The Origins of a Dispute

Prem Shankar Jha wrote this book as a rebuttal to Alastair Lamb's book – “Kashmir - Disputed Legacy”. As Jha describes the book examines both versions of the history of the dispute. Jha focusses on the role played by the British govt, with the aid of contemporary accounts, documents, and the voluminous correspondence between and within the governments of Pakistan, India, and Britain, and declassified correspondence within the British government during the period. No attempt has been made to examine the voluminous secondary literature. While the arguments are too dense to be covered in a short primer, the book is divided into 9 chapters the titles are largely self-explanatory:-

• Two versions of history • Invasion or uprisings?
• Accession under duress?
• When was the instrument of Accession signed?
• The Gurdaspur Award • Britain and Kashmir Question – I • Britain and Kashmir Question – II • Britain and Kashmir Question – III • Myths exposed; an enigma resolved

The three dimensions related to the British examined by Jha are Pakistan’s accusation that Mountbatten and the British government conspired to ensure that Kashmir went to India, the British government and the involvement of Pakistan in the Pathan-invasion and British machinations at the UN. The last chapter addresses some of the other elements and summarises the Kashmir discourse under these heads :

• Hari Singh was weak, indecisive, and vacillating • The state forces were an undisciplined rabble that committed genocide on Muslims • The people of Kashmir rose in revolt against the Maharaja • Accession under duress • The enigma of Nehru’s behaviour • Why Hari Singh hesitated • Who gained and who lost: A tentative verdict • Kashmir at the UN: An assessment

Overall, a book that informs the reader about other dimensions to the standard discourse on Kashmir cited by many Western historians and Pakistanis. The book does require basic foundational knowledge of the past of Kashmir for better appreciation.