From Accession to Integration
By Colonel Satish Singh Lalotra
Is J&K successful in bridging this gap between the two sentiments as reflected in the words of “accession & integration”?
The saga of’ integration of Indian states’ princely as well as those belonging to the British Indian territory has few parallels in the world. Equally unparalleled was the process, the idiosyncrasies of the princely rulers many a times governed more by their hearts than their heads ,the plethora of important personalities undertaking an exercise humanly unheard of & such like issues that went into making a fantastic mosaic going by the name of ‘Dominion of India’ subsequent to gaining independence from the ‘foreign yoke’. The seminal book ‘Integration of Indian states’ by VP Menon , (points man) guided by the likes of Sardar Patel & Lord Mountbatten chronicling the events leading to such an integration has been an envy of many a statesmen of the world till date.
Prior to the promulgation of the Indian constitution, India was an ambiguous entity consisting of ‘565 princely states’ & the ‘British India’ with the writ of princely states running in the former and the ‘Crown’ calling shots in the latter. Post coming into effect of the constitution, the territories of the states (both princely & British India) after integration retained no political or legal identity as was enjoyed by them earlier. Similarly the rulers of the erstwhile princely states who were before integration ‘aliens qua’ the Dominion government became thereafter ‘citizens of India’. But has this integration of all the erstwhile princely states to the Dominion of India ‘inter alia’ been done and dusted even after a hiatus of more than 78 ( seventy eight ) years?
Jammu & Kashmir was one such erstwhile princely state that wore many mantles of geographic disposition. Being an ‘independent country’ albeit for a short period from 12th August 1947 from the time it signed a ‘standstill agreement’ with Pakistan right up till the tribal invasion on 22 Oct 1947 (with India not being a signatory) to a state with partial autonomy & now a reduced status of UT, J&K has seen it all. On the face of it, the journey from ‘accession to integration’ should have been quite seemingly unhindered for the simple reason that the very essence of ‘accession’ meant a right to all that which your property produced whether by growth or improvement now increased by addition to a much larger collection or group / nation. It meant the sovereign of that princely state (Maharaja) had obtained the expressed assent of almost all of his subjects barring a minority few to mentally as well as physically accept the amalgamation of his state to a larger state.
Literally & figuratively it bestowed the fact that ‘integration’ should have followed ‘accession’ in a much smoother manner for such an entity. The case of J&K didn’t fall under such an easy formula which by now most of the world knows inside out. The stamp of accession driven from the ‘instrument of accession’ signed by the then sovereign of J&K with dominion of India bore an unmistakable print of legality, finality and accountability –similar to other princely states. But did the second step of union i.e. Integration of J&K subsequent to its accession with that of India bear that stamp of finality? World is witness to this bitter truth that even after 78 years of Independent India , there is an element of hiatus between the ‘accession & integration’ which remains embedded amongst the psyche of rank and file of the UT of J&K. Welcome to 26th of October 2025, since the ink from the pen of the Maharaja of J&K went dry 78 years ago after signing the ‘instrument of accession’. Is J&K successful in bridging this gap between the two sentiments as reflected in the words of ‘accession & integration”?
A very simple & straight question that go begging, but inviting equally ambivalent answers from an equally diverse group of people when subjected to. On the eve of ‘seventy eighth’ anniversary of signing of the ‘instrument of accession’ by the then sovereign of princely state of Jammu & Kashmir it would be worth the digital &editorial space in this paper( e-version & printed) to find matching answer to such a vexed question that has bedeviled relations within India and also outside its national boundaries.
From signing of the instrument of accession on 26th October 1947 to the abrogation of article 370 in August 2019, J&K’s evolution mirrors in a way India’s own story of challenges, resilience and reforms. No other Indian state not even the biggest and the politically most active, Uttar Pradesh that has the singular credit of bestowing max number of PMs to the country since independence can mirror image the intertwining of the fates of a nation vis a vis a state as that of Jammu & Kashmir. Almost everything that impacted J&K as a state impacted India the next day.
Integration of J&K into the Indian union has been as much about hearts and minds as it has been about ‘betrayals & promises’. The saga of Jammu & Kashmir is not just a regional narrative; it is a mirror to India’s nation-building. From the princely dilemma of 1947 ostensibly under the combined duress of ‘Pak- British perfidy’ to keep J&K as a convenient handle to jump start once again into the arena of the bygone ‘Great Game’ days ; to the constitutional clarity of 2019—it shows that unity of purpose is not imposed but is earned through doggedly acts of patience, courage, and faith in democracy.
