When on October 24, 1947 the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, Hari Singh asked for military help from India against invading Pathan tribesmen, Governor-General Mountbatten who chaired India's defence committee replied, "it is my Government's wish that as soon as law and order have been restored in Jammu and Kashmir and her soil cleared of the invader, the question of the State's accession should be settled by a reference to the people". The seeds of contention on the Kashmir issue are said to have been sowed with this remark.

The Maharaja nevertheless signed the accession deed and October 26 is celebrated annually as Accession Day in Jammu and Kashmir, despite all the conflict that has followed on from that fateful decision. This year the Jammu and Kashmir National Panthers Party, a political party, announced that the celebration of the 68th Kashmir Accession Day will this year take place on October 27 instead, when the accession formally came into effect.

The video above from the British Movietone archives shows Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on a visit to the state, about a month after the signing of the deed. November 20, 1947 to be exact. We can see him being welcomed by Sheikh Abdullah, the prime minister of the state after its accession, and the Maharaja. Following a speech at Srinagar's red square the video commentary points at the huge crowds gathered to listen to Nehru and the "impromptu victory lap" that followed. It would end up being an incomplete victory.