Jammu, Oct. 27 -- On a hot and humid mid-September afternoon, I walked in to the research room of the National Archives in New Delhi to find out if my search for a "historic" document had borne results. The document in question was the original Instrument of Accession (IoA) signed in October 1947 by the then ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh and accepted by Lord Mountbatten of Burma, who was Governor General of India at the time. Earlier, the Union ministry of home affairs had transferred to the National Archives my RTI application seeking a copy of this document and a handful of IoAs signed by other Rulers. Subsequently, the Central Public Information Officer (CPIO) of the National Archives invited me to access the documents ...