Was Instrument of Accession signed on Aug 26, 1947? By Zahir-ud-Din Published: Mon, 26 August 2013 12:51 AM Srinagar: A rare historic document has raised more questions about the credibility and authenticity of the Instrument of Accession. Was the instrument executed on August 26, 1947 (if at all it was)? That something is fishy with the document is proved by overwriting at two places changing the date from August 26 to October 26, 1947. Interestingly the Accession document that India has preserved in a Delhi museum is free from overwriting and shows the date of execution as October 26, 1947, a day when it could not be signed by any means. Meher Chand Mahajan in his book ‘Looking Back’ gives the vital information on pages 152, 153 and 154. “The cabinet meeting in the evening affirmed the decision of the Defence Council to give military aid to the Maharaja to drive out the tribesmen. Around dinner time, the Prime Minister (Jawaharlal Nehru) sent a message to me that with Mr. V.P. Menon and I should fly to Jammu to inform the Maharaja of this decision and also to get his signature on certain supplementary documents about the accession. I frankly informed him that I was not prepared to go to Jammu till I get news from my aerodrome officer at Srinagar that the Indian forces had landed there. Panditji did not insist and said, ‘You can fly to Jammu next morning’.” Mahajan says on page 154: “In the early hours of the morning of the 27th, I could hear the noise of the planes flying over Sardar Baldev Singh’s house and carrying military personnel to Srinagar. At about 9 am I got a message from the aerodrome officer at Srinagar that troops had landed there and had gone into action. On receipt of this message, I flew to Jammu with Mr. V.P. Menon.” On the same page he further says: “Mr. Menon and myself met his Highness. After some discussion, formal documents were signed which Menon took back to New Delhi while I stayed at Jammu.” So Menon was in Delhi on October 26 and flew to Jammu the next morning (October 27). Who signed the Instrument of Accession at Jammu on October 26? An UNI report dated October 28, 1999 while giving details of a seminar, said that Maharaja Hari Singh’s son and former Sadre Risayat Dr. Karan Singh was a witness to the signing of the Instrument of Accession. Dr. Karan Singh did not contest the UNI news for obvious reasons and the confusion continues to this day. Surprisingly, Karan Singh in his address did not claim to be a witness to the signing of the Instrument of Accession. Instead, he said, “It was in my presence that the Maharaja ordered Brigadier Rajender Singh to stop the intruders till the Indian army arrived.” The document that has now come to the fore comprises para 8 and 9 of page second of the `Instrument of Accession’. It bears the signature of Maharaja Hari Singh and Governor General of India, Lord Mountbatten. Para 8 reads: “Nothing in this Instrument affects the continuance of my sovereignty in and over the state, or, as provided by or under this Instrument, the exercise of my powers and rights now exercised by me as ruler of this state or the validity of any law at present in force in this state.”
Posted on: Mon, 26 Aug 2013 09:39:47 +0000
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