Original Article, written and edited by Anoop Prathapan and first published on the 5th of February 2022.
Kashmir Solidarity Day is observed in Pakistan on February 5 every year (since 2004) to shout out its solidarity to the people of Indian Kashmir and to pay allegiance to the millions who have lost their lives, fighting for Kashmir. Solidarity rallies are held, and debates are conducted in the Pakistan administered part of Kashmir. Surprisingly and shamefully, the banned organization LeT also takes part in the proceedings, with the support of the Pakistan Government.
Almost all of the Pakistani Provincial Governments conduct rallies or special functions in their provinces to apparently support the Kashmiris in their war for freedom. (as they claim). The Pakistani President Arif Alvi tweeted today (5/2/2022) "My message of hope to Kashmiris: "Your freedom from clutches of illegal Indian occupation is not far." To the international community: "You must intervene & be on right side of history by fulfilling your promise of a plebiscite in line with UN resolutions to restore peace in Kashmir"
Brief History of the Kashmir issue After Pakistan and India were born in 1947, or even much before that, Pakistan had an eye on Kashmir not only because of its Muslim majority but also because of the Indus River system, the six rivers that flowed through Kashmir, into Pakistan, which formed the principal water supply for Pakistan. Even after the dominions were formed, Maharaja Hari Singh, the Hindu ruler of the Muslim Majority State of Kashmir did not decide on accession, which led to a sleepless Pakistan launching Operation Gulmarg which presumably was an array of upsurges aimed at annexing Kashmir to Pakistan. A no-tax uprisal was also initiated among the Muslim soldiers of the Poonch region as part of the plan. Pakistan tried its level best to brainwash Sheikh Abdullah, the leader of the Muslim Conference of Kashmir, to join them. Parallelly, Pakistan launched a tribesmen attack in October 1947 under the wand of Brigadier Akbar Khan of the Pakistan Army which ultimately led to the Maharaja fleeing from Kashmir. Major General Akbar Khan the then military advisor to the PM of Pakistan, has given a detailed account of that in his book, “Raiders in Kashmir”. He claims that the upsurge was not a homegrown one, but a well-informed coup orchestrated by the Army, PM Liaquat Ali Khan, and none other than Janab Mohammed Ali Jinnah. It was successful on the Pakistani front and conclusively, the leaders of the Tribal Agitation declared Poonch, Muzaffarabad, and Mirpur, the Azad Kashmir – which means Kashmir that is Free (from India). The Maharaja had no means but to turn to India for military help and that led him to decide on acceding Kashmir to India. As Dinkar P. Srivastava observes, “the pre-emptive use of force failed in its primary objective of conquering the Kashmir Valley – It forced the Maharaja to accede to India.” The instrument of accession was signed on the 26th of October 1974 in the province of Jammu. This frightened the British who clumsily were waiting for Kashmir to go to Pakistan to protect what they called the Gilgit Agency which formed the last outpost of British India into Sinkiang, China. The astute British invariably accepted Pakistan as a better strategic ally in the region than India to counter the Soviets. So, they made Captain William Alexander Brown, a Scottish man who was a Pashto-speaking Kashmiri Army officer, initiate a few upsurges in the region, fondly titled, Operation Datta Khel, leading to the defenestration and incarceration of the Governor Ghansara Singh of Gilgit who was the Maharaja’s representative, governing the region. Finally, On November 2, they declared Gilgit acceded to Pakistan. As the mission was operated and accomplished by Capt. William Alexander Brown, he was awarded the MBE, the title of Member of Order of the British Empire, which is a title awarded to British Citizens who excel in their field of activity, in July 1948. Approximately 50 years late, posthumously, The Pakistan Government honoured him with the Sitara-e-Pakistan which is one of the loftiest Civilian Honours in the country. The Gilgit Rebellion is a book published in 1998 that encompassed Capt. William Brown’s writings during his tenure in Gilgit. As India castigated the acts of Capt. Brown as treason, the gentleman did not personally feel so and continued living in Pakistan until 1959 before he left forever for the UK. There are several records that state that the Gilgit troop leaders wanted a separate dominion for themselves and had no intentions to accede to Pakistan. With the Poonch, Muzaffarabad, and Mirpur regions already gone and the Gilgit now acceded to Pakistan, the western region of the state was permanently detached from India. These 4,144 square miles of the western part of Kashmir is what we Indians presently call the “Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK)” and what Pakistanis call the “Azad Kashmir”. Quite interestingly they call Indian Kashmir as "Indian Illegally Occupied Kashmir (IIOK)". Though they claimed to set up an autonomous administration in the PoK, the Muslim Conference Leadership was soon forced to sign the Karachi Agreement of April 1949 which illegally surrendered 80% of the annexed territory to Pakistan, violating the UN resolutions. For that very reason, it was kept a secret until 1993. After causing so much damage in a couple of years post-independence, the Pakistanis have further fought three battles killing thousands, just to attach the rest of Kashmir to them. That is their preocupación más importante for all the unjust reasons, since 1947. Their propaganda clearly states that India politicked and obtained accession by deceit. But the accounts of the Mehr Chand Mahajan the last PM under the Maharaja and that of Allan Campbell Johnson, Lord Mountbatten’s ally, contradict such claims. Though they claim many battles as “indigenous uprising” or a "popular revolt" of the Kashmir Muslims against the Hindu Maharaja, historical data proves otherwise. And even after all these, they have the fortitude to celebrate "Kashmir Solidarity Day" on the 5th of February every year to keep the boat afloat even in 2022 and the nerve to call the Indian administration in Kashmir, an illegal occupation.
Not all Kashmiris wish to go to Pakistan. Kashmir is part of India - now and always. They are people who wish to live and die as Indians. For how many more generations this battle would last is quite ambiguous. Let us hope and pray that this is over someday and that peace is restored in the region.
Anoop Prathapan
anoop.prathapan@gmail.com
References:
various internet sources
The Hindu newspaper
The Dawn newspaper
"Forgotten Kashmir" by Dinkar P. Srivastava
"Partition" by Barney White-Spunner
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