Nehru's petition seeking UN intervention in J&K illegal: Subramanian Swamy

Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy has demanded the withdrawal of former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru's petition that sought UN intervention in Kashmir. In a tweet, Swamy termed the petition as 'illegal' since it had been filed by Nehru without cabinet approval.

Speaking to IANS on Tuesday, Swamy said that he assumed that cabinet approval for UN intervention in Kashmir was not taken because Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was still alive then and would have blocked it.

Prime Minister Nehru had appealed to the UN Security Council through the petition filed in January 1948 following the outbreak of the first war between India and Pakistan. On the basis of this petition, the Security Council had established the UN Commission for India and Pakistan to mediate between the two countries.

"Now Namo Govt must withdraw the Petition filed by Nehru in the UNSC seeking UN intervention in Kashmir. The Petition was filed without Cabinet approval hence illegal," tweeted Swamy.

Swamy said he had accessed a copy of Nehru's petition during his tenure as a cabinet minister in the government of Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar in 1990-91.

"I had had an opportunity to see the documents connected to Kashmir since I was dealing with the kidnapping of Saifuddin Soz's daughter by the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF). The petition filed through the Minister of External Affairs, that is Nehru, did not have cabinet approval and was hence ipso facto illegal," said Swamy.

Sardar Patel was the Union Home Minister in Nehru's cabinet and died in December 1950.

"Sardar Patel would have blocked the petition. He had made it clear that once the instrument of accession was signed, there was nothing further to adjudicate. The petition is a dead letter and successive governments have all the rights to withdraw it," said Swamy.

According to Swamy, the UN resolution had set fulfilment of two conditions upon Pakistan and India before holding a plebiscite in the province of Jammu and Kashmir. The plebiscite, a part of the Mountbatten plan, was to decide if people of princely states wanted to join India, Pakistan or remain independent.

The UN resolution asked Pakistan to remove all its troops and irregulars from entire Kashmir while India was asked to retain only as many troops within the territory that would suffice for maintaining law and order.

"Pakistan never completed the task mandated upon it by the UN. This is hence a secondary reason as to why a plebiscite could never be held in J&K," said Swamy.