NEHRU’S speeches on KASHMIR

INDIA HAS NOTHING TO CONCEAL

(a statement from New Delhi, June 10, 1948)

From, Independence and After, A collection of the more important speeches of Jawaharlal Nehru from September 1946 to May 1949. The Publications Division, August, 1949

We have seen in the Press reports of a statement said to have been made by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan, on my letter to the President of the Security Council, dated 5th June, 1948. I do not propose to enter into the merits of Pakistan’s charges against India of genocide and non-implementation of agreements with Pakistan or against the accession of Junagarh to India. Our views have been repeatedly stated before the Security Council and also in statements made by me and some of my colleagues. We regard the accusations of genocide and non-implementation of agreements as baseless. That we have protested against the Security Council’s decision to include these charges within the scope of the functions of the Council’s Commission is certainly not due, as alleged by the Prime Minister of Pakistan, to a desire to conceal anything. Because India has nothing to conceal is no reason why India should acquiesce in an investigation by an outside body in something which, in our view, is outside the competence of that body and which has no foundation in fact.

The Prime Minister of Pakistan has also attributed India's decision to refer the Kashmir dispute to the Security Council to a desire to gain time in which to force a military decision. A reference to India’s complaint to the Security Council will show that, contrary to what Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan has suggested, India has all along insisted on the urgency of action by the Council on her complaint against Pakistan. If such action has not been taken, the fault is not India’s. In referring the Kashmir dispute to the India never intended to sacrifice her freedom of military action to rid the State of Jammu and Kashmir of all invaders and to restore peace. She has both the right and obligation to do so in respect of a State which has acceded to her.  It is strange that Mr Liaquat Ali Khan should complain of India's action in using her resources to achieve this legitimate and humane object.

Once more allegations have been made of atrocities by Indian troops against “defenceless old men, women and children in areas occupied by them.” I most emphatically repudiate this unfounded charge. The purpose of these accusations, often repeated but without any vestige of truth, can only be to divert the attention of the world from the barbarous atrocities which the raiders whom Pakistan has so actively been aiding and abetting have been committing on innocent civilians, regardless of creed, sex or age, in the areas which they have occupied or into which they have penetrated. Such crimes against humanity can never be concealed. Baramula, Bhimbar, Mirpur and Rajauri, to cite only a few instances, will always proclaim the infamy of their cruel assailants.

Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan has complained of Indian troops violating Pakistan’s frontiers and Indian airmen bombing villages well within Pakistan’s boundaries. Every complaint of the violation by our troops of Pakistan’s frontiers that could be investigated has been enquired into. Most of these complaints have, on enquiry, proved to be baseless. As is well known, the raiders, when forced to retire from State territory, often flee into Pakistan. Our troops chase them up to the frontier of the State; this is their duty as well as their right. As regards our airmen also, every complaint of Pakistan has been carefully investigated. In the particular case of Garhi Habibullah, which the Pakistan Prime Minister has quoted, a double investigation was made to establish the facts and the regret of the Government of India has already been communicated to the Government of Pakistan for the incident. The history of two world wars shows how impossible it is to avoid damage to neutrals through bona fide mistakes of observation. No aggression against Pakistan was intended.

Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan has referred to “the exemplary patience” shown by the Government of Pakistan “in the face of provocations.” He has conveniently forgotten the continuous and continuing provocation to which the Government of India have been subjected ever since the invasion, last October, by tribesmen of the valley of Kashmir, itself inspired by Pakistan, in the shape of every kind of aid given by Pakistan to the aggressor. More recently, Pakistan troops have been opposing Indian troops on the Uri front in strength. It is idle, in the circumstances, either to speak of the Pakistan Government’s “anxiety to maintain peaceful and friendly relations with India” or to suggest that Indian action in Kashmir constitutes “grave threat to the security of Pakistan” or a campaign of “murder and destruction”against the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir.

Far from seeking to murder and destroy Muslims in the State, Indian forces have been used to protect them against ruthless marauders whom Pakistan has let loose. An Interim Government, representative of the people, headed by a Muslim who has for years been the most outstanding leader of popular and progressive forces in Jammu and Kashmir, and composed of a majority of Muslims, has been foamed in the State. On the question of accession, India has repeatedly affirmed that the declared will of the people of Jammu and Kashmir shall prevail. Though, short of a declaration of war, Pakistan has done everything to help the invaders of and the insurgents within the State, the Government of India have acted with unexampled restraint in the interests of peace. They still desire to live on the friendliest possible terms with the neighbour State of Pakistan. The fulfilment of that desire, however, is more likely to be defeated than achieved by the kind of statement which Mr. Liaquat Ali Khan is reported to have made yesterday.

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