The Kashmir crisis was more complex than is made out to be by a timely new biography of Sheikh Abdullah
In this eminently readable book, Ajit Bhattacharjea has not only chronicled a very eminent Indian’s life that was full of high drama and a measure of tragedy but also reminded us that we Indians are strangely disinterested in history and, therefore, deficient in the art of biography writing. He has indeed filled a yawning gap because Sheikh Abdullah was unquestionably the tallest leader of the sensitive state of Jammu and Kashmir, and Kashmir’s vexed history is intertwined with his colourful life. Others ought to write biographies of equally outstanding Indians ranging from E.M.S. Namboodiripad and Jyoti Basu to Annadurai, Master Tara Singh and Kanshi Ram.

But for Sheikh Abdullah and his towering leadership, the accession to the Indian Union of the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir would not have been possible even after the Maharaja had belatedly signed the necessary instrument. But then, Sheikh Abdullah’s changing mind and stance also played a role in the painful twists and turns in Kashmir’s affairs, while others surely contributed their mite.

In 1953, amidst apparently credible fears that he was working for an independent Kashmir, the Sheikh was dismissed and detained without trial. Released briefly five years later, he was rearrested by his former deputy and later successor, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed, this time around to be tried in what was called the “Kashmir Conspiracy Case” that dragged on for some years.

Jawaharlal Nehru and Sheikh Abdullah had been close friends since the days of the freedom struggle, and since both shared the secular-socialist outlook, this strengthened the bond between them. Later, both got disenchanted with each other but mutual personal regard remained. Thus, Nehru’s last act in relation to Kashmir was to order the withdrawal of the Kashmir Conspiracy Case — despite protests by his intelligence chief, B.N. Mullik — to release Sheikh Abdullah, to invite him to Delhi to be a house guest at Teen Murti and to encourage him to go to Pakistan to explore the possibilities of an India-Pakistan settlement on Kashmir. The mission’s success was limited to arranging a Nehru-Ayub summit in Delhi in June but even this proved abortive because of Nehru’s death while the Sheikh was still on the Pakistani soil.

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