. The events of Gilgit, Kotli, Baltistan, Mirpur, Muzaffarabad and Bhimber lend evidence to it. Soon after the state's accession with India on October 27, 1947 the Indian Army had reached Srinagar by air. The Indian troops had liberated the entire valley from the occupation of Pakistani invaders within 10 days upto November 7. The troops had to march ahead to liberate the remaining areas of the state. The Military Governor of Gilgit, Brigadier Ghansara Singh, people of Mirpur, Bhimber, Kotli and Muzaffarabad and the Hindu leaders of the Jammu region were imploring in front of the officers of the Indian Army, requesting the troops to liberate these areas from the clutches of Pakistanis. But the Indian forces were not allowed to move forward. The Army commander of Jammu province, Brigadier Pranjaype, told Hindu leaders of Jammu the reason behind this, saying "Nehru had given the overall command of the Indian Army to Sheikh Abdullah and, therefore, the Army cannot move forward without his orders".
While giving information about the fundamentalist and conspiratorial attitude of Sheikh Abdullah Maharaja Hari Singh wrote a long letter to Sardar Patel. The Maharaja had written that even after the elapse of two months, the Indian troops were still in Uri. The main spots of Mirpur and Kotli have been lost after a defeat and the defeat "is a major blow for us. It has wounded the image of the Indian soldiers. Till now the Indian troops have not captured even a single town... In this context my position is precarious".
The Maharaja wrote to Patel that he had supported the Indian Union under the belief that the Indian Union "will not allow us to stoop". There was no purpose of keeping the State with India if the Indian Union is not able to restore "to us our lost territory and if it is prepared to hand us over to Pakistan under the Security Council resolution". He even told the Sardar that he was prepared to take the command of the Kashmiri and the Indian troops because the country that cannot be understood by "your generals for months and years is better known to me".
This letter indicates Maharaja's pitiable and dishonourable condition. He was pained and troubled over the plunder, destruction and defeat of his state. He was hurt by the compulsions of the Indian Army, anti-national actions of Sheikh Abdullah, intrigue of Muslim soldiers in Kashmir Army, unstable policy of the Government af India and the procrastination of the Security Council. But he was helpless. His mind was in tears on seeing his people in difficulty.
Mehar Chand Mahajan's communciation to Patel
Mehar Chand Mahajan too wrote a letter to Sardar Patel informing him about the plight of the Maharaja. Describing the Sheikh as a feelingless creature, he informed Patel about his (Shiekh's) fascist misrule. He wrote in his letter that the feelingless Sheikh, who had pledged faith in the Maharaja of Kashmir, was now wishing to drag the Maharaja to the court and was demanding his resignation. His new outlook is that let the Maharaja retain Jammu, Kathua and Udhampur and handover the rest of the geographical area to Pakistan. Now he was trying to meet the leader of the Muslim Conference Party, Ch. Abbas, in Jail, in order to secure his approval to his proposal.
Mr. Mahajan, in his letter, informed Patel that a situation had reached a stage when Sheikh Abdullah was openly insulting the Maharaja and was daily giving display to his communal bent of mind". "If you permit, I could submit comprehensive details and material which can throw light on the administrative capacity, communal bent of mind of Sheikh Abdullah and his open insults to the Maharaja through the assistance of the National Guards. He has come to realise that he can do whatever he likes. After receiving your reply I shall submit, for your perusal, important examples on the corrupt administration of the Sheikh and on his fascist misrule".
The two letters of the Maharaja and Mehar Chand were thrown in the dustbin because of the obduracy of Nehru. In front of Nehru, Sheikh Abdullah was the only saviour of Kashmir and the nationalist and the rest of the nationalist Muslims and Hindus, including the Maharaja, Mehar Chand Mahajan, Patel, Acharya Kriplani, Shyama Prasad Mookherjee, Pandit Premnath Dogra, were all unwise.
Article 370 gives constltutional validity to separatism
Now Jenab Sheikh Mohd. Abdullah got engaged in the task of giving practical shape to his efforts for total Islamisation of Kashmir and its complete independence. The Sheikh was the Prime Minister and not the Chief Minister of the State. The State was governed by its own constitution and not by the Constitution of India. The National Conference flag was the State flag and not the tricolour. The Indians needed a permit for visiting Jammu and Kashmir. There were several other such separatist concessions and customs which Nehru offered, as his gift, in connection with the delight on Sheikh becoming the Sultan of the State. But the Sheikh was not satisfied with it. There was one special reason behind this dissatisfaction of Sheikh Abdullah despite having the blessings from the Prime Minister of India, support of the UN Security Council and Pakistan. He had fears that Hindus of India may come and settle in the land of Kashyap Rishi. He had fears that the Kashmiri Muslims may be swept by the national mainstream. He had fears that Kashmir may be recognised on the basis of its ancient culture, Kashmir may be amalgamated like other states in India after Pt. Nehru. Such fears would spoil his sleep. In order to realise his dream of total independence for Kashmir, it was necessary to keep Jammu and Kashmir away from India permanently. He needed such an instrument through which he could protect the seed, he had sown, of separatism in Kashmir. He again took Nehru for a ride and brought him under the clutches of his schemes. By incorporating Article 370 in the Constitution of India, Nehru offered him that instrument.
