How Kashmir became the part of India

New Delhi, Aug 06: 'Kashmir' has always been a subject of debate between the two nations India and Pakistan. For both the nations it is the bone of contention. Before Independence, Kashmir was an independent princely state under the realm of Maharaja Hari Singh, the King of Dogra dynasty of India.

Series of events how Kashmir was included in India:

1. As per chronology, at the time of the British withdrawal from India, Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of the state, preferred to become independent and remain neutral between the successor dominions of India and Pakistan.
2. Due to an uprising against Hari Singh and attack by raiders from the neighbouring Northwest Frontier Province, supported by Pakistan, put an end to his plans for independence.
3. Hari Singh, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, signed on a legal document known as the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947, and agreed that the State would become a part of India. The western and northern districts presently known as Azad Kashmir (independent Kashmir) and Gilgit-Baltistan passed to the control of Pakistan, while the remaining territory became the Indian state Jammu and Kashmir.
4. Hari Singh had earlier signed a 'standstill' agreement with Pakistan for uninterrupted trade and communication in Kashmir. Hence, the Pakistani government contested the accession stating that it was fraudulent and that Singh was forced to sign the agreement with India. The signing of the Instrument of Accession by the Rajput King triggered the first Indo-Pakistan War.
5. On October 27,1947, the Indian Army's first Sikh battalion was airdropped in Srinagar where they resisted the Pathan invasion and officially completed Kashmir's accession to India.
6. Pressure from Nehru and Sardar Patel eventually compelled Hari Singh to appoint his son and heir, Yuvraj (crown prince) Karan Singh, as Regent of Jammu and Kashmir in 1949, although he remained titular Maharaja of the state until 1952, when the monarchy was abolished.
7. He was also forced to appoint the popular Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdullah as the prime minister of Kashmir. He had a contentious relationship with both Jawaharlal Nehru and Abdullah.
8. The Indian government's stated position, "The Accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to India, signed by the Maharaja Hari Singh on October 26, 1947, was completely valid under the Government of India Act [1935] and international law and was total and irrevocable.
9. Hari Singh spent his final days in Bombay. He died on 26 April 1961. As per his will, his ashes were brought to Jammu and spread all over Jammu and Kashmir and immersed in the Tawi River at Jammu.