The Indira–Sheikh Accord, also known as the Indira–Abdullah Accord, was an accord between Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister of India, and Sheikh Abdullah, leader of the Plebiscite Front (now merged into Jammu and Kashmir National Conference). The accord decided the terms under which Abdullah would reenter the politics of Kashmir. It allowed Abdullah to become the chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir again after 22 years and enabled competitive politics in the State. While Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Abdullah were the primary architects of the accord, it was officially signed by Mirza Afzal Beg, an emissary of Abdullah, and G. Parthasarathy, the envoy of prime minister Indira Gandhi in 1975.

Context

Following Pakistan's defeat and the independence of East Pakistan as Bangladesh in the Bangladesh Liberation War, the balance of power in South Asia favoured India, which may have led Sheikh Abdullah to the conclusion that he had little choice but to follow the terms India dictated. The Indian victory in Bangladesh increased Indira Gandhi's status as premier in India, and she dealt heavily with the Kashmiri demand for plebiscite. She also stated that it was inconceivable to accept Sheikh Abdullah's demand for the restoration of the pre-1953 relationship between Kashmir and India because "the clock could not be put back in this manner". In 1975, Sheikh Abdullah dropped his demand that the people of Kashmir be given the right to self-determination. Scholar Sumantra Bose states that Abdullah, whose popularity since 1953 arose from his opposition to India, would not have agreed to such terms even five years prior to the Accord.

Accord

The agreement restated the conditions of Jammu and Kashmir's incorporation into India since 1953 with a clause that the state's administration would be maintained under Article 370. Sumantra Bose points out that 23 constitutional orders had been made by the mid-1970s to integrate the state into the Indian Union, and 262 Union laws had been applied to the state. Despite retaining Article 370, the state was called "a constituent unit" of the Indian Union. The Indian government could control "the areas which mattered most" by being able to make laws concerning activities aimed at rejecting Indian sovereignty. The Accord granted the state government the right to review only the laws that were specifically from the Concurrent List (list of powers shared by the centre and the state) extended after 1953. Only those laws could be considered for amendment or repealment. The Accord also recognised the state's right to legislate on matters such as welfare, social and cultural issues and Muslim personal law.

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Signatories

The accord was signed on behalf of Abdullah by Mirza Afzal Beg and on behalf of the Indian government (headed by Prime Minister Gandhi) by G. Parthasarathy on 24 February 1975 in New Delhi.

Reactions and aftermath

Erstwhile commentators and India thought that the Kashmiri movement for self-determination came to an end with the accord. There were protests within the state to the Accord from Mirwaiz Maulvi Farooq who saw this as an abandonment of the Kashmiri people's demand for self-determination. Clashes occurred between the Awami Action Committee and the Plebiscite Front. There were also protests from Jammu where Jana Sangh supporters called for abrogation of Article 370 and a complete merger of the State with India. In an interview with Sumantra Bose, Abdul Qayyum Zargar, a veteran of the Jammu & Kashmir National Conference who had also been Mirza Afzal Beg's personal secretary, said that the terms of the Accord were "deeply unpopular" and "swallowed as a bitter pill" only because of Sheikh Abdullah's acceptance. However, not everyone acquiesced to the accord. A young activist, Shabbir Shah, created the People's League to continue the pursuit of self-determination. According to Nyla Ali Khan, the critics of Sheikh Abdullah's "capitulation" to the Indian government forget the "pervasive power" of India in Kashmiri institutions. Even after the Accord had been concluded, Sheikh Abdullah felt that Kashmiri Muslims were "not secure in the secular India of Gandhi and Nehru". Sumantra Bose describes the development whereby Delhi framed Abdullah's return as "clever evasion" of the Kashmir conflict, instead of a "substantive solution". However, Bose holds that Abdullah's return ushered in the first "semblance of competitive politics" to the state. Opposition to the accord continued to fester under Abdullah's rule.