Merging of Junagad :Junagad was
a princely state in Saurashtra. The people
there wanted to be merged with India. But
the Nawab of Junagad was thinking of
joining Pakistan. The people strongly
opposed his decision and the Nawab left
for Pakistan. Later in February 1948,
Junagad got merged into India.(it is right answer)
Answers
Junagarh was a princely state of British India, located in what is now Gujarat, outside but under the suzerainty of British India.
In the independence and partition of British India of 1947, the 552 princely states were given a choice to either join the new Dominion of India or the newly formed state of Pakistan.
The Nawab of Junagarh, Muhammad Mahabat Khanji III, a Muslim whose ancestors had ruled Junagarh and small principalities for some two hundred years, decided that Junagarh should become part of Pakistan, much to the displeasure of many of the people of the state, an overwhelming majority of whom were Hindus. The Nawab acceded to the Dominion of Pakistan on 15 September 1947, against the advice of Lord Mountbatten, arguing that Junagarh joined Pakistan by sea.The principality of Babariawad and Sheikh of Mangrol reacted by claiming independence from Junagarh and accession to India,although the Sheikh of Mangrol withdrew his accession to India the very next day.When Pakistan accepted the Nawab's Instrument of Accession on 16 September, the Government of India was outraged that Muhammad Ali Jinnah could accept the accession of Junagarh despite his argument that Hindus and Muslims could not live as one nation. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel believed that if Junagarh was permitted to go to Pakistan, it would exacerbate the communal tension already simmering in Gujarat.
The princely state was surrounded on all of its land borders by India, with an outlet onto the Arabian Sea. The unsettled conditions in Junagarh had led to a cessation of all trade with India and the food position became precarious. With the region in crisis, the Nawab, fearing for his life, felt forced to flee to Karachi with his family and his followers, and there he established a provisional government.
Vallabhbhai Patel offered Pakistan time to reverse its acceptance of the accession and to hold a plebiscite in Junagarh. Samaldas Gandhi formed a government-in-exile, the Aarzi Hukumat (in Urdu: Aarzi: Temporary, Hukumat: Government) of the people of Junagarh. Eventually, Patel ordered the forcible annexation of Junagarh's three principalities. Junagarh's state government, facing financial collapse and lacking forces with which to resist Indian force, invited the Government of India to take control. A plebiscite was conducted in December, in which approximately 99.95% of the people chose India over Pakistan.
Scholars have observed that India annexed Junagarh through force with scholars viewing the annexation as part of a wider programme by the Indian state of forcing or bullying the rulers of princely states to accede.