This refers to Iftekhar Hai’s opinion carried in the issue of August 5 on Kashmir in San Francisco chronicle.

To understand the problem of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) we have to go back to when India became independent and was partitioned, and Pakistan was created in August 1947. Then, there were 565 Princely States, which were given the option to join either India or Pakistan.Legally, there were three points to note on J&K:

First, the King of England was the paramount lord as far as these Princes were concerned. When the British Parliament passed the India Independence Act (1947) Britain put an end to paramountcy, leaving it to the Princes to arrive at such arrangements as they thought proper with the Governments of India and Pakistan.