{"id":332,"date":"2012-03-02T11:22:25","date_gmt":"2012-03-02T05:52:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/?p=332"},"modified":"2012-03-03T19:22:17","modified_gmt":"2012-03-03T13:52:17","slug":"indra-sheikh-agreement-1975-revisited","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/point-of-view\/kashmir-talk\/indra-sheikh-agreement-1975-revisited\/","title":{"rendered":"Indira-Sheikh Agreement 1975 Revisited"},"content":{"rendered":"<\/fb:like>

\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n

 <\/p>\n

INDIRA-SHEIKH ACCORD<\/span><\/strong><\/h1>\n

ABDUL MAJID ZARGAR<\/h3>\n

The Indira-Sheikh accord of 1975 is in news once again. Speaking on the sidelines of a function \u201cSakshaar Bharat Yatra\u201d organized by JK Bharat Vigyan, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, the union Minster of New & renewable energy\u00a0 has\u00a0 said that nothing was settled in 1975 accord. Earlier his brother Dr. Mustafa kamal stated that the accord was not signed by Sheikh Mohd. Abdullah\u00a0 blissfully forgetting that his father assumed the chief Minstership of the state pursuant to this accord only. On the other hand the State Congress leaders believe that Centre-State relations were well defined & settled in 1975 accord thus treating the matter as closed & further concessions as non-negotiable.<\/p>\n

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In picture : Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Abdullah<\/p><\/div>\n

\u00a0It is, therefore in the fitness of things to revisit the accord which was preceded by Beg-Parthasarthy talks\u00a0 spanning\u00a0 over almost three years. Before the start of these talks, \u00a0Mirza Mohd. Afzal Beg thought it appropriate enough to make it known that Plebiscite was no longer an issue. The dispute with New-Delhi was over the quantum of autonomy. This was confirmed by Sheikh Mohd. Abdullah in an interview\u00a0 to London Times on 8th<\/sup> March 1972.<\/p>\n

On 24th<\/sup> March 1972, Indira Gandhi informed Parliament that she welcomed the change in the thinking of Abdullah for having expressed his willingness to accept the finality of Kashmir accession. Thus started the \u00a0process of negotiations between\u00a0 Parthasarthy & beg, the former representing Indira Gandhi & the latter Sheikh Mohd. Abdullah. Beg began by asking for the transfer of the\u00a0 fundamental rights provisions of the Indian Constitution to the J&K Constitution. He also demanded removal of the authority of the Election Commission and abrogation of article 356 to prevent arbitrary imposition of President\u2019s rule. None of these were accepted and as Indira Gandhi informed Parliament later on 24th<\/sup> Feburuary 1975 that it was not found possible to agree to any of these proposals and relations between Kashmir & Indian Union would continue as before. In the same breath she praised Abdullah as a statesman having strong views on these issues but nevertheless\u00a0 having agreed to drop them in broader national interests .Beg-Parthasarthy talks finally culminated \u00a0in an agreement, known as agreed conclusions, which was signed<\/em><\/strong> on 13th<\/sup> November 1974 and forwarded \u00a0to principal parties, Indira & Abdullah for final approval \u00a0& taking it to its logical conclusion.<\/p>\n

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Indira Gandhi mourning at Sheikh Abdullah's death<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

The salient features of the agreement were\u00a0 that Article 370 was retained and so were the changes made after 1953 to reduce kashmir\u2019s\u00a0 autonomy. The State Could, however, review\u00a0 post 1953 legislation on the concurrent list which would be\u00a0 sympathetically\u00a0 considered by the President. The key provision enabling the centre to appoint Governor under article 356 was unaffected. The agreement \u00a0further provided that Parliament will continue to have power to make laws relating to prevention of activities directed towards disclaiming, questioning or disrupting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India or bringing about cession of a part of Indian territory. There was no agreement on restoration of nomenclature of Wazir-i-Azam & Sadr-i-Riyasat which was left to the decision of Principal parties. Incidentally Sheikh had earlier informed\u00a0 Parthasarthy, through a confidential letter dated 23rd<\/sup> August 1974 \u00a0that he will not assume seat of power unless \u00a01953 position is reverted to \u00a0implying thereby\u00a0 restoration of \u00a0\u00a0nomenclatures \u00a0for Chief Minster & Governor as Wazir-i- Azam & Sadr-i- Riyasat respectively \u00a0(Noorani-Constitutional History page 403)<\/p>\n

While the stage now shifted to principal parties, It soon dawned upon Abdullah \u00a0that it is impossible to gain anything substantial on Autonomy even after jettisoning the plebiscite\u00a0 slogan. Having \u00a0burnt his boats by publicly\u00a0 dropping the\u00a0 plebiscite demand, Abdullah was in no position to resist. The long period \u00a0in Jail had made him tiresome. He now liked a family life and his family liked good things of life. Both he & Beg were getting in on age and temptation to return to position of power & prestige was pressing. An exchange of letters\u00a0 on February 12, 1975 finally \u00a0clinched the deal on the basis of the Agreed Conclusions.<\/p>\n

