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Mahatma was against third party role in J&K

Mahatma Gandhi disapproved of third party mediation in Kashmir, and instead advocated bilateral talks to settle the issue, his writings reveal.

In his prayer meeting on December 25, 1947, the Mahatma questioned the utility of arbitration in Kashmir. "It is being said and also reported in the newspapers that we should invite someone to arbitrate between the Indian Union and Pakistan in the dispute over Kashmir. How can this be?"

He cautioned that instead of resulting in a settlement of the dispute, this will merely introduce into it a third party. "Can we not settle the issue between ovrselves?" he had said.

The Father of the Nation was closely following the events in Jammu and Kashmir and regularly mentioned developments in the state during his prayer meetings.

Overall, he welcomed the accession of Kashmir to India, strongly condemned the infiltration of Afridis (tribals trained by Pakistan), and expressed apprehension over the usefulness of mediation by a third party, including the United Nations, in solving the issue.

According to the collected works of Gandhi, he patted the fighting Indian jawans in Jammu and Kashmir describing their campaign a righteous one.

Gandhi dismissed the suggestion of a partition of Jammu and Kashmir saying, "Jammu and Kashmir is one state. It cannot be partitioned. If we start the process of partition, where is it going to end?"

When the Indian government, after gaining an upper hand in the fight against infiltrators, formally lodged a complaint with the UN Security Council in January 1948, Gandhi commented: "Whether they are right in doing so or not, God alone knows."

In his prayer meeting on January 4, 1948, Gandhi said instead of a UN-sponsored mediation, the two dominions should came together with "God as witness" and find a settlement.

He advised the leadership of Pakistan and India not to repeat past mistakes, otherwise "we shall only destroy ourselves in a war and the whole subcontinent will pass into the hands of a third party."

Terming foreign influence in the subcontinent as disastrous, he said "that will be the worst imaginable fate for us. I shudder to think of it."

He said despite the issue being under the consideration of the United Nations, the UN will have to endorse the settlement arrived between the two nations. "They themselves can only say that they will do their best to see that the two countries arrive at an understanding through mutual discussions," the Mahatma had said.

Gandhi said when he undertook a fast on January 13, 1948, for the cause of peace, his written speech was read out as propaganda to tell the world community that he was perturbed over the treatment of minorities in India.

"The United Nations know that my fast aids them to come to a right decision and give the right guidance to the newly-made dominions," he said.

He was convinced that communal amity would pave the way for a just settlement of the Kashmir problem.

He said in India and elsewhere in the world, people have realised the need for tolerance.

Reacting to a suggestion made by the president of the Kashmir Freedom League, Lahore, that Indian troops be withdrawn from Jammu and Kashmir, he said that Indian armed forces dispatched to Jammu and Kashmir have not committed any aggression there.

He pointed out that the forces were sent in response to the appeals of Sheikh Abdullah, the premier of Kashmir and the maharaja of Kashmir. "It is true that Kashmir should go to whom it belongs," said Gandhi, "But the state belongs to the maharaja, Sheikh Abdullah, and the people living there."

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