Many years have passed, but the issue of Jammu and Kashmir is still unresolved. The merger treaty on which Jammu and Kashmir became a part of India on 26 October 1947 is just two pages and did not resolve the dispute but further complicated the matter. At that time, rulers of more than five and a half princely states had to decide whether to stay in India or join Pakistan. A form was prepared by the Ministry of Home Affairs in Delhi. It also left a blank space in which names and dates of princely states and rulers were to be written.
Andrew Whitehead, author of the book 'A Mission in Kashmir', wrote that Hari Singh, the last Maharaja of Kashmir, wanted to remain independent, but he did not have that option. There was a large Muslim population, but the kings were Hindus. Hari Singh was too late to take a decision. India and Pakistan were free. When the discussion started in October 1947 that Jammu and Kashmir could merge with India, the tribal fighters attacked. The new government of Pakistan provided arms to them, that too with the money given by India. The army of tribesmen, proceeded with the killing and looting of non-Muslims and trampling on the women.
At that time Harisingh came to Jammu from Srinagar on 25 October 1947. It is officially said that Home Secretary VP Menon arrived in Jammu on October 26 and it was he who signed the merger papers with the Maharaja. The Indian Army stopped the Pakistanis from entering Srinagar, but could not drive them out of the entire state. The war broke out again in 1948 and Pakistan openly participated. Within six months of becoming independent, India and Pakistan were fighting each other for Kashmir. Hari Singh had hoped to settle the dispute by signing the merger treaty, but that dispute has not yet been resolved. Even today, the issue of Kashmir remains the most burning issue between the two countries.
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