The 1944 'Naya Kashmir' or 'New Kashmir' manifesto - or at least the opening pages which propose a draft constitution for the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir - was based in large part on the constitution Stalin introduced in the Soviet Union in the mid-1930s. B.P.L. Bedi and his English wife Freda Bedi are often credited as the main forces behind the drafting of 'Naya Kashmir' - not least in Sheikh Abdullah's own autobiography. But much of the detail was lifted from the Soviet constitution, which the Bedis' had published in full in the quarterly Contemporary India which they edited in Lahore from 1935 to 1937.
This was explained in a talk that Andrew Whitehead gave this week at the University of Kashmir, with more than a hundred faculty and students present. The talk focussed on 'Freda Bedi in Kashmir' - the Bedis lived in Srinagar from 1947 to 1952 and had an association with the state, and particularly with Sheikh Abdullah's National Conference, from the late 1930s.
The talk has been reported on the Outlook website - here's the link: http://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/sheikh-abdullahs-new-kashmir-manifesto-was-a-cut-and-paste-of-stalins-constituti/298388
This was explained in a talk that Andrew Whitehead gave this week at the University of Kashmir, with more than a hundred faculty and students present. The talk focussed on 'Freda Bedi in Kashmir' - the Bedis lived in Srinagar from 1947 to 1952 and had an association with the state, and particularly with Sheikh Abdullah's National Conference, from the late 1930s.
The talk has been reported on the Outlook website - here's the link: http://www.outlookindia.com/website/story/sheikh-abdullahs-new-kashmir-manifesto-was-a-cut-and-paste-of-stalins-constituti/298388
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