The readers of this article are very well versed with the past history of the northern most entity of India, for me to skip it and straight away latch on to the essence of this write up. The key word on which hinges this entire article of mine is –‘integration’. With relation to J&K as with any other state, integration could be split up into –Political cum administrative, financial, economic & social cum emotional last but not the least psychological integration and such like major indices of governance. With defence, external affairs and communications that were already promised ‘ab initio’ under the realm of New Delhi at the time of accession to J&K , integration of these three state instruments is beyond the scope of my write up.
Despite political ups & downs, India continued integrating J&K into the national fold, often quietly and through constitutional means. The 1954 presidential orders extended Indian citizenship to J&K residents and allowed the supreme court of India’s jurisdiction to the area too. Similarly in 1956 the J&K constitution reaffirmed the state as an integral part of India.
Going a step forward the ‘fig leaf of autonomy’ save article 370 too was removed in 1965 when the posts of ‘Sadr-e-Riyasat’ and prime minister were replaced by governor and chief minister aligning with other Indian states. The defining moment in integration of J&K came on 5th August 2019 with the abrogation of article 370 through a combination of constitutional orders and parliamentary votes.
For better governance and living up to the expectations of the people of both J&K as well as Ladakh on 31 October 2019 the Indian parliament passed the ‘J&K reorganization act 2019’ Can POK consisting of two regions, the so called ‘Azad Jammu & Kashmir’ (AJK) and ‘Gilgit Baltisthan’( GB) claim so much of integration with Pakistan? Does the writ of important indices of Pakistan governance run in these both regions, as Indian governance runs in our part of J&K ?The daily upheavals in AJK & GB from across the LC are testimony enough that India walks the talk in our part of J&K and doesn’t have to chest thump its achievements in this regard.
Post -2019, the focus shifted from politics to rapid development that ensured financial cum economic integration. The holding of panchayat as well as DDC( District development council) elections successfully, record infra projects, highways, rail line to Srinagar, Zozila & Chenani-Nashri tunnels, renewable energy projects ,the highest rail bridge in the world over river Chenab, successful holding of G-20 meet at Srinagar in 2023 plus countless investments in tourism and industry and so on are any body’s guess where the present day J&K is heading to.
To a layman these points of mine may seem like a run-down of ‘government policies’ stressing myriad initiatives towards integration of J&K into the overall mosaic of union of India; that are quite too often the wont of government officials. But can these efforts all the same be denied on this 78th ‘accession day’? ‘Integration’ per se is not devoid of countless challenges that come in the way of Indian democracy having a typical ‘unitary’ system of functioning with a federal system of façade. A complex matrix of governance made more complex by the ever increasing aspirational mode of diverse quality of people inhabiting its precincts.
Though it seems quite grandiose cum grandstanding in both writing and uttering the inevitable truth of India—‘unity in diversity’ but when integrating the above ‘adage’ in its totality, the mechanism to set forth such a truth has its costs. The cost for implementing such an adage in simpler terms –‘integration’ has challenges that vary from region to region. In case of J&K , these costs comes in the form of empowering the youth through jobs and education, rehabilitating displaced communities since 1947 , countering radicalization and cross border propaganda , maintaining a healthy mix of relations between the two halves across the Pir Panjal i.e. Jammu as well as & Kashmir division& the center embracing a plethora of litanies to quote a few of them.
It is often said that action speaks louder than words, continuing in the similar vein the not too recent ‘OP Sindoor’ was a test case benchmarking integration of J&K with India as never before. The integration response from J&K in the form of local support to the army in forward areas was unprecedented –villages in Ladakh and border belts of Jammu provided real time logistical aid, medical assistance and info sharing. There were no internal disruptions or separatists protests –something unimaginable two decades ago.
Youth in Kashmir expressed open pride and came out on the roads as also in the open on social media platforms calling armed forces success as ‘our victory’ not just ‘Delhi’s. There was a perceptible shift in sentiment –from ‘isolation to ownership’ in the way India thrashed its bête noire Pakistan. Tourism in Kashmir remained upbeat with stock movements, trade logistics and banking showing no dent in their operations.
Though the ‘WHAM’ (Winning hearts and minds) operation of Indian army (an instrument of state governance) still continues as was during my time while in service in the early 2000 in J&K, the path from accession (1947) to constitutional integration (2019) to yet operational and emotional phase (2025 onwards) stands as a culmination of that journey –when the people, government, and armed forces stood together as one unified force. All defining the CNP (Comprehensive National Power) under one big umbrella – i.e. Integration.
(The writer is a regular scribe of Rising Kashmir and can be approached on his email—slalotra4729@gmail.com)
