It seems the UN did call for a plebiscite in Kashmir:
alumni.caltech.edu
RESOLUTION 47 (1948) ON THE INDIA-PAKISTAN QUESTION SUBMITTED JOINTLY BY THE REPRESENTATIVES OF BELGIUM, CANADA, CHINA, COLUMBIA, THE UNITED KINGDOM AND UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND ADOPTED BY THE SECURITY COUNCIL AT ITS 286TH MEETING HELD ON 21 APRIL 1948. (DOCUMENT NO. S/726 DATED 21 APRIL 1948).
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THE SECURITY COUNCIL
Having considered the complaint of the Government of India concerning the dispute over the State of Jammu and Kashmir, having heard the representative of India in support of that complaint and the reply and counter complaints of the representative of Pakistan,
Being strongly of opinion that the early restoration of peace and order in Jammu and Kashmir is essential and that India and Pakistan should do their utmost to bring about cessation of all fighting,
Noting with satisfaction that both India and Pakistan desire that the question of the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan should be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite, ...
Furthermore, India and its leaders publicly supported the idea:
mtholyoke.edu
Government of India's letter to the Security Council. In its letter of 31 December, 1947, taking the Kashmir issue to the UN, the Government of India wrote to the Security Council:
" .... But in order to avoid any possible suggestion that India had utilised the State's immediate peril
for her own political advantage, the Government of India made it clear that once the soil of the State
had been cleared of the invader and normal conditions restored, its people would be free to decide
their future by the recognised democratic method of plebiscite or referendum which, in order to
ensure complete impartiality, might be held under international auspices."
mtholyoke.edu
Nehru's address to Constituent Assembly of India On 25 November, 1947
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Mr Nehru, in his address to the Constituent Assembly of India, stated:
"Further we made it clear that as soon as law and order had been restored in Kashmir and her soil
cleared of the invaders, the question of the State's accession should be settled by reference to the
people."
He added: "In order to establish our bonafides we have suggested that when the people are given
the chance to decide their future this should be done under the supervision of an impartial tribunal
such as the United Nations Organisation."
But I don't believe the plebiscite that India and the UN both called for was ever held. This is no excuse for terrorism, of course. But why not have it now? Sounds like a better idea than thermo-nuclear war to me. |
