Indian Complaint to the
Security Council
Letter Dated January 1, 1948
from the Representative of
India
to the President of the Security
Council (S/628)
The
Government of India have instructed me to transmit to you the following
telegraphic communication:
"1. Under Article
35 of the Charter of the United Nations, any Member may bring any situation
whose continuance is likely to endanger the maintenance of international
peace and security to the attention of the Security Council. Such a situation
now exists between India and Pakistan owing to the aid which invaders,
consisting of nationals of Pakistan and of tribesmen from the territory
immediately adjoining Pakistan on the north-west, are drawing from Pakistan
for operations against Jammu and Kashmir, a State which has acceded to
the Dominion of India and is part of India. The circumstances of accession,
the activities of the invaders which led the Government of India to take
military action against them, and the assistance which the attackers have
received and are still receiving from Pakistan are explained later in this
memorandum. The Government of India request the Security Council to call
upon Pakistan to put an end immediately to the giving of such assistance,
which is an act of aggression against India. If Pakistan does not do so,
the Government of India may be compelled, in self-defence, to enter Pakistan
territory, in order to take military action against the invaders. The matter
is, therefore, one of extreme urgency and calls for immediate action by
the Security Council for avoiding a breach of international peace.
"2. From the
middle of September 1947, the Government of India had received reports
of the infiltration of armed raiders into the western parts of Jammu province
of Jammu and Kashmir State; Jammu adjoins West Punjab, which is a part
of the Dominion of Pakistan. These raiders had done a great deal of damage
in that area and taken possession of part of the territory of the State.
On 24 October, the Government of India heard of a major raid from the Frontier
Province of the Dominion of Pakistan into the Valley of Kashmir. Some two
thousand or more fully armed and equipped men came in motor transport,
crossed over to the territory of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, sacked
the town of Muzaffarabad, killing many people and proceeded along the Jhelum
Valley road towards Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir State.
Intermediate towns and villages were sacked and burnt, and many people
killed. These raiders were stopped by Kashmir State troops near Uri, a
town some fifty miles from Srinagar, for some time, but the invaders got
around them and burnt the power house at Mahora, which supplied electricity
to the whole of Kashmir.
"3. The position,
on the morning of 26 October, was that these raiders had been held by Kashmir
State troops and part of the civil population, who had been armed, at a
town called Baramulla. Beyond Baramulla there was no major obstruction
up to Srinagar. There was immediate danger of these raiders reaching Srinagar,
destroying and massacring large numbers of people, both Hindus and Muslims.
The State troops were spread out all over the State and most of them were
deployed along the western border of Jammu province. They had been split
up into small isolated groups and were incapable of offering effective
resistance to the raiders. Most of the State officials had left the threatened
areas and the civil administration had ceased to function. All that stood
between Srinagar and the fate which had overtaken the places en route followed
by the raiders was the determination of the inhabitants of Srinagar, of
all communities, and practically without arms, to defend themselves. At
this time Srinagar had also a large population of Hindu and Sikh refugees
who had fled there from West Punjab owing to communal disturbances in that
area. There was little doubt that these refugees would be massacred if
the raiders reached Srinagar.
"4. Immediately
after the raids into Jammu and Kashmir State commenced, approaches were
informally made to the Government of India for the aeceptance of the accession
of the State to the Indian Dominion. (It might be explained in parenthesis
that Jammu and Kashmir from a State whose ruler, prior to the transfer
of power by the United Kingdom to the Dominions of India and Pakistan,
had been in treaty relations with the British Crown, which controlled its
foreign relations ceased with the transfer of power on 15 August last,
and Jammu and Kashmir like other States acquired the right to accede to
either Dominion.)
"5. Events
moved with great rapidity, and the threat to the Valley of Kashmir became
grave. On 26 October, the ruler of the State, His Highness Maharaja Sir
Hari Singh, appealed urgently to the Government of India for military help.
