The Government of India issued a white paper on Jammu and Kashmir. On Page 3, the paper described the state’s accession as valid but purely provisional.  This was the official Indian position on accession for quite some time. However, it changed and India started claiming Jammu and Kashmir as its integral part.

2002: Debate on India in US Congress

Democrat member of the US House of Representatives, Edolphus Towns, spoke in the following terms:

“India continues its futile efforts to maintain its multinational state by force, in pursuit of Hindu hegemony. It continues to attack and kill Christians, Sikhs, Muslims, Dalits, and other minority groups.

It continues to hold tens of thousands of political prisoners, something I find very odd for a democracy. Indian forces have killed more than 250,000 Sikhs, over 200,000 Christians in Nagaland, more than

75,000 Kashmiri Muslims, and many thousands of minorities of all kinds.

This repressive policy will not work. Eventually, the force that broke up the Soviet Union and broke up the Austro-Hungarian Empire will break up India. I hope that this happens peacefully. With the war on terrorism ongoing, we do not need another violent trouble spot in the world.

America can encourage this process of nationalism and freedom in
South Asia. We should press India for the release of all political prisoners. We should stop our aid and trade with India until they are released and the oppression of minorities ends. We should openly declare our support for self-determination for all peoples and nations in South Asia. By these measures we will help everyone in the subcontinent to live freely, prosperously, in dignity, stability, and peace.”

KR Desk