Annexation of Junagadh: Difference between revisions

The Nawab of Junagadh, [[Muhammad Mahabat Khanji III]], a Muslim whose ancestors had ruled Junagadh and small principalities for some two hundred years, decided that Junagadh should become part of Pakistan, much to the displeasure of many of the people of the state, an overwhelming majority of whom were [[Hindu]]s, about 80%. The Nawab acceded to the Dominion of Pakistan on 15 August 1947, against the advice of [[Lord Mountbatten]], arguing that Junagadh joined Pakistan by sea.{{Citation needed|date=January 2019}} The principality of [[Babariawad]] and [[Sheikh]] of [[Mangrol State|Mangrol]] reacted by claiming independence from Junagadh and accession to India,{{sfn|Raghavan, War and Peace in Modern India|2010|pp=35,&nbsp;38}} although the Sheikh of Mangrol withdrew his accession to India the very next day.<ref>{{harvtxt|Bangash, A Princely Affair|2015|p=113}}; {{harvtxt|Raghavan, War and Peace in Modern India|2010|p=38}}; {{harvtxt|Ankit, The accession of Junagadh|2016|p=377}}</ref> Muhammad Ali Jinnah waited for a month to accept the Instrument of Accession, to see if Nehru would make the argument that a Hindu majority under a Muslim ruler, than he would respond with Kashmir's case being the same. When Pakistan accepted the Nawab's [[Instrument of Accession]] on 16 September, the Government of India was outraged that [[Muhammad Ali Jinnah]] could accept the accession of Junagadh despite his argument that Hindus and Muslims could not live as one nation. [[Sardar]] [[Vallabhbhai Patel]] believed that if Junagadh was permitted to go to Pakistan, it would exacerbate the communal tension already simmering in Gujarat.

</ref> with scholars viewing the annexation as part of a wider programme by the Indian state of forcing or bullying the rulers of princely states to accede.<ref>{{harvtxt|Ankit, The accession of Junagadh|2016}}</ref><ref name="Talbot201622">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sXsmCwAAQBAJ&pg=PT136 |title=A History of Modern South Asia: Politics, States, Diasporas |date=28 January 2016 |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-21659-2 |pages=136– |quote=Accession was made more difficult in cases like Hyderabad, Junagadh...Patel and V.P. Menon bullied rulers to accede |author=Ian Talbot}}</ref>

</ref> However, [[All-India Muslim League|Muslim League]] politicians from [[Sindh]] had joined Junagadh's executive council since May, and the state's diwan was away for health reasons, leaving the charge with [[Shahnawaz Bhutto]].{{efn|[[Shahnawaz Bhutto]] was a politician from Sindh, and the father of the later Pakistan prime minister [[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]].}} Bhutto met Jinnah in July, who advised him to hold out till 15 August under any circumstances.<ref>{{harvp|Raghavan, War and Peace in Modern India|2010|pp=31–32}}; {{harvp|Ankit, The accession of Junagadh|2016|p=374}}</ref> Accordingly, the state continued to give the impression till the last moment that it was intending to join India along with other Kathiawar states.<ref>{{harvp|Raghavan, War and Peace in Modern India|2010|pp=31–32}}: "Junagadh in turn managed to mislead Delhi and other neighbouring states by issuing proclamations of Kathiawar unity."</ref>

Junagadh, under the amendments done to the Government of India Act 1935, had political bands with the neighboring states of Mangrol and Babariawad. In 1943, The latter states were tied to Junagadh through an attachment scheme, but when the act was adopted in 1947, the amendments had not carried over, and this lapse was the base on which VP Menon argued that Junagadh did not have a say in the affairs of Mangrol and Babariawad states.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last=Ankit|first=Rakesh|date=July 2016|title=The accession of Junagadh, 1947–48: Colonial sovereignty, state violence and post-independence India|url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0019464616651167|journal=The Indian Economic & Social History Review|language=en|volume=53|issue=3|pages=371–404|doi=10.1177/0019464616651167|s2cid=147765080|issn=0019-4646}}</ref> Nehru strategised that if Junagadh didn't recognize the accession of Mangrol and Babariawad and withdraw its forces from the latter, then he would send in forces, information of which he sent to Pakistan and Britain. Meanwhile, a study case of India regarding Junagadh was made in the international opinion through press communiques that provided information on Junagadh's geographical contiguity to Indian landscape and its demographics.<ref name=":0" />

[[Samaldas Gandhi]], [[U. N. Dhebar]] and members of Junagadh People's Conference met at the office of Gujarati daily ''Vande Mataram'' in Bombay on 19 August 1947. He was was specially invited to attend Kathiawar Political Confrence on 25 August 1947. A five-member committee called Junagadh Committee was formed on 15 September 1947. Gandhi met [[V. P. Menon]] and proposed to formed the a government-in-exile the ''Aarzi Hakumat'' or ''Provisional Government'' of Junagadh State. On 25 September 1947, the ''Aarzi Hukumat'' headed by Samaldas Gandhi was declared in a public meeting at Madhavbagh in Bombay.<ref name=":02">{{cite web |last=Jani|first=Shashikant Vishwanath|date=2010-01-01|title=ગાંધી, શામળદાસ લક્ષ્મીદાસ|url=https://gujarativishwakosh.org/%E0%AA%97%E0%AA%BE%E0%AA%82%E0%AA%A7%E0%AB%80-%E0%AA%B6%E0%AA%BE%E0%AA%AE%E0%AA%B3%E0%AA%A6%E0%AA%BE%E0%AA%B8-%E0%AA%B2%E0%AA%95%E0%AB%8D%E0%AA%B7%E0%AB%8D%E0%AA%AE%E0%AB%80%E0%AA%A6%E0%AA%BE/|url-status=live|access-date=2022-01-02|website=[[Gujarati Vishwakosh]]|language=gu}}</ref>

On 24 September, legal adviser Monckton told Mountbatten that Pakistan's consent would be needed for any plebiscite India wished to conduct in Junagadh because of the Nawab's accession to Pakistan.<ref>{{harvtxt|Ankit, The accession of Junagadh|2016|p=380}}: "So far so good, but Monckton had also informed Mountbatten that as Junagadh had signed an instrument of accession to Pakistan...Pakistan's recognition of any plebiscite that India may conduct had to be obtained."</ref>

After six months administration by Government of India, three civillian members (Samaldas Gandhi, Dayashankar Dave and Pushpaben Mehta) were inducted for the administration of Junagadh on 1 June 1948. The election of the seven constituencies of the Junagadh region for the Constitution Assembly of Saurashtra was declared in December 1948.  All seven members of Indian National Congress were elected unopposed and they all voted to merge Junagadh State with [[Saurashtra State]]. The merger was completed in January 1949.<ref name=":02"/>

{{Indo-Pakistani relations}}