He also requested that the Jammu and Kashmir State should be allowed to
accede to the Indian Dominion. An appeal for help was also simultaneously
received by the Government of India from the largest popular organization
in Kashmir, the National Conference, headed by Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah.
The Conference further strongly supported the request for the State's accession
to the Indian Dominion. The Government of India were thus approached not
only officially by the State authorities, but also on behalf of the people
of Kashmir, both for military aid and for the accession of the State to
India.
"6. The grave
threat to the life and property of innocent people in the Kashmir Valley
and to the security of the State of Jammu and Kashmir that had developed
as a result of the invasion of the Valley demanded immediate decision by
the Government of India on both the requests. It was imperative on account
of the emergency that the responsibility for the defence of Jammu and Kashmir
State should be taken over by a Government capable of discharging it. But,
in order to avoid any possible suggestion that India had utilised the State's
immediate peril for her own political advantage, the Government of India
made it clear that once the soil of the State had been cleared of the invader
and normal conditions restored, its people would be free to decide their
future by the recognized democratic methods of a plebiscite or referendum
which, in order to ensure complete impartiality, might be held under international
auspices.
"7. The Government
of Indian felt it their duty to respond to the appeal for armed assistance
because:
"(1) They could
not allow a neighbouring and friendly State to be compelled by force to
determine either its internal affairs or its external relations;
"(2) The accession
of Jammu and Kashmir State to the Dominion of India made India really responsible
for the
defence of the
State.
"8. The intervention
of the Government of India resulted in saving Srinagar. The raiders were
driven back from Baramulla to Uri and are held there by Indian troops.
Nearly 19,000 raiders face the Dominion forces in this area. Since operations
in the Valley of Kashmir started, pressure by the raiders against the western,
and south-western border of Jammu and Kashmir State had been intensified.
Exact figures are not available. It is understood, however, that nearly
15,000 raiders are operating against this part of the State. State troops
are besieged in certain areas. Incursions by the raiders into the State
territory, involving murder, arson, loot, and the abduction of women continue.
The booty is collected and carried over to the tribal areas to serve as
an inducement to the further recruitment of tribesmen to the ranks of the
raiders. In addition to those actively participating in the raid, tribesmen
and others, estimated at 100,000 have been collected in different places
in the districts of West Punjab bordering Jammu and Kashmir State, and
many of them are receiving military training under Pakistani nationals,
including officers of the Pakistan Army. They are looked after in Pakistan
territory, fed, clothed, armed and otherwise equipped, and transported
to the territory of Jammu and Kashmir State with the help, direct and indirect,
of Pakistani officials, both military and civil.
"9. As already
stated, the raiders who entered the Kashmir Valley in October came mainly
from the tribal areas to the north-west of Pakistan and, in order to reach
Kashmir, passed through Pakistan territory. The raids along the south-west
border of the State, which had preceded the invasion of the valley proper,
had actually been conducted from Pakistan territory, and Pakistan nationals
had taken part in them. This process of transmission across Pakistan territory
and untilisation of that territory as a base of operations against Jammu
and Kashmir State continues. Recently, military operations against the
western and south-western borders of the State have been intensified, and
the attackers consist of nationals of Pakistan as well as tribesmen. These
invaders are armed with modern weapons, including mortars and medium machine-guns,
wear the battle dress of regular soldiers and, in recent engagements, have
fought in regular battle formation and are using the tactics of modern
warfare. Man-pack wireless sets are in regular use and even mark V mines
have been employed. For their transport the invaders have all along used
motor vehicles. They are undoubtedly being trained and to some extent led
by regular officers of the Pakistan Army. Their rations and other supplies
are obtained from Pakistan territory.
"10. These
facts point indisputably to the conclusion
"(a) that the
invaders are allowed transit across Pakistan territory;
"(b) that they
are allowed to use Pakistan territory as a base of operations;
"(c) that they
include Pakistan nationals;
"(d) that they
draw much of their military equipment, transportation, and supplies (including
petrol) from Pakistan; and
"(e) that Pakistan
officers are training, guiding, and otherwise actively helping them.
