S/PV.290 Security Council

If the Council finds this solution preferable we can adopt it, and in that case I shall ask my col1eagues to make haste with their lunch. As there is no objection, the discussion is adjourned until 2 p.m. The meeting rose at 1.28 p.m. TWOHUNDRED AND NINETIETH MEETING . Held at Lake Success, New York, on Friday, 7 May 1948, at 2.30 p.m. President: Ml'. A. PARODI (France) Present: The representatives of the fol1owing countries: Argentina, Belgium, Canada, China, Colombia, France, Syria, Ukrainian Soviet Soeialist Republic, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Kingdom, United States of America. . la Before l do that, hawever, l should like, with the ·permission of the President, to read the short letter that l had the honour of conveying to the President of the Seèurity Council from the Prime Minister of India rdocument S/734]. It reads as follows: - "The Government of India have given the most careful consideration to the resolution of the Security Council concerning their complaint against Pakistan over the dispute between the two countries regarding the State of Jammu and Kashmir [document S/726]. The Government of India regret that it is not possible for them to implement those parts of the resolution against which their objections were c1early stated by their delegation, objections which, after consultation with the delegation, th~ Government of India fully endorsed. If the Council should still decide to send out the Commission referred to in the preamble to the resolution, the Government of India would be glad to confer with it." l have nothing to add to that letter byway of comment, except to draw attention to the fact that, if l had not read out the whole of that letter, perhaps the abbreviated reference to it made by the President this morning might not have been clearly understood. There is just one other point, which is that l should like to associate myself with what the representative of Pakistan said this morning about the nomination of the United States as a member of this Commission. While the views of the Government of India regarding the Commission and its objectives remain what they are, there is no question' that everyone feels that the addition of the United States to the Commission must strengthen it, and mu~t enable the Commission, if it goes out' to the sub-continent of India, to discharge its duties even more satisfactorily than otherwise. That is all l have to say about that part of thê' proceedings. The leader of the Pakistan delegation said this mOl1ling that there were three outstanding matters about which the Pakistan Government objectifs dans 'autrement. sécurité, As regards the agreements, financial and otherwise, which had been entered into between Pakistan and India, the leader of the Pakistan de1egation told the Security Council that some of those complaints are no longer what he called "live issues". As a matter of fact, none of those complaints were ever live issues. He said that Pakistan had organized its ow.n Reserve Bank and that, therefore, the complàint that the Reserve Bank of India, under pressure from the Government of India, failed to carry out its obligations and duties as bankers of the Pakistan Government, }Vas no longer a live issue. That accusation has never been true. As a matter of fact, it is a gross libe1 on the distinguished head of the Reserve Bank of India and on the Bank îtself, and a greater libe1 on the Government of India. During this perioa, the Reserve Bank of India did everything humanly possible to assist the financial system of Pakistan, and it came to us as a surprise that the Government of Pakistan should have thought it fit to. bring before the Security Couneil a .complaint devoid of any foundations whatsoever. However, as the leader .of the Pakistan delegation has saidhere that this is no longer a live issue, 1 do not want to sày any more about it. The other agreements to which reference was made-if my memory serves me, and 1 hope 1 shall be forgiven if 1 have not been able to follow the Pakistan representative's speech as carefully as 1 should have done-had to do with the fact that India still owes the Government of Pakistan 50 million rupees and that a very large part of the military and other stores which India should'have supplied to Pakistan under the terms of the agreement has not yet been received in Pakistan. 1 .do not know whether the leader of the Pakistan deiegation wasyery seritlUs about the 50 million rupees. Ithink hel/Rid that was a very sm;.ill amount: In any cast:, we have said c'ategorically to·. the Pakistan Government that there was no question. of withholding that amount indefinitely; it isa matt'èr of adjustment between ..the two countries. As regards the military stores, the leader. of the Pakistan de1egation himself admittedthat thesestores were i:>eing sent to Pakistan. His' compl<l.intis that the process should' be expe:- dited,. and that if. it is not. expedited, .the Pakistan Goyernment would. find. it exceedinglYlcontraire, But let us assume for a moment that we have failed in our duty. Let us assume that India' has not sent any of these stores or that India has failed to carry out any of these agreements. Is that a matter for the Security Council? The Security Council, as far as 1 know, is entrusted under the Charter with dealing with matters which affect international peace and security or which are like1y to do so. Can anyone say that, even assuming that the facts are correct, the failure of either Pakistan or India to satisfy these agreements or ta implement them has resulted or will ever result in a situation which is like1y to endanger international peace and security? If my contention is correct, then this is not a matter with which the Security Council should concern itself. The Security Council has several other problems which do affect international pea;ce and security, and 1 respectfully submit that its attention should be devoted to considering those problems. It should not. allGW itself to be diverted to a consideration of what are pure1y domestic issues. 