[Reader-list] 23 Reasons for Another Possible Charge of Sedition

[shuddha at sarai.net]

Dear All, this is a post I made two years ago on this list. It is a post that
can be usefully reposted in today's context, without changing a word. Those
baying for the blood of so called seditionists, might now start thinking about
what to do with their 'chacha-ji' aka the first Prime Minister of Independent
India, J.L. Nehru.

And, I suppose that those who are calling Arundhati Roy 'crazy' for her
'seditious' views, such as Ramchandra Guha, might have to take a close second
look at one of their idols, the self-same gentleman, Jawaharlal Nehru. 

But then, going by Dr. Guha's kind of history writing, I don't think he has
ever felt the need for a close look at anything much. And going by the
proclamations of our resident patriots, they have never felt the need to,
either.

best

Shuddha

[Reader-list] 23 reasons for another possible charge of sedition
August 25, 2008

Dear all

Since there is a lively debate on 'sedition' on this list, I thought  
I might add some more material for consideration. Were a plebiscite  
to be held in the Kashmir valley today, the verdict in all likelihood  
would not be favourable to India. But it is of course, the Indian  
government that first raised the question of a plebiscite when India  
took the Kashmir dispute to the United Nations. India, then, had  
promised to hear and respect the will of the people of Kashmir  
through the form of a plebiscite. The wheel of history, has however,  
come full circle. Today, asking for a plebiscite is tantamount, to  
some, to sedition.

Here, then, are 23 reasons to charge Jawaharlal Nehru, the first  
Prime Minister of India, with sedition. I am copying below a list of  
quotes from his official communications, writings and speeches as  
Prime Minister of India. It should be fairly easy to cross check  
these against the official records, Nehru's works and the archives.  
If they are indeed truly what Nehru said and thought, then he is not  
saying anything very different from what some of us have been saying,  
what many amongst the people of Kashmir are currently demanding, and  
crucially, what has been expressed by the commentators (Roy,  
Anklesaria Aiyar, Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Jug Suraiya, Rajmohan Gandhi)  
who have been condemned or publicly charged with harbouring seditious  
intentions.

Now, as we know, Pawan Durani has made it possible for us to think of  
Swami Vivekananda  and SIster Nivedita as rabid Anti-Hindu, Anti-
National 'Intellectuals' like Arundhati Roy and some of us on the  
Sarai list. Now, perhaps Aditya Raj Kaul, (in the spirit of the  
editorials he had posted yesterday) might want to add Nehru's name  
(albeit posthumously) to Roy's in the list of Indians who he might  
thinks would be suitable candidates for being charged with high treason.

And what makes it more interesting is that Jawaharlal Nehru comes  
from an impeccable bloodline that has its roots in a certain disputed  
territory. Someone please remind me which one it is.

regards

Shuddha

_____________
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU ON KASHMIR AND PLEBISCITE


1. “Our view which we have repeatedly made public is that the  
question of accession in any disputed territory or State must be  
decided in accordance with wishes of people and we adhere to this view.”

  JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, (in telegram No. 402-Primin-2227 dated 27 October  
1947 to Prime Minister of Pakistan repeating telegram addressed to  
Prime Minister of United Kingdom).

2. “In regard to accession also, it has been made clear that this is  
subject to reference to people of State and their decision.”

  JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, (in telegram No.413 dated 28 October 1947  
addressed to Prime Minister of Pakistan).

3. “ …….the people of Kashmir would decide the question of accession.  
It is open to them to accede to either Dominion then.”

  JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, (in telegram No.255 dated 31 October 1947  
addressed to Prime Minister of Pakistan).

4. “Kashmir should decide question of accession by plebiscite or  
referendum under international auspices such as those of the United  
Nations.”

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, (Letter No. 368-Primin dated 21 November 1947 to  
Prime Minister of Pakistan).

5. “We are anxious not to finalize anything in a moment of crisis and  
without the fullest opportunity to be given to the people of Kashmir  
to have their say. It is for them ultimately to decide.

6. “And let me make it 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 accession must be made by the people of that  
state.”

  JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, (Broadcast to the Nation: “All India Radio”: 2  
November 1947).

