On 1 January 1948 India decided to take the Kashmir issue to UN:

♤ It was based on the advice of Lord Mountbatten.

♤ The underlying logic is explained by Ramchandra Guha: “ since Kashmir had acceded to it, India wanted the UN to help clear the northern parts of…illegal occupation by groups loyal to Pakistan.

At the security council the issue was transformed from ‘the Kashmir question’ to the ‘India- Pakistan question. It happened, in part, due to the success of Pakistan’s representative, Sir Zafarullah Khan, in painting the issue as a consequence of partition riots in north India. Thus, the issue was reacst as an unfinished agenda of the partition.

The debate in UN was markeed by partisanship of the British. Philip Noel Baker, as Britain’s representative, strongly backed Pakistan’s position. The developments at the Security Council made Nehru rue his decision as he saw UN being run by the Americans who like the British were sympathetic to the case of Pakistan case.

Security Council resolution 47 on 21 April 1948 enforced a ceasefire between India and Pakistan. In 1951 constituent assembly met in Srinagar to formulate a constitution for state and it ratified the accession in 1954.

In 1951 the UN passed a resolution for a referendum under UN supervision contingent on Pakistan withdrawing its troops. This resolution remains ineffective because Pakistan never withdrew its force from what is called Azad Kashmir or Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.

1. Hyderabad: Surrounded entirely by Indian Territory, Hyderabad was the largest of the princely states. Its ruler, the "Nizam",had claimed an independent status and in November 1947 the Government of India signed a standstill agreement with him. Sardar Patel patiently waited a negotiated solution as he felt time was on India’s side and Lord Mountbatten was interested in acting as an intermediary.

Though encouraged by Pakistan, the Nizam failed to get dominion status from the British. Thus, he engaged in negotiaitons with the government of India. It was expected by the government that while the negotiations went on the Nizam would introduce representative government in his state helping the way for merger. Nizam hoped to prolong negotiaitions

and build up his military strength in order to force India to accept his sovereignty, He also kept the option of acceding to Pakistan open in view of the tensions over Kashmir between India and Pakistan.

2. Within the state the Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen or MIM (Council of the Union of Muslims) and its paramilitary wing the Razakars grew strong with the official help.The MIM advocated the setup of a Muslim dominion rather than integration with India. On the other hand the Hyderabad state Congress had in August 1947 launched a powerful satyagraha movement to enforce democratization. The response of Nizam to the popular movement was repression. This accompanied by violence by Razakarsforced thousands of people to fled the states and take shelter in Indian territory

3. In the Telangana region of the state a Communist led peasant movement had already developed since 1946. It received impetus as peasant dalams organized against the attacks by Razakars. Big land lords were attacked and the land was distributed among pesasant and landless.

By June 1948 As the negotiaitions dragged on, Sardar Patel grew impatient. He conveyed to Nehru that it was time to convey to the Nizam that nothing short of unqualified acceptance of accession and introduction of responsible government would be acceptable to the government of India.

After holding back for long even in the face of provocations by the Nizam administration, including increasing import of arms, and the atrocities of Razakars, the Indian army moved into Hyderabad on 13 September 1948. The police operation was code named operation Polo

Wihtin three days the Nizam had surrendered and finally acceded to the Indian Union in November 1948. The government treated Nizam with generosity by retainng him as the Rajpramukh and allowing him the privy purse of Rs 5 Million.The accession of Hyderabad completed the process of accession of princely states to India. Its significance also lies in the fact that it marked the triumph of Indian secularism as a large number of Muslims in Hyderabad joined in anti-Nizam struggle along with Muslims throughout the country supporting government and action much to the disappointment of the leaders of Pakistan.

Manipur: Maharaja of Manipur Bodhchandra Singh signed the instrument of Accession with the Indian government on the assurance that the internal autonomy of Manipur would be maintained.

Under the pressure of public view, the Maharaja held elections in Manipur in June 1948 & thus the state became a constitutional monarchy. Manipur was the first part of India to hold an election based on universal adult franchise.

There were some differences over Manipur's merger with India. The state Congress was in favour, but other political parties opposed this view. The government of India succeeded in pressurizing the Maharaja into signing a Merger Agreement in September 1949, without consulting the popularly elected Legislative Assembly of Manipur. The caused a lot anger and resentment in Manipur, the consequences of which are still being felt.