1 have no desire to go further into this matter of agreements, but 1 do hope that even if the Commission appointeû by the Security Oouncil goes to India and to Pakistan, it will endeavour to refrain irom considering matters which are being daily discussed and attended ta by the two Governments in an atmosphere of considerable good will, and from thus creatinga situation which might have just the opposite effeGt to that of restoring peace and security. The second matter referrèd to by the leader of l:~e Pakistan de1egation was the question of J~nagadb. and its ancillary States. 1 believe'he sald that he and. the Pakistan Government desire. the' Securlty Council's Cammission to investigate this matter when it goes out. He He desires that this administration ~ould take over complete charge of all matters re1ating to Junagadh; that the Nawab of Junagadh, who fled the country as soon as trouble began, should be restored to bis throne; and that all citizens who fled from Junagadh should be invited to retum there and .be restored to their homes. He also desires that a· plebiscite should be taken to decide the accession of Junagadh to Pakistan or te Inœa. ,He wishes that plebiscite to be held under circumstances which could be regarded as impartial, that is, under the auspices of the United Nations. .For this ,reason it is for the President and members of·the Security. Council to ponder very ',aeriously whether •• it isnecessary, in the first place, totake· anotherplêbiscitein order to obtain exactly the "same results~ .Of' course, that cioes notrnean thatweshould'object to another plebiscite. If, aftergoing·intothis matterca:refully, theSecurityCouncil shoùld finally decide that anotherplebiscite should. be taken, ·India willn9t say lio. Byall meaIlS'let the Council go. ahead ,and take as many plebiscites'as it likesif th...t is whatit wants to do, but the result in e~ery case'woulci beexactly thesame. .In the course 'of hisremarkS thismorning, the leader of theP'akistan delegation·read two Idters.l fôrgefnow whether they werereceived l trust l shall be excused if l find myself unable ta reply ta these two letters. l have had practically no notice of them, but l can assure the Security Council that sa far as the Government of India and l myself are aware, no atrocities are being perpetrated in Manavadar today, and the Sheikh Sahib of Mangrol is living in comparative comfort and security in Porbandar. The leader of the Pakistan delegation said in passing that, in requesting the return of the Na.wab of Junagadh to his Stat~, he was not asking for the restoration of an autocratic ruler. That, l believe, was in reply ta a sta:tement made by the leader of my delegation, Mr. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, who has now left, in which he described the changes which had come over the Indian States, and 'suggested that even if the Nawab were ta return ta Junagadh, he would not occupy the same position that he held when he left. In my humble opinion, this question of the return of the Nawab of Junagadh is a matter for the people of Junagadh ta decide. He fled the country as saon as there was trouble, leaving his subjects in conditions in which no self-respecting ruler would have left them. If he wants ta return ta Junagadh now, it is up ta the subjects of His Highriess the Nawab to decide, and l have no doubt what that decision would be. Such rulers are not welcomed back with open arms in any country. Besides, the Government of India is in Junagadh today at the invitation of the Nawab and his Prime Minister. It went there after receiving a letter from the Prime Minister of Junagadh inviting it ta come, over and take on the administration because he found-and his advisers had obviously advised him in this sense-that it was impossible for him and his advisers ta run the.administration, and that the only way ta keep law and arder in the country was to invite the Government of India to come in and help. We did sa and we do not intend ta leave Junagadh merely because Pakistan thin~ we ought ta do sa. We are quite prepared ta leave . when the people of Junagadh declare that they wish ta accede ta Pakistan. Then we shall go from Junagadh, but not before. That is 'all l have ta say about Junagadh and the other States. Mr. Setalvad, one of our representatives on the delegation, in a speech which he delivered to the Security Council some time in January [232nd meeting], referred in detail to. these matters. It seems unnecessary-in fact profitless-to traverse that ground now, but there are one or two matters on which 1 think 1 