"There is no
source other than Pakistan from which they could obtain such quantities
of modern military equipment, training or guidance. More than once, the
Government of India had asked the Pakistan Government to deny to the invaders
facilities which constitute an act of aggression and hostility against
India, but without any response. The last occasion on which this request
was made was on 22 December, when the Prime Minister of India handed over
personally to the Prime Minister of Pakistan a letter in which the various
forms of aid given by Pakistan to the invaders were briefly recounted and
the Government of Pakistan were asked to put an end to such aid promptly;
no reply to this letter has yet been received in spite of a telegraphic
reminder sent on 26 December.
"11. It should
be clear from the foregoing recital that the Government of Pakistan are
unwilling to stop the assistance in material and men which the invaders
are receiving from Pakistan territory and from Pakistan nationals, including
Pakistan Government personnel, both military and civil. This attitude is
not only un-neutral, but constitutes active aggression against India, of
which the State of Jammu and Kashmir forms a part.
"12. The Government
of India have exerted persuasion and exercised patience to bring about
a change in the attitude of Pakistan. But they have failed, and are in
consequence confronted with a situation in which their defence of Jammu
and Kashmir State is hampered and their measures to drive the invaders
from the territory of the State are greatly impeded by the support which
the raiders derive from Pakistan. The invaders are still on the soil of
Jammu and Kashmir and the inhabitants of the States are exposed to all
the atrocities of which a barbarous foe is capable. The presence, in large
numbers, of invaders in those portions of Pakistan territory which adjoin
parts of Indian territory other than Jammu and Kashmir State is a menace
to the rest of India. Indefinite continuance of the present operations
prolongs the agony of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, is a drain on India's
resources and a constant threat to the maintenance of peace between India
and Pakistan. The Government of India have no option, therefore, but to
take more effective military action in order to rid Jammu and Kashmir State
of the invader.
"13. In order
that the objective of expelling the invader from Indian territory and preventing
him from launching attacks should be quickly achieved, Indian troops would
have
to enter Pakistan territory; only thus could the invader be denied the
use of bases and cut off from his sources of supplies and reinforcements
in Pakistan. Since the aid which the invaders are receiving from Pakistan
is an act of aggression against India, the Government of India are entitled,
under international law, to send their armed forces across Pakistan territory
for dealing effectively with the invaders. However, as such action might
involve armed conflict with Pakistan, the Government of India, ever anxious
to proceed according to the principles and aims of the Charter of the United
Nations, desire to report the situation to the Security Council under Article
35 of the Charter. They feel justified in requesting the Security Council
to ask the Government of Pakistan.
"(1) to prevent
Pakistan Government personnel, military and civil from participating or
assisting in the invasion of Jammu and Kashmir State;
"(2) to call upon
other Pakistani nationals to desist from taking any part in the fighting
in Jammu and Kashmir State;
"(3) to deny to
the invaders: (a) access to any use of its territory for operations against
Kashmir, (b) military and other supplies, (c) all other kinds of aid that
might tend to prolong the present struggle.
"14. The Government
of India would stress the special urgency of the Security Council taking
immediate action on their request. They desire to add that military operations
in the invaded areas have, in the past few days, been developing so rapidly
that they must, in self-defence, reserve to themselves the freedom to
take, at any time when it may become necessary, such military action as
they may consider the situation requires.
"15. The Government
of India deeply regret that a serious crisis should have been reached in
their relation with Pakistan. Not only is Pakistan a neighbour but, in
spite of the recent separation, India and Pakistan have many ties and many
common interests. India desires nothing more earnestly than to live with
her neighbour-State on terms of close and lasting friendship. Peace is
to the interest of both States; indeed to the interests of the world. The
Government of India's approach to the Security Council is inspired by the
sincere hope that, through the prompt action of the Council, peace may
be preserved.
"16. The text
of this reference to the Security Council is being telegraphed to the "Government
of Pakistan."
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