Instrument of Accession (Jammu and Kashmir)

The Jammu and Kashmir Instrument of Accession is a legal document executed by Maharaja Hari Singh, ruler of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, on 26 October 1947.

Parties

By executing an Instrument of Accession under the provisions of the Indian Independence Act 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh agreed to accede his state to the Dominion of India.

On 27 October 1947, the then Governor-General of India, Lord Mountbatten accepted the accession. In a letter sent to Maharaja Hari Singh on the same day, he said, "it is my Government's wish that as soon as law and order have been restored in Jammu and Kashmir and her soil cleared of the invader the question of the State's accession should be settled by a reference to the people."

Lord Mountbatten's remark, and an offer made by the Government of India to conduct a plebiscite or referendum to determine the future status of Kashmir, led to a dispute between India and Pakistan regarding the legality of the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India.

India claims that the accession is unconditional and final, while Pakistan maintains that the Maharaja acted under duress, that he had no right to accede to India at a time when a standstill agreement with Pakistan was still in force, and that he was not in control of his state and therefore not in a position and does not have the legitimacy to take such a decision.

The accession to India is celebrated on Accession Day, which is held annually on 26 October.

Text

The text of the Instrument of Accession, excluding the schedule mentioned in its third point, is as follows:Instrument of Accession of Jammu and Kashmir State dated 26 October, 1947
centralexcisehyderabad4.gov.in, accessed 28 October 2021

Schedule

The Schedule referred to in paragraph 3 of the Instrument of Accession reads as follows:Accession of Jammu and Kashmir State to India
unica.it, accessed 28 October 2021

Date

While the Instrument of Accession carries the date of 26 October, some scholars believe that it was actually signed on 27 October. However, the fact that the Governor General accepted the accession on 27 October, the day the Indian troops were airlifted into Kashmir, is generally accepted.

An Indian commentator, Prem Shankar Jha, has argued that the accession was actually signed by Hari Singh on 25 October 1947, just before he left Srinagar for Jammu.

Before taking any action on the Maharaja's request for help, the Government of India decided to send V. P. Menon, representing it, who flew to Srinagar on 25 October. On realizing the state of emergency, Menon advised the Maharaja to leave immediately for Jammu, for his own safety. He followed this advice and left Srinagar for Jammu that night, while Menon and Prime Minister Mahajan flew to Delhi early the next morning, 26 October. When they reached there, the Indian Government promised Menon and Mahajan military assistance for Jammu and Kashmir, but only after the Instrument of Accession had been signed. Hence, Menon immediately flew back to Jammu with the Instrument. The official version of events is that on his arrival, he contacted the Maharaja, who was asleep after a long journey, but who at once signed the Instrument. Menon then flew back immediately to Delhi with the legal documents on 26 October.

Commentary

In 1950, a United States Department of State memorandum prepared by American diplomats George C. McGhee and John D. Hickerson, approved by Secretary of State Dean Acheson, stated on the basis of an Office of Legal Counsel opinion that the Instrument of Accession could not finalize the accession to either dominion. According to this memorandum, the Attorney General for England and Wales and Foreign Office legal advisors felt that the accession was inconsistent with Kashmir’s obligations to Pakistan, and for that reason it was "perhaps invalid".

See also

* Instrument of Accession
* Instrument of Accession of Junagadh
* History of Kashmir
* Jammu and Kashmir Constitution Act 1939

References and notes

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Further reading

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External links

* Venkatesh Nayak
Exclusive: For the First Time, a True Copy of Jammu & Kashmir’s Instrument of Accession
The Wire, 26 October 2016.


* ttp://www.lib.berkeley.edu/SSEAL/SouthAsia/kashmir.html Conflict in Kashmir: Selected Internet Resources by the Library University of California, Berkeley, USA; University of California, Berkeley Library Bibliographies and Web-Bibliographies list

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