should comment.. ln the first place, it was not "genocide". Genocide is oruy a new name for a comparatively old crime. It is a crime organized by States, a plan toexterminate a race or conimuniiy. T1;J.at is genocide. What Hitler did to the Jews . in Germany, for example, was genocide. What happened in India and Pakistan was, in spite of aIl the long statements made by the representative of Pakistan, merely communal frenzy. Communal outrages have happened off and on in India for many years. We never called it "genocide" in those days. Today, we are witnessing the aftermath of a gigantic communal convulsion which must be attributed direct1y, according to us-that is to say, the Government of India and the people of India-to the preachings of the Muslim League for a quarter pf a century. Those preachings were directed towards one end and one oruy: to obtain by any means whatsoever a separate.State for the Muslims in the Indian sub-continent. For that purpose, a campaign was started years ago by the leaders of the Muslim League. 1 do nût want to mention names. We all know who these leaders are. Deliberate attempts were made to encourage communal dissension. . 1 have with meseveral newspapers, government publications, and various other documents. 1 could quote from these in extenso, but 1 do not propose to do it. 1 have not the time, in .any case, but 1 can assure you of this: if today we are witnessing or ..have witnessed in the last few x:nonths, communal outrages on a vast sca1e, the reason is to be found in the preaching of .hatred-hatred for aIl communities but the Muslim-by the leaders of the Muslim League ci .India. éclaté ici .vous Before the partition, several incidents had occurred in Calcutta, Noakhali, Rawalpindi, and in fact many other places which are well known to us, and possibly by this time, ta the world. Non-Muslims were systematically-I shaH use the same word as Sir Mohanuned Zafrullah Khan-murdered. When Muslims are murdered, we are told it is part of a deliberate plan for their extermination, but when the Muslims murder Hindus or Sikhs, they say: "That was just·retaliation. Refugees come over; they spread stories, and this is what happens." Now, if that story was correct-and supposing for argument's sake that there was a deliberate plan to exterminate all the Muslims of Indiahow does the Pakistan Government explain t'NO facts? One is that today there are-and there .have always been--40 million Muslims living in India. They are living there today. If there is a plan for the extermination of Muslims in India, nothing would be easier for us than to exterminate those 40 million Muslims. There are about 290 million of us. The second fact is that today hundreds of Muslims-indeed, thousands-are leaving Pakistan and coming to India. If there is a plan for the extermination of Muslims in India, do you think that these people would come to India? Not one non-Muslim has yet dared to go back ta Pa.kistan. l wonder if the Pakistan Government would tell the Security Council how many, of the seve;:-aÎ millions ofnon-Muslims that lived in Paldstan, are left there now? That is really the lStOry of "genocide" in a nutshell. It is no more genocide than anything eIse. It ~ just communal frenzy driven to extremes, resulting in the most horrible crimes. But by no stretch of imagination or words can you call that genocide. The facts do not support that charge. In fact, in India today and ever since these awful crimes started, .if there has been one matter on which there has been complete agreement betv;:~~n the two Governments, it is th'at mea;'!)_l1-(-}j should be taken to restore communal.harmony. 1 do not think it is necessary for me to read out these.passages. They will not be contradicted by the oilier side. You can take my word for it that these understandÏIlgs did take place in Calcutta. When such is the case, it seems to me, it is, to say the least, criminal falsehood to state that those crimes which took place in India or in Pakistan were part of a campaign to exterminate the Muslims or the non-Muslims. The Government .c:f India h~s never h~d !hat the massacre of ·lkhs and Hmdus-which m numbers probably are at least double that of Muslims -has been due to a plan of extermination organized by the Pakistan Government, or even by the people of. Pakistan, or even by groups of people m Pakistar.. 1 would withdraw the expression "the Government of Pakistan" which 1 used just now because 1 do not think that the Pakistan Government suggested, for a moment, that these crimes were organized by the Government of India. My submission ta the Security Couneil, therefore, is that these unfortmlate happenings, wherever they may have taken place, whether in India or in Pakistan, were not the result of a carefully thought out plan to exterminate any community or ra~e. They happened partly -indeed, mostly-as a result of the exacerbation of communal feelings over a quarter of a century by the MU1!lim League of India, for which it should be held respomible. The killings that have happened are crimes which have been investigated by the two Governmeilts concerned: they are matters which the two Governments are supremely confident of t;ackling; and 1 am surprised that wh;!e one representative of the Pakistan' Government enters into an agreement in Calcutta to settle these matters, another