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Kashmir Spring shines on Accession Day
by Bhim Singh on 27 Oct 2011 20 Comments
The 64th anniversary of the Accession of Jammu & Kashmir has gained fresh momentum in the entire State of J&K, including Occupied Kashmir and Gilgit. This is embarrassing for the Pakistani occupation forces which have been projecting POK as its ‘Shehrug’ (mind-pipe).


Pak occupied 32,200 sq. miles of our territory in 1947. A strong wave of anger has emerged against the occupation forces in Gilgit-Baltistan region (around 28,000 sq. miles). Pakistan annexed this territory through the local Muslim Scouts on 15 November 1947, 19 days after the Accession of J&K. Pakistan continued to rule ruthlessly this region comprising Chitral, Hunza, Askardu, Gilgit, Baltistan and other sectors which were integral part of the kingdom under Dogra rule till 1947 when it merged with the Union.


Kashmir Valley was integrated with Jammu-Ladakh State by Maharaja Gulab Singh under the Treaty of Amritsar in 1846, signed with the East India Company. Ladakh region was annexed by General Zorawar Singh during his military campaign from 1836 to 1841, a most difficult, dangerous and unimaginative campaign. Ladakh was integrated with Jammu in 1842. General Zorawar Singh died during the battle of Lhasa (Tibet) in 1842, with 2500 Dogra soldiers. The history of the sacrifices and contributions to build India’s borders in the Himalayas has yet to be written.


It was Dogra soldiers again who, under the leadership of General Baaz Singh, extended the boundaries of J&K up to Chitral, Hunza and what is today called Gilgit-Baltistan, by 1856. It was Maharaja Ranbir Singh who consolidated the boundaries of J&K in the Himalayan region, spreading its wings up to Central Asia and Afghanistan.


The last Governor of Gilgit, Brig. Ghansara Singh, was abducted and detained by the Muslim Scouts, aided and abetted by the Pakistani army, on 16 November 1947. The Pakistani army ruled this region illegally in defiance of municipal and international laws for 63 years. Moreover, Pakistan ceded nearly 5000 sq. miles in Karakoram to China in 1963. This was in total violation of the Security Council Resolution dated 13 August 1948. The Security Council had directed Pakistan to vacate all occupied territories and hand them over to India, recognizing the letter and spirit of the ‘Accession’.


Pakistan had no locus standi or competence or authority to sell the state territory to China. Historians have failed to comment on the silence of the Indian leadership over Pakistan’s undesirable deal with China vis-à-vis the territories of J&K in Gilgit. The world realized the danger only when the Chinese build-up on the Karakoram Highway connecting Beijing with Peshawar had taken place.


Pakistan styled only a part of the occupied territory comprising Pahari-Dogri areas like Mirpur, Kotli, Rawalakote, Muzaffarabad, and so on, as ‘Azad Kashmir’. The total territory of this part of POK (‘Azad Kashmir’) is nearly 4600 sq. miles. In other words Pakistan has focused upon this (POK) area as disputed. Gilgit-Baltistan region has been declared by Pakistan in its so-called ‘Reforms Package’ of 29 November 2010 as the fifth province of Pakistan. A retired Army General has been nominated as Governor. A Chief Minister has also been appointed after holding so-called Assembly elections for the first time after 63 years of brutal occupation.

 
The message has gone straight to the people of J&K comprising three regions: Ladakh, Kashmir Valley, and Jammu Pradesh, that the will of J&K cannot be negotiated any more and that the Accession signed by Maharaja Hari Singh (the only competent authority to do so) on 26 October 1947 & Lord Mountbatten, Governor-General of India, on 27 October 1947, is final, irrevocable and non-negotiable.


That is why 27 October means for the people of J&K what 15 August means for the people of the entire country. J&K became an integral part of India on 27 October 1947. Entire J&K, including POK and Gilgit-Baltistan, including Chitral, were integral parts of J&K and under the de facto and de jure control of the Maharaja.


Pakistan invaded J&K on 20 October 1947. The Indian Army reached Srinagar on the morning of 27 October 1947. The raiders and Pakistani Army were forced to retreat beyond Uri. Historians have yet to unravel the mystery why the Indian Army did not liberate the remaining occupied areas of Muzaffarabad district from the retreating Pakistani forces. The hidden story has yet to be written as to how Gilgit and Mirpur areas were allowed to fall to the Pakistani Army 19 days after the Accession. Who is responsible and what is the truth behind this heinous act?

 
The so-called question on the ‘nationality’ status of the people of J&K has to be settled after 64 years. The people of J&K have decided for the first time to celebrate 64th Anniversary of the Accession of J&K with the Union of India on 27 October 2011. Major events are slated to take place all over the state from Lal Chowk, Srinagar and Parade Ground, Jammu. The celebrations are being held at every Panchayat, Block, Tehsil, and in every region - Ladakh, Kashmir and Jammu Pradesh. It will be like a Kashmir spring, to remind the hawks sitting outside the country or inside, that the people of J&K are not negotiable and J&K forms an integral part of Bharat.

 
 

The people of J&K have suffered innumerable shocks and human tragedies since the partition of the State. It was in J&K where Mahatma Gandhi felt the warmth of its composite culture and saw the light emerging from the lap of the Himalayas when the entire Indian continent was on communal fire because of the partition of India. The faith of the people of J&K in composite culture and secularism remained unshaken in spite of the creation of an Islamic State of Pakistan. They rejected the two-nation theory of Jinnah.


The Maharaja of J&K with all his wisdom and farsightedness waited for the people of the state to take a decision. Being a democratic ruler, he wanted to take his subjects into confidence. He was perfectly justified not to hurry and give critics a chance to find fault with his decision. He even signed a Standstill Agreement with Jinnah’s government of Pakistan before Pakistan invaded J&K. This made the people of the Kashmir Valley rise against the Pakistani invaders who attacked, brutally killed, raped women, destroyed property. The Kashmiri Muslims set up Kashmir-militia to support the Maharaja’s Army against the invaders. It was the people of Kashmir Valley who supported the Accession with the Union.

 
The leadership of Pakistan has neither forgotten nor forgiven that chapter of heroic resistance by Kashmiri Muslims against Pakistani invaders in 1947. The tragedy of the people of J&K started with the emergence of dynasty rule of the Abdullahs, abetted by the Centre. The leadership in Delhi failed to appreciate the cultural diversities in J&K which was never one constituency. The aspirations and problems of the people of Leh are different from the situation of residents in Kargil in the same region. There was a cultural diversity within the Kashmir Valley which Delhi failed to recognize. The residents of Kupwara District (along the LoC) and western areas of district Baramullah have a distinct cultural and linguistic identity from the rest of the Valley. The Gujjars and Bakerwals (all Muslims) have a close linguistic and cultural affiliation with the Dogras. The Central leadership and political pundits dealing with J&K have not been able to understand the socio-cultural or ethnic complexities of the people of the three regions. Kashmiris are not against the tricolour. They are against the bungling by the Centre.  


Nearly 100,000 youth have lost their lives during the past 20 years of militancy. Death and destruction have shadowed development and peace in the state. Power hungry politicians trading with graveyards have not given up their anti-national, divisive and sectarian slogans, despite all that has happened in the past 20 years due to mis-governance and corruption.


A new generation is awakening today. They conscious of the meaning of divisive slogans. They have understood that the tricolour that entered J&K on 27 October 1947 is the strongest weapon to defend their rights and freedom. As the people celebrate the 64th Accession Anniversary of J&K with the Union of India, a real and hopeful Kashmir spring beckons...


 

The author is the Chairman of J&K National Panthers Party

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