The drama of Partition
BOOK EXTRACT
| Government House, Lahore: Jinnah speaking on telephone. |
| Jinnah: General Auchinleck "" you are responsible for partitioning the army. I order you to send the Pakistani forces immediately to Kashmir to protect the Muslims there. |
| Auchinleck: [Voice on air] Sir, Pakistan does not have an army at this stage. We have partitioned barely half the army so far. |
| Jinnah: How can you tell me that! The Indian army is already in Kashmir. It has illegally occupied Kashmir. |
| Auchinleck: No Sir. The presence of Indian troops in Kashmir is due to the fact that the Maharaja has acceded to India. Any action by the Pakistani army would be interpreted as hostile, enemy action. |
| Jinnah: What nonsense. They are trying to massacre the Muslims there "" we are fully entitled to go to their support. |
| Auchinleck: Sir, I'm afraid I will be compelled to withdraw all British officers in those circumstances. |
| [Jinnah bangs the phone down. He paces the room then sits down with frozen face] |
| [After a moment Mountbatten and Ismay are announced and ushered in and seated] |
| Jinnah: Welcome to Lahore. [Lashes out] I am astounded at the speed with which your Indians have been able to send troops to Srinagar. They should have communicated with Pakistan on a matter of such intimate concern to us as the accession of Kashmir. |
| Mountbatten: We had no news till the evening of the 24th and on the 25th we sent up reconnaissance parties to verify the situation. It was only on the 26th that we decided to send in the troops since the Maharaja had announced his intention of acceding on that date. |
| Jinnah: We should have been informed on the 25th. |
| Mountbatten: I really could not credit you, Mr Jinnah, with allowing an armed incursion of the tribes to take place and wanted to verify it before making so serious an accusation. |
| Jinnah: The accession of Kashmir was not bona fides [sic]! It rests on fraud and violence and can never be accepted by Pakistan. |
| Mountbatten: The Maharaja was fully entitled to make such an accession and it is perfectly legal and valid. |
| Jinnah: No, it has come at the end of a long intrigue and has been brought about by violence. His premier had advised the Maharaja to remain independent. India has committed violence by sending her troops into Srinagar. |
| Mountbatten: The Maharaja was most anxious to remain independent. Nothing but the terror of the invasion which Pakistan sent in would have made him accede to India. |
| Jinnah: [Angry] The Government of India encouraged the Kashmir government to massacre Hindus in Poonch and Mirpur "" the tribes were furious. |
| Mountbatten: I am the head of the Government of India "" and it is obvious nonsense to say that we encouraged any massacres. |
| Jinnah: Very well, it was the Congress party that did it. It encouraged the Maharaja who incited his Dogras against innocent Muslims. Even today there are 90,000 Muslims in Jammu who are in danger of being massacred. |
| Mountbatten: Mr Nehru has expressed horror at the massacres and issued stringent orders to the army to stop them. I myself have supplemented his instructions. We already have a brigade of 2,000 men in Srinagar; a 4th battalion will be flown in today and a 5th battalion within the next two days. There will be no difficulty in holding the place "" the prospect of the tribes entering Srinagar is remote. So how do you propose to stop the fighting? |
| Jinnah: Both sides should call off their forces simultaneously and should withdraw at once. I would like to fly up to Srinagar with you. The two of us can settle this in one day. |
| Mountbatten: I am rather surprised at the degree of control you appear to have over the raiders. |
| Jinnah: I will threaten them that if they do not stop fighting the forces of Pakistan will join the Indian forces in crushing them. |
| Ismay: The Indian forces are on the outskirts of Kashmir in a defensive role "" they have nowhere to withdraw to. All the tribes have to do is to stop attacking. |
| The Last Durbar A Dramatic Presentation of the Division of British India Author Shashi Joshi Publisher Roli PAGES xx+194 Price Rs 250 |