representative of Pakistan should come ta the Security Council and plead that this is a matter which the United Nations and the Security Council should investigate. With th!' greate~t respect, 1 tannot understand t'hat sort of ad· tude. 1 believe Sir Mohammed Zafrullah Khan in the early part of .his speeêh today said-not speaking as a repre3entative of Pakistan butas Paki~t<ID., but he missed that opportunity. p~;;ser croit q,ù vers croit tout la référait se Pakistan de musulman reçus Instead, the representative of Pakistan saw fit ta go back ta all the horrible things that happcned in India or in Pakistan toward the latter half of 1947 or early in 1948, and ta wind up with a complete1y exaggerated account of what happened in a town called Godhra in Bombay Province. In sa doing, he referred to certain massacres of Muslims that took place-according ta the representative of Pakistan-in April, and resulted in the desecration of Muslim places of worship and in the massacre-again, according ta the reports received by the representative of Pakistan-of over a thousand people. 1 shall read to you a report which has appeared in Indian papers and which is a statement made by the High Gonnnissioner for Pakistan in India, who is Pakistan's Ambassador to India. He had the following ta say with respect ta that matter: ~e rendu, déclaration Pakistan l'Ambassadeur ment saire "Mter visiting Godhra on 13 April, the Pakistan High Commissioner fOl India, Khwaja Shahbuddin, said in an interview to the United Press that Press reports about the riots in Godhra were highly exaggerated. ünly one-fifth of the town had been gutted, aT\d not the entire town as reported. Similarly, the loss of life was negligible, compared ta the damage ta property." Shahbuddin, pour les Godhra seulement ville De faibles, riels." l'Ambassadeur dans a That is an authentic statement made by the Paki~tan Government's Ambassador ta India, after visiting Godhra, which was the scene of the reported occurrence. 1 have other reports from my own Government, but 1 do not wish ta go into aIl that now. The report 1 just read came not from the Indian Government, which might be prejudiced in this matter, and nat from the Government of Bombay where the thing occurred, but from the representative of Pakistan in India. He said that the loss of life-which according to Sir Mohammed Zafrullah Khan ran into thousands-was negligible. Gouvernement, vous que, Gouvernement prévenu pas se dans existences - faibles. 'Pas favorisée, non le importants That is the kind of propaganda-thereis no other word for ~è-which hâs been fostered, encouraged and deliberately planned not oilly in Indi.., 1 Dntiee, but also in the United States by ïc:sponsible people who represent Pakistan's VleWS. 1 happened to be in New Haven last week, where 1 saw a few undergraduates of Yale 1 submit that this is a matter which can be tackled by the two Governments concemed. No one eIse can do it. The Security Council may send out a commission if they choose to do sa, and the commission can go to India and Pakistan to collect facts about the various murders and atrocities, but the onJ.y people who can reaIly restore communal harmony in India and Pakistan are the people of those countries. respectfully submit thatthio:; is not a matter with which the Security Council should concem itself. This communal ,trouble has never led to any serious danger to international peace and security. Today, things are quiet in India, and hope they are quiet in Pakistan, though there are no signs of non-Muslims who have left Pakistan wanting to go back to that country..My submission, therefore, is that the Security Council would do well to leave weIl enough alone. Instructing the Commission to travel about India and Pakistan would, in my humble view, only. revive aIl those feelings which we have beeri doing our best to keep under control. 1 beg of the Security Council nat to do it. If you, the members of the Security Council, are reaTIy interested in the peace and Stcurity of India and Pakistan-not to mention, of the world-please do not attempt a thing wmch might lead in just the opposite direction. That, I think, is all I have ta sayon the comments made this moming by the Chairman of the Pakistan de1egation. .I am very grateful to the Security Council for having allowed me an opportunity today of saying these few words and thus enabling me to depart from New York, as l hope to do, tomorrow morning. But before 1 take leave of the Securitv Council, I should like to sayon my own behalf,.as weIl as on behalf of those of my de1egation who have returned to India, that we, like the Pakis~an delegation, are grateful to the President of the Security Council, to his predecessors, and to aIl other members of the Security Council for the patience with wmch they' have listened to the various speeches on this question, sorne of them very long indeed, and for the consideration they have a1ways shown us. For myself personally, I should like ta say that although my contacts with the Presidents have not been so frequent, perhaps not so intimate, as those of the heads of the de1egations, I also had the opportunity and privilege of associating myself with their wor~:, and I should like, therefore, to thank them and all the other members of the Security Council for the consideration they have shown us.