Two people who played a key role in the eventual\u00a0 rehabilitation of Sheikh Abdullah in mainstream politics\u00a0 were D.P.Dhar & P.N. Haksar.\u00a0 In an earlier\u00a0 note dated 28th<\/sup> December\u00a0 1974, Dhar told the Prime Minster Indira Gandhi\u00a0 that Abdullah wanted an election in March 1975 as the mechanism for becoming Chief Minster( M.J.Akbar Behind the vale -page 186). But Abdullah was not allowed this luxury.\u00a0 He was, instead offered\u00a0 to head a congress supported Ministry for which Syed Mir Qasim was\u00a0 persuaded \u00a0to resign to pave way for him. Indira Gandhi had two possible\u00a0 reasons to do this. One to Keep Abdullah continuously \u00a0on\u00a0 tenterhooks and second not to allow him to\u00a0\u00a0 gain much popularity, by winning an election, to the detriment of Congress interests in the State .<\/p>\n

Abdullah was finally sworn in as Chief Minster of the State on 25th<\/sup> Feberuary 1975 but not before some hiccups. Indira Gandhi\u2019s statement in Parliament of 24th<\/sup> Feburuary that relations between Kashmir & Indian Union would continue as before, was broadcast\u00a0 by All India Radio repeatedly\u00a0 till the swearing Ceremony\u00a0 was\u00a0 scheduled to begin in Jammu. This caused\u00a0 widespread \u00a0demonstrations & anger \u00a0in Srinagar condemning Indira-Sheikh\u00a0 accord. Sheikh was livid with rage & \u00a0did not turn up for swearing ceremony .In his opinion, New-Delhi\u00a0 had \u00a0\u00a0belittled \u00a0\u00a0his position \u00a0by giving an impression that he had sold Kashmir for the chair of a Chief Minster.\u00a0 Indira instructed \u00a0Mir Qasim, the outgoing Chief Minster, to placate and persuade Abdullah to take the oath and in case of his failure to turn-up within half an hour, to himself substitute for Abdullah & take the oath. The decision was conveyed to Abdullah who took the hint and as they say-rest is history.<\/p>\n

For Abdullah the plebiscite phase was finally over. He accepted the ratification of accession by the J&K Assembly under Bakshi. He even conceded the right of being called as Wazir-i- Azam, when Indira told him that the \u00a0clock cannot move backwards. The slogan \u201cRai Shumari Fowran Karaon<\/em><\/strong>\u201d was buried for ever and the political struggle spanning between\u00a0 1953-75, was\u00a0 referred to as political\u00a0 maundering (Siyasi Awargardgi<\/em><\/strong>) insulting the sacrifices of \u00a0countless\u00a0 people\u00a0 who had gifted\u00a0 their life & treasure \u00a0for\u00a0 the cause. Pakistan too was\u00a0 shocked\u00a0 with Sheikh\u2019s somersault and Prime Minster Bhutoo gave a call for Hartal which was widely observed in the valley.<\/p>\n

The Indira-Sheikh accord, generally viewed as a sell-out of Kashmir cause by Abdullah did restore the power chair to him\u00a0 but it brought him at par with ordinary politicians \u00a0like \u00a0Sadiq & Mir Qasim. It is worth mentioning here that Abdullah never disputed the contents of the accord during his lifetime. He assumed power, enjoyed it and then passed it on to his son solely because of the accord. That being so it does not behoove of his inheritors \u00a0to say now\u00a0 that nothing was settled in 1975 accord. That right vests with people who were not part of the accord.<\/p>\n

\u00a0(The author is a practicing Chartered Accountant. Feed back at amzargar1@indiatimes.com<\/a>)<\/address>\n<\/fb:like><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

 
\nINDIRA-SHEIKH ACCORD
\nABDUL MAJID ZARGAR
\nThe Indira-Sheikh accord of 1975 is in news once again. Speaking on the sidelines of a function \u201cSakshaar Bharat Yatra\u201d organized by JK Bharat Vigyan, Dr. Farooq Abdullah, the union Minster of New & renewable energy\u00a0 has\u00a0 said that nothing was settled in 1975 accord. Earlier his brother Dr. Mustafa kamal stated that the accord was not signed by Sheikh Mohd. Abdullah\u00a0 blissfully forgetting that his father assumed the chief Minstership of the state pursuant to this accord only. On the other hand the State Congress leaders believe that Centre-State relations were well defined & settled in 1975 accord thus treating the matter as closed & further concessions as non-negotiable.
\n\u00a0It is, therefore in the fitness of things to revisit the accord which was preceded by Beg-Parthasarthy talks\u00a0 spanning\u00a0 over almost three years. Before the start of these talks, \u00a0Mirza Mohd. Afzal Beg thought it appropriate enough to …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":368,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[28,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-kashmir-talk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=332"}],"version-history":[{"count":22,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":403,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/332\/revisions\/403"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/368"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=332"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/peacewatchkashmir.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}