What solutions did Nehru propose for resolving the Jammu & Kashmir dispute, aside from granting autonomy under Article 370?
Initially PM Nehru supported Sheikh Abdullah of Jammu & Kashmir as the leader of this state and he tried to downgrade the Maharaja Hari Singh due to various reasons. But this arrangement failed within few years.
On 8 August 1953 Sheikh Abdullah was dismissed as Prime Minister by the then Sadr-i-Riyasat (Constitutional Head of State) by Dr. Karan Singh son of the erstwhile Maharajah Hari Singh on the charge that he had lost the confidence of his cabinet. His cabinet minister Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed was appointed as Prime Minister. Sheikh Abdullah was immediately arrested and later jailed for eleven years. Abdullah along with Mirza Afzal Beg and 22 others were accused of conspiracy against the Indian state for espousing the seditious cause of an independent Kashmir by the Indian government.
Nehru then gave orders for the arrest of Sheikh Abdullah on 10 August 1953. In a speech Nehru said that all trouble in Kashmir was due to Sheikh Abdullah’s bigotry and narrow Islamist communal outlook and it was he who was not allowing the state to settle down to peace and stability. Truly, 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.
It was PM Nehru’s blunder that he ignored a hard core Islamist and pro-Pakistani nature of Sheikh Abdullah just because he disliked Maharaja Hari Singh. Maharaja Hari Single once insulted top congress leader Jawaharlal Nehru before the independence. Just like Gandhiji, PM Nehru and all subsequent leaders of Gandhi-Nehru dynasty had soft corner for Pakistan. Nehru gifted 81% of Indus valley river basin waters consisting of six rivers to Pakistan in 1960 as part of Indus Water Agreement. But immediately after this, there was India-China border war in 1962 and Nehru felt cheated by the communist leadership of China. Nehru’s love for China disappeared suddenly.
After this PM Nehru again tried to open the bridge of friendship with another problematic neighbour Pakistan using Sheikh Abdullah. On 8 April 1964 the J&K state government dropped all charges and Sheikh Abdullah was released and returned to Srinagar where he was accorded a great welcome by the Muslims of the valley as Sher-e-Kashmir (the Lion of Kashmir). Nehru’s health was not in good condition after the shock of India-China 1962 war and Nehru gave a task to Sheikh Abdullah.
Shaikh Abdullah has given a graphic account of his meeting with Jawaharlal Nehru after eleven years of estrangement in his autobiography. He claims to have suggested to Jawaharlal Nehru to invite President Ayub of Pakistan to Delhi for direct talks on Kashmir and other related issues. According to him, Nehru accepted his suggestion and requested him to visit Rawalpindi and invite him. According to Abdullah’s version Nehru was ‘Prepared to consider all earlier proposals as also any alternative proposals that maybe brought forward during talks to arrive at just, fair and mutually acceptable. Sheikh Abdullah received an invitation from President Ayub to visit Pakistan just at that time. It appeared to be pre-arranged and not just a coincidence. This cleared the way for his visit to Pakistan in the third week of May, 1964.
Before leaving for Rawalpindi Abdullah issued a press statement in which he gave his thinking about the possible solution of the problem. “The solution” he said, “should be such as does not create the feeling of defeat in any party, strengthening the foundations of secularism in India and satisfies the urge for freedom of the people of Kashmir”. It pointed to a compromise solution suiting his ambition about freedom for Kashmir through some kind of mutual arrangement between New Delhi and Rawalpindi. Abdullah and his entourage, which included his son Farooq Abdullah, got red carpet reception at Rawalpindi. Abdullah arrived in Rawalpindi and had prolonged discussions with Pakistan’s President, General Ayub Khan. Abdullah was alleged to have sought Pakistan President’s support in the form of arms and ammunition for Kashmiri youth to enable them to take Kashmir away from India. After developing personal rapport with President Ayub Khan, Abdullah was about to go on an extensive tour of Pakistan occupied areas of Jammu and Kashmir. At the end of talk Ayub accepted the invitation of Nehru and 15 June 1964 was fixed as a tentative date of his visit to New Delhi.
From Rawalpindi, Abdullah went to Muzzaffarabad, the capital of the so called ‘Azad Kashmir’. This Pak occupied district was of vital importance for Kashmir Valley because the roads which linked it with rail-heads of Rawalpindi and Havelian passed through it. He was therefore keen to woo its non-Kashmiri people to unite it with independent Kashmir of his dreams. However, fate willed otherwise.
While Abdullah was still in Muzzaffarabad, Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru breathed his last at New Delhi on 27 May 1964. Nehru’s death at that juncture was a great blow to Sheikh Abdullah and his dream of independent Kashmir. He was confident of mould Nehru to hammer out a solution suiting his ambition and the plans of Pakistan.
Sheikh Abdullah cut short his visit and rushed back to Delhi. The special relationship between Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah was a major factor in the making of the Kashmir problem. Sheikh Abdullah’s dream of independent Kashmir was day dreaming as if Nehru would agree to his demand for maximum autonomy for J&K, Pakistan would have easily taken over rest of J&K if Nehru agreed for complete autonomy (like Bhutan).
Nehru’s death prevented further complications in the J&K crisis which started since independence. Due to Nehru’s blunder, India lost one-third of J&K (called PoK in India and Azad Kashmir in Pakistan) and about to lose rest of J&K soon. His death saved India for having the majority part of J&K. There was much in common between Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah. Both originally belonged to the Kaul clan of Kashmiri Pandits, both were voluptuous and ambitious and both shared weakness for women and good things of life. Sheikh Abdullah wanted to exploit Nehru to put through his three nation theory.
Jana Sangh (later it became BJP) leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee always described Sheikh Abdullah as a firm believer in ‘three-nation theory’. But Nehru was blind. Still the congress dynasts will love to live with snakes. Nehru was almost walking into Sheikh Abdullah’s minefield of in ‘three-nation theory’. Nehru’s death saved India from losing the remaining Jammu and Kashmir.
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