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NEHRU’S speeches on KASHMIR |
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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.
For a Word document containing all these speeches, click here. (190KB). For full text of the speeches, click the respective link. Highlights are given on this page.
A talk broadcast from New Delhi, November 2, 1947.
we made a condition that the accession would have to be considered by the people of Kashmir later when peace and order were established. We were anxious not to finalise anything in a moment of crisis and without the fullest opportunity being given to the people of Kashmir to have their say. It was for them ultimately to decide.
And here let me make clear that it has been our policy all along that where there is a dispute about the accession of a State to either Dominion, the decision must be made by the people of that State. It was in accordance with this policy that we added a proviso to the Instrument of Accession of Kashmir.
We decided to send troops on the afternoon of the 26th October. Srinagar was in peril and the situation was urgent arid critical. Our staff worked hard day and night and at daybreak on the 27th our troops went by air. They were small in numbers to begin with but immediately on arrival they rushed into action to stop the invader. Their gallant Commander, a brave officer of our Army, was killed the next day.
Our troops are there to help in this struggle, and as soon as Kashmir is free from the invader our troops will have no further necessity to remain there and the fate of Kashmir will be left in the hands of the people of Kashmir.
We on our part have no intention of using our troops in Kashmir when the danger of invasion is passed.
We have declared that the fate of Kashmir is ultimately to be decided by the people. That pledge we have given, and the Maharaja has supported it, not only to the people of Kashmir but to the world. We will not and cannot back out of it. We are prepared when peace and law and order have been established to have a referendum held under international auspices like the United Nations. We want it to be a fair and just reference to t the people and we shall accept their verdict. I can imagine no fairer and juster offer.
A statement made in the Constituent Assembly (Legislative), New Delhi, November 25, 1947.
We did not want a mere accession from the top but an association in accordance with the will of her people.
We made it clear to both of them that while we would welcome the accession of Kashmir we did not want any hurried or forced accession and we would rather wait for the people to decide.
In accepting the accession, however, ... we made it clear that as soon as law and order had been restored in Kashmir and her soil cleared of the invaders, the question of the State’s accession should be settled by reference to the people.
We have gone to Kashmir to protect the people and as soon as this duty is discharged our forces need not remain there and we shall withdraw our forces.
After that let the people of Kashmir decide and we shall accept their decision.
... we have suggested that when the people are given the chance to decide their future, this should be done under the supervision of an impartial tribunal such as the United Nations Organization.
The issue in Kashmir is whether violence and naked force should decide the future or the will of the people. A statement made at a Press Conference, New Delhi, January 2, 1948
A statement from New Delhi, January 15, 1948.
A statement made in the Constituent Assembly (Legislative), New Delhi, March 5, 1948.
Ultimately there is no doubt in my mind that in Kashmir as elsewhere, the people of Kashmir will decide finally, and all that we wish is that they should have freedom of decision without any external compulsion.
... even our armies could not have succeeded except with the help and co-operation of the people of Kashmir.
I am prepared to admit at any stage and at any time the errors of our own people, for I do not think that it is good for the individual or the nation to lapse from truth.
... at every stage and at every step, I consulted Mahatma Gandhi and had his approval (presumably he gave his approval subject to the plebiscite).
Even at the moment of accession we went out of our way to make a unilateral declaration that we world abide by the will of the people of Kashmir as declared in a plebiscite or referendum.
... we are prepared to have a plebiscite, with every protection for fair voting, and to abide by the decision of the people of Kashmir.
A statement from New Delhi, June 10, 1948
India has repeatedly affirmed that the declared will of the people of Jammu and Kashmir shall prevail.
A speech delivered at the Constituent Assembly (Legislative), New Delhi, September 7, I948.
I, nevertheless, mention this matter merely to show how the moral aspect of this question has always troubled me. |
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