I thank the representative of India for the explanations he has just given us. I aIso thank him for having been sa good as to keep bis remarks within the narrow limits I had requested him to observe. The India-Pakistan question will be placed on the agenda for one of our subsequent meetings. The meeting rose at 3.5 p.m. AUSTRAUA-AUSTRALIE H. A. Goddard Pty. Ltd. 255a .George Street SYDNEY, N. S. W. FINLAND-FINLANDE Akateeminen Kirjakauppa 2, Keskuskatu HnSIl'iKI BELGIUM-BELG/QUE Agence et Messageries de la Presse, S. A. 14·22 rue du Persil , BRu:IELLES FRANCE Editions A. Pedone la, me Soufilot PAros, Ve GREECE-GRECE "EIeftherûudakis" Librairi.e intemationale Place de la Constitution ATHÈNF;S BOLIVIA-BOLIVIE Libreria Cientlfica y Literaria Avenida 16 de Julio, 216 Casilla 972 LA. PAZ GUATEMALA José Goubaud Goubaud & Ciao Sucesor Sa Av. Sur No. 6 GUATEMALA CANADA The Ryerson Press 299 Queen Street West TORONTO CMILE--CHIU Edmundo Pizarro Merced 846 SANTIAGO HAITI Max Bouchereau Librairie "A la Caravelle" Boîte postale Hl·B PORT-AU·ProNCE CHINA-eHINE The Commercial Press Ltd. 2H Honan Road SHANGHAI INDIA-INDE Oxford Book & , Scindia House NEW DELHI COLOMB!A-COLOMBiE Libreria Latina Ltda. Apartado Aéreo 4011 BOGOTA IRAN Bongahe Piaderow 731 Shah Avenue TEHERAN COSTA RICA-COSTA-RICA Trejos Hermanos Apartado 1313 SAN JosÉ IRAQ-IRAK Mackenzie & Mackenzie The Bookshop BAGHDAD CUBA La Casa Belga René de Smedt O'Reilly 455 LA HABANA LEBANON-UBAM Librairie universelle BEYROUTH CZECHOSLOVAKIA- TCHECOSLOV/~.QUIE F. Topic Narodni Trida 9 PRAHA 1 LUXEMBOURG • Librairie J. Schummer Place Guillaume LUXEMBOURG DENMARK-DANEMARK Einar Munskgaard Norregade 6 KJOBENHAVN DOMINICAN REPUBLlC- REPURLIQUE DOMINICAINE Lihteria Donûnicana 1-Calle Merc~des No. 49 • Apartado 656 - CIUDAD TRUJILLO NETHERLANDS-PAYS-SAS N. V. Martimis Lange Voorhout S'GRAVENHAGE hEW ZEALAND- NOUVELLE-ZELAflilDE Gordon & Gotch, Waring Taylor Stre'êi~ WELLINGTON ECUADOR-EQUATEUR Muiioz Hermanos y Cfii. Nueye de Octubre 703 Cas!lla 10·24 GUAYAQUIL NICARAGUA Ramiro Ramirez AgencÏa de PubIicaciones -MANAGUA, D. N.