Kashmir, Hyderabad and Junagadh. Of these Hyderabad was merged with India after a "Police action", after putting down the violent Razackers. Junagadh ultimately came to India, But it was in Kashmir that we had to face a problem created by Pakistan which continues to remain unsolved even today.
The Maharaja of Kashmir was Hari Singh who wanted to be independent without joining either India or Pakistan. It is a large state strategically placed at the crown of India with Pakistan to the west, Russia and China to the North, and Tibet in the east. After independence in (22-10-1947) 5000 tribals of Pakistan along with Pakistan regular soldiers overran the western part of Kashmir, while the Maharaj was still dithering about accession in it India. Quick action by Sardar Patel and by V. P. Menon who rushed to Srinagar, to make the Maharaja sign, the Instrument Accession on 26-10-1947 proved to be the beginning of the struggle against the invaders. The Indian army which entered the fray pushed back the invaders successfully by great acts of valour back to what is now called, the Line of Control (LOC). Had the Maharaja signed the agreement earlier, there would have been no Kashmir problem. Even afterwards, had not the Prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru taken the matter to the United Nations Security Council but allowed a free hand to the army under General Thimmaiah, they could have taken back Kashmir. In fact, the Pakis were on the run; the army wanted only a week to complete the operations and to throw the invaders back into Pakistan but they were overruled by Nehru.
Let us now look at some of the letters of Sardar Patel concerning the Kashmir situation. The letter of Sardar Patel written on 05-07-1946 to Mahatma Gandhi refers to Sheik Abdullah's internment. The Sardar's letter dated 08-07-1946 is about the ban on Panditji entering Kashmir. To remove the ban, the letter was written to Field Marshall Lord Wavell, New Delhi.
In 16-07-1946 Patel wrote to Gandhiji that Wavell said that the Ruler of Kashmir was getting in touch directly with Pandit Nehru, In 17-07-1946 Patel writes to Mahatma Gandhi mentioning the note of the Kashmir ruler regarding his intention to honour his association with India.
In 14-08-1948 Patel, speaking on the Commemoration of the First Anniversary of India's Freedom refers to the many trials and tribulations undergone by the national leaders and the sacrificed made by the freedom fighters. He also refered to the fact that காகிதச்சுவடி ஆய்வுகள்
493
