JK's accession with India complete and final: Nirmal Singh

J&K's accession with Union of India was "complete and final" as Instrument of Accession signed by the erstwhile ruler of the state was same as signed by other princely states, Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh said today.
"Maharaja Hari Singh deserves a salute for his decision on accession, which was legally and constitutionally valid and people from all three regions of the state had also endorsed it," he said while addressing the accession day of the state with the Union of India today.
"The Instrument of Accession signed by Maharaja was the same as signed by the rulers of other princely states and hence the accession is complete and final," he said.

Singh said that, however, it was a "blunder" on part of the then Indian government that it trusted Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah and handed over the reins of the state to him, forcing Maharaja to leave the state, which later proved responsible for the present state of affairs.
Commenting on formation of the coalition government in Jammu and Kashmir, he said, "We have formed government in J&K for the first time and every decision is aimed at ending corruption, providing good governance and ensuring development of all the three regions."
Hitting out at the Opposition, Singh said that the Congress, National Conference (NC) and the Panther's party were feeling "frustrated over the popularity of coalition government and hence making irresponsible, false and misleading statements".

Addressing the gathering, State BJP president and the Member Parliament Jammu, Jugal Kishore Sharma said, that the decision taken by Maharaja to sign instrument of Accession and accede with Indian Union was a well established fact and only few disgruntled elements raise objections, which was very unfortunate.
"The whole of the Jammu and Kashmir state, including Gilgilt-Baltistan acceded to Indian Union. It was unfortunate that the Indian forces were not allowed to liberate Pakistan occupied Kashmir, which still remains an unfinished agenda", he said.