Sheikh Abdullah is the man who was responsible for keeping Kashmir in the Indian fold

Sheikh Abdullah was, and remains, the tallest Kashmiri leader ever. It was only because his politics was not religion-based that he stood up to Mohammad Ali Jinnah and refused to throw in his lot with Pakistan. This made it possible for India to refute in practical terms the pernicious two-nation theory and secure the voluntary accession to the Indian Union of the 70 per cent Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir. Indeed, for this reason, Jawaharlal Nehru made it a precondition of the resolution of the issue of accession that Sheikh Abdullah be released by the Maharajah of Kashmir from detention.

By 1953, however, while Sheikh sahib continued to reject any merger with Pakistan, he seems to have been encouraged by the United States, and Adlai Stevenson in particular, to push for independence. The majority faction in the state government got him arrested over his dalliance with the idea of independence. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru only learned of what had happened after the event. However that might be, Sheikh sahib's arrest and his exile to Kodaikanal lie at the root of the troubles in the state, notwithstanding the GP-Beg agreement that brought Sheikh sahib back as the chief minister of J&K. His eight years in office was the last period of peace the Valley has known.

(The author is a former memberof Parliament and has writtenseveral books)