Mountbatten took Patel’s offer to Lahore the day Indian troops landed in Srinagar. Liaquat Ali, ‘who understood neither history nor geography’ said no, Soz tells Shekhar Gupta.
New Delhi: Saifuddin Soz, former Congress minister and a prominent Kashmiri politician, has made a startling claim that Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was happy to let Kashmir go to Pakistan in exchange for Hyderabad and it was Nehru’s insistence that kept it with India.
Lord Mountbatten, the last viceroy of India, took Patel’s offer to Pakistan on the exact day the Indian Army landed in Srinagar to push back intruders from Pakistan in October 1947, Soz told ThePrint Editor-in-Chief Shekhar Gupta on NDTV’s Walk The Talk show.
“From the very first day Sardar Patel was adamant that Kashmir should go to Pakistan. In the partition council, he tried his level best to convince Liaquat Ali to take Kashmir and leave Hyderabad-Deccan,” Soz said.
“There was a fight, Sardar Mohammed Ali and our Reddy were there. Sardar Patel told Liaquat Ali, don’t even talk about Hyderabad-Deccan. It isn’t even connected with Pakistan. You leave Hyderabad to us, and take Kashmir.
“I will tell you a very fascinating story,” Soz said. “When our army landed in Srinagar, the same afternoon Mountbatten went to Lahore. There was a dinner with Governor of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Khan, and four Pakistan ministers. Mountbatten said, I have brought a message from the strongman of India, Sardar Patel. Take Kashmir and…