Article 370 of the Constitution gave constitutional validity to Abdullah's separatist ideas and international intrigues and gave a special position to the state of Jammu and Kashmir. It also affixed stamp on the historical fact that the Muslim majority region cannot remain with India. The details of this Article are given in the succeeding chapters.
The Sheikh started giving practical shape to all his antinational ideas and activities. Many schemes were implemented in broad daylight which related to the recruitment of members of the National Conference and the Peoples United Front, in the Government services, full support to the activities of Jamait-e-Islami, anti-India teachings in schools, secret links with Pakistsni leaders, atrocities on Kashmiri Pandits, development of Kashmir region at the cost of Jammu and Ladakh provinces. Pt. Nehru received information about it but he adopted "I do not agree" policy. When there was no other alternative, the nationalists of Jammu and Kashmir launched a powerful agitation under the leadership of Pt. Premnath Dogra. The agitators formed Praja Parished which launched the agitation for three years. The Sheikh broke all the records in crushing this peoples' movement. People sacrificed, filled the jails, tolerated atrocities from the Kashmir police but kept alive the flame ofthe struggle. But all this did not open the eyes of Nehru.
Sheikh exposed and Nehru slightly yielded
Many other leades informed Nehru about the split personality of Sheikh Abdullah. Those very days a member of the Indian Constituent Assembly. Sh. M.L. Chottopdhiya, went to Kashmir for rest along with his colleague, Dr. Raghuvir. They prepared a comprehensive report about the Sheikh after holding discussions with representatives of people, social and religious leaders in the state and submitted that report before a meeting of the Parliamentary Committee of the Congress. This report carried an account of the Sheikh's scheme of having an independent Kashmir. According to Gourinath Rastogi, the Sheikh himself had givsn a proof of his desire for carving out an independent Kashmir during hiis interview with two British Journalists, Michael Davidson and Ward Price. When reports about it were published in the newspapers, Sardar Patel summoned Sheikh Abdullah and pulled him up and the Sheikh assured him that such a mistake will not be repeated. But in reality there was no change in his intentions. And the intelligence officer who had reported the matter regarding the interview was forced to Quit Kashmir. In November 1952 the defeated Democratic Party candidate, in the Presidential elections in the United States, Steevenson, had close links with Sheikh Abdullah and the two together were preparing the scheme for Independent Kashmir.
Prime Minister Nehru visited Srinagar in May 1953. By chance, that time the five-day convention of the National Conference was going on. The report about the Sheikh's anti-India, pro-Pakistan, and separatist speeches at the convention reached Nehru. Nehru invited top leaders of the National Conference to his place. The Sheikh too was present. Nehruji tried to bring them on the right path by talking about the history of India, heritage of Kashmir and the unity of the country. Instead of accepting the guidance of Nehru, the Sheikh tried to ridicule him. The Director of the Intelligence Bureau, Mr. G.K. Handoo, who had accompanied Nehru to Srinagar as his security chief, and the Union Home Minister, Mr. Kailashnath Katju, submitted several secret documents to Nehruji. After perusing these documents Nehru told the Sheikh "Sheikh Sahib till now I was behaving with you as Jawaharlal Nehru but henceforth I shall be behaving with you in the capacity of a Prime Minister." It means Nehru himself had admitted that till then all the decisions on Kashmir were taken by Nehru in the capacity of a friend of Sheikh Abdullah and not as Prime Minister of India.
After this, Nehru sent Maulana Azad to Srinagar to bring the Sheikh on the right path. Even being unwell, Maulana came to Srinagar on the suggestion of Nehru. Maulana tried to make the Sheikh understand things during his long meeting with him. He had told him that the welfare of Kashmir lay in being with India. The Muslims and their religion were safe in India. The Sheikh dubbed a great leader like Maulana Azad as an enemy of the Muslims and a stooge of Hindus. On returning to Delhi, Maulana Azad conveyed his experiences to Nehru and suggested to him to dismiss the Sheikh immediately.
A member of the UNCIP mission, Joseph Karbel, in his report "Danger in Kashmir" has given a correct and meaningful account about the Sheikh.