7. “The issue in Kashmir is whether violence and naked force should  
decide the future or the will of the people.”

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, (Statement in Indian Constituent Assembly; 25  
November 1947).

8. “We have not opposed at any time an over-all plebiscite for the  
State as a whole…….”

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, (in telegram dated 16 August 1950 addressed to the  
U.N. Representative for India and Pakistan: S/1791 : Anne 1(B).

9. “The most feasible method of ascertaining the wishes of the people  
was by fair and impartial plebiscite.”

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, (Joint press communique of the Prime Ministers of  
India and Pakistan issued in Delhi after their meeting on 20 August  
1953).

10. "People seem to forget that Kashmir is not a commodity for sale  
or to be bartered. It has an individual existence and its people must  
be the final arbiters of their future.”

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, (Report to the All-India Congress Committee, 6 July  
1951; The Statesman, New Delhi, 9 July 1951).

11. “Kashmir is not a thing to be bandied about between India and  
Pakistan but it has a soul of its own and an individuality of its  
own. Nothing can be done without the goodwill and consent of the  
people of Kashmir.”

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, (Statement in the Indian Parliament, 31 March 1955).

12. “We had given our pledge to the people of Kashmir, and  
subsequently to the United Nations; we stood by it and we stand by it  
today. Let the people of Kashmir decide.”

  JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, (Statement in the Indian Parliament, 12 February  
1951).

13. “We have taken the issue to the United Nations and given our word  
of honour for a peaceful solution. As a great nation, we cannot go  
back on it. We have left the question for final solution to the  
people of Kashmir and we are determined to abide by their decision.”

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU

(Amrita Bazar Patrika, Calcutta, 2 January 1952).

14. “If, after a proper plebiscite, the people of Kashmir said, ‘We  
do not want to be with India’, we are committed to accept that. We  
will accept it though it might pain us. We will not send any army  
against them. We will accept that, however hurt we might feel about  
it, we will change the Constitution, if necessary.”

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU (Statement in the Indian Parliament, 26 June 1952).

15. “I want to stress that it is only the people of Kashmir who can  
decide the future of Kashmir. It is not that we have merely said that  
to the United Nations and to the people of Kashmir; it is our  
conviction and one that is borne out by the policy that we have  
pursued, not only in Kashmir but every where.

16. “I started with the presumption that it is for the people of  
Kashmir to decide their own future. We will not compel them. In that  
sense, the people of Kashmir are sovereign.”

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU (Statement in Indian Parliament, 7 August 1952)

17. “The whole dispute about Kashmir is still before the United  
Nations. We cannot just decide things concerning Kashmir. We cannot  
pass a bill or issue an order concerning Kashmir or do whatever we want.

  JAWAHARLAL NEHRU (The Statesman, 1 May 1953)

18. “Leave the decision regarding the future of this State to the  
people of the State is not merely a promise to your Government but  
also to the people of Kashmir and to the world.”
JAWAHARLAL NEHRU (In telegram No. 25 dated 31 October 1947 addressed  
to Prime Minister of Pakistan).

19. “In regard to accession also it has been made clear that this is  
subject to reference to people of State and their decision.”

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU (In telegram No.413 dated 28 October 1947 addressed  
to Prime Minister of Pakistan).

20. “That Government of India and Pakistan should make a joint  
request to U.N.O. to undertake a plebiscite in Kashmir at the  
earliest possible date.”

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU (In telegram No. Primin-304 dated 8 November 1947  
addressed to Prime Minister of Pakistan).

21. “We have always right from the beginning accepted the idea of the  
Kashmir people deciding their fate by referendum or plebiscite………..”

22. “Ultimately, the final decision of settlement, which must come,  
has first of all to be made basically by the people of Kashmir…….”

JAWAHARLAL NEHRU (Statement at Press Conference in London, 16 January  
1951, The Statesman, 18 January 1951).

23. “But so far as the Government of India are concerned, every  
assurance and international commitment in regard to Kashmir stands.”

·JAWAHARLAL NEHRU (Statement in the Rajya Sabha; 18 May 1954).