January 25, 2002
To: Mr. Kofi Annan,
Nobel Laureate
Secretary General, United Nations
Dear Respected Honorable Secretary General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan:
I read with great interest your appeal, issued from Islamabad on January 24, 2002, for military de-escalation at the LoC between India and Pakistan, and also your remarks that the UN resolutions cannot be implemented and that there are elements in the UN resolutions that can help.
Of course it would be absurd to speak about the ‘plebiscite’ mentioned in the UNCIP resolutions of August 13, 1948 and of January 5, 1949 . Pakistan did not have the courage to face a plebiscite which it repeatedly avoided for reasons that have been narrated by Muslim scholars in their letter, dated August 14, 1951, to the UN Representative, Dr. Frank P. Graham . This letter exposed the hypocrisy behind Pakistan’s claim that they are well-wishers of Kashmiri Muslims.
Here is a significant quote from that famous letter:
"It is a strange commentary on political beliefs that the same Muslims of Pakistan who like the Muslims of Kashmir to join them invaded the state, in October 1947, killing and plundering Muslims in the state and dishonouring Muslim women, all in the interest of what they described as the liberation of Muslims of the State."
(Reference: http://kashmir-information.com/LegalDocs/misc.html )
Details about how and why Pakistan avoided the plebiscite are well documented, and I suppose you can go through ‘How Pakistan Avoided Plebiscite’ from the book "The Kashmir Story" by B. L. Sharma (Publishers: Asia Publishing House, Copyright © B. L. Sharma,1967)
(Reference: http://meadev.nic.in/plebiscite2.html )
Honorable Secretary General, it would interest you to note that the will of the people of Jammu and Kashmir is already expressed in the Section 3 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir which states that the state of Jammu and Kashmir "is and shall remain an integral part of India". Furthermore, as per Section 147 of the same Constitution, above mentioned Section 3 is not amendable.
Finally, in the context of your appeal for military de-escalation at the LoC, which is well inside the Indian territory as you must be aware and must remain committed to make the world aware, I bring to your notice the relevant parts of the UNCIP resolutions on this issue:
From: UNCIP Resolution, August 13, 1948. Part-II-A
1. As the presence of troops of Pakistan in the territory of the State of Jammu and Kashmir constitutes a material change in the situation since it was represented by the Government of Pakistan before the Security Council, the Government of Pakistan agrees to withdraw its troops from that State.
2. The Government of Pakistan will use its best endeavour to secure the withdrawal from the State of Jammu and Kashmir of tribesmen and Pakistani nationals not normally resident therein who have entered the State for the purpose of fighting.
Part-II-B
1. When the Commission shall have notified the Government of India that the tribesmen and Pakistani nationals referred to in Part II, A, 2 hereof have withdrawn, thereby terminating the situation which was represented by the Government of India to the Security Council as having occasioned the presence of Indian forces in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, and further, that the Pakistani forces are being withdrawn from the State of Jammu and Kashmir, the Government of India agrees to begin to withdraw the bulk of its forces from that State in stages to be agreed upon with the Commission.
2. Pending the acceptance of the conditions for a final settlement of the situation in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, the Indian Government will maintain within the lines existing at the moment of the cease-fire the minimum strength of its forces which in agreement with the Commission are considered necessary to assist local authorities in the observance of law and order The Commission will have observers stationed where it deems necessary.
From the Supplementary Resolution of UNCIP, dated January 5, 1949 :
After implementation of Parts I and II of the Commission’s resolution of 13 August 1948, and when the Commission is satisfied that peaceful conditions have been restored in the State, the Commission and the Plebiscite Administrator will determine, in consultation with the Government of India, the final disposal of Indian and State armed forces, such disposal to be with due regard to the security of the State and the freedom of the plebiscite.
Honorable Secretary General Sir, I trust that having been acclaimed as a champion of peace, you will also emerge as a champion of justice. Toward that I trust that you would immediately ask Pakistan to vacate ‘Pakistan Occupied Kashmir’. This would be the very first step toward a military de-escalation in the region.
Quite importantly, the issue of plebiscite is now irrelevant, since the will of the people of Jammu and Kashmir is already, firmly, established as noted above, and since Pakistan has coercively altered the demography of the state of Jammu and Kashmir making it absurd to speak of e plebiscite now. However, certainly, certain elements of the UN resolutions can be useful, as you noted in Islamabad yesterday, and sure enough the withdrawal of Pakistan from PoK is an essential first element in this regard.
Finally, I summarize below a few remarks made by world leaders about the choice made by the people of Jammu and Kashmir:
1955 December, 10: Soviet leaders Bulganan and Kruschev arrived in Srinagar and declared that Kashmir question as one of states of India has been settled by people of Kashmir.
1956 March, 16: China's Chou En Lai said that the people of Kashmir have already expressed their will regarding accession to India.
1956 November, 17: State Constituent Assembly adopted Constitution, interalia, declaring State as inseparable part of India.
1956 November, 20: Former British Prime Minister Attlee says " Kashmir has definitely opted for Union with India."
1962 April 27: Soviet delegates to Security Council said "Question of Kashmir as integral part of India has been decided by the people of Kashmir."
For Immediate Media Release, please:
(Reference - Official Website of J&K Government in particular, see: http://jammukashmir.nic.in/profile/majev.htm#1 )
With best regards, and full trust in you as someone who would emerge as a champion of justice,
Yours sincerely,
Pranawa C. Deshmukh
Coordinator, Jammu and Kashmir Project,
India Awareness Foundation (IAF) - previously - Bharat Awareness Forum (BAF),
1765 Lazy River Lane, Atlanta, Ga. 30350,
USA & Convener, CIFJKINDIA (http://www.cifjkindia.org)
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