"In May 1949 Sheikh Abdullah had assured Jawaharlal Nehru that 'I want you to believe that Kashmir is your's. No power in the world can separate us. Every Ksshmiri feels that he is an Indian and India is his motherland'. From time to time he made a repeated mention about the total independence of Kashmir and on other occasions he announced that the idea of independence was not practicable. In 1952 he declared that 'our state is neither under the legal domination of the Indian Parliament nor that of any Parliament from outside the state. India or Pakistan, any country cannot be a spike in our wheel of progress'. After some days he described Ksshmir as such a bridge between India and Pakistan that can unite the two in one country. Two days later he said that the relations between Pakistan and India were strong and stable and no power on the earth can separate us. Again he made an announcement that 'Kashmir's existence does not depend on India's money, trade or security forces snd he does not attach any importance to the strings of Indian assistance. He cannot be forced to stoop by threats'. The fsct is that he, while raising Kashmir, step by step, carried it far away from India. One of his political rivals has described him as communal in Ksshmir, communist in Jammu and a nationalist in India."
In the description of Joseph, the real face of Sheikh Abdullah is magnified. He gave a display of this character while crushing the Praja Parishad movement. By then the movement had received support from India. Nehru too was apprised of the dictatorial behaviour of the Sheikh and his black laws. Nehru was caught in two minds. When Dr. Shyamaprasad Mookherjee violated these black laws and reached the Jammu barder, he was arrested and sent to Srinagar Jail where he died in mysterious circumstances. The entire country was rocked by this sacrifice. When the flames of revolt against the Sheikh and the murder of Dr. Mookherjee rose from all corners of India, it opened the eyes of Nehru. In order to assess the situation in Kashmir Nehru reached Srinagar. The result: Sheikh was imprisoned.
National character of Nehru ?
Here many questions arise. Why was it that a leader like Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru did not know the anti-national inclinations of the Sheikh for so many years ? If he had known it, why he kept on tolerating disservice to the nation ? Why did he deliberately adopt such a policy through which Kashmir has become a permanent problem ? Did he give more importance to personal friendship than the country ? Was he too willing to see Kashmir as an independent state ?
The then Deputy Chief of the Intelligence Bureau, Mr. B.N. Malik, has lifted the curtain from it in his book "My days with Nehru". He writes:
'Then suddenly to our utter surprise Pandit Nehru started talking bitterly against Sheikh Abdullah's communalism. He traced the Sheikh's history from 1930 onwards and mentioned how he had started his career with the Muslim Conference, which was an out and out communal organisation. He said that as a result of pressures from outside and also seeing the development of the People's Movement in the rest of India and for purely tactical reasons and probably under the advice of some of his more liberal followers, the Sheikh had converted the Muslim Conference into the Political Conference to give it a non-communal appearance. At this time Pandit Nehru suddenly looked at me and enquired whether I had come across some information of possible British connivance in that movement. I replied in the affirmative. He continued his talk against the Sheikh and mentioned all his communal activities throughout the period he had acted as the National Conference leader. It was the Pakistani aggression which had mellowed him a little for a short time, because the tribals had committed gruesome atrocities on the Muslim population in the valley. But, as soon as he became the Prime Minister, he came out in his true colours once again and started his anti-Hindu activities. In contrast, he praised Bakshi and Sadiq for their completely non-communal outlook and said that these two were really secular-minded persons who required all support from India. Pt. Nehru said that all trouble in Kashmir was due to the Sheikh's communal outlook and it was he who was not allowing the state to settle down to peace and stability. The Sheikh always talked about the rights of the Muslims, forgetting that the Hindus also formed nearly 35 per cent of the population of the state and he never showed any consideration for them. Pt. Nehru mentioned thal politically he and other Indian leaders had to go along with the Sheikh for a considerable period and they had also helped him and played him up hoping that by coming in contact with secular India, where Muslims and Hindus and persons of all other denominations were living together and enjoying a peaceful life. Sheikh Abdullah would be able to get rid of his communalism; but communalism was a disease with him and he could never get rid of it and his entire outlook and behaviour were based on the fact that Kashmir valley had a Muslim majority. Therefore, he was not at all surprised that the Sheikh had conspired with Pakistan to overthrow the non-communal and secular Government of Bakshi and Sadiq. What Pt. Nehru said was factually correct and was similar to what Sardar Patel had stressed to me in 1949. At the end he wished G.S. Pathak a success and concluded by saying that he himself was allergic to these protracted political trials and he suggested that every effort should be made to expedite it."
The above revelation from Malik has tied Nehru's entire life, his mind and national character to a deep question mark.
the link to the article
http://www.kashmir-information.com/ConvertedKashmir/Chapter18.html
)
