This is how Jammu and Kashmir officially became part of India 71 years back
Here's a look at the facts about Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India.
Seventy-one years back in 1947, Jammu and Kashmir became a part of India with Maharaja Hari Singh executing the Instrument of Accession.
Here's a look at the facts about Jammu and Kashmir's accession to India:
1. On October 22 1947, Pakistan attacked northern Kashmir. Concerned about sovereignty, Maharaja Hari Singh sent his representative Sheikh Abdullah to Delhi requesting India's army intervention. (Photo: File Photo)
2. Maharaja Hari Singh executed the Instrument of Accession, a legal document under the provisions of the Indian Independence Act 1947 on October 26. (Photo: File Photo)
3. A letter was then sent to Maharaja Hari Singh by then Governor-General of India Lord Mountbatten accepting the accession on the very next day, October 27. (Photo: File Photo)
4. This is what the accession document read: “I hereby declare that I accede to the Dominion of India with the intent that the Governor General of India, the Dominion Legislature, the Federal Court and any other Dominion authority established for the purposes of the Dominion shall by virtue of this my Instrument of Accession but subject always to the terms thereof, and for the purposes only of the Dominion, exercise in relation to the State of Jammu & Kashmir (hereinafter referred to as “this State”) such functions as may be vested in them by or under the Government of India Act, 1935, as in force in the Dominion of India, on the 15th day of August 1947, (which Act as so in force is hereafter referred to as “the Act’).”
5. The Army launched an operation, a day after the then Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir Hari Singh signed the instrument of accession with the Union of India, to resist tribal raiders from Pakistan. (Photo: File Photo)
6. Close aide of Jawaharlal Nehru, Abdullah, was made the prime minister of Jammu and Kashmir. (Photo: AFP)