Kashmir Issue and Role of Pakistan
The Kashmir conflict
was highlighted at the time of partition of subcontinent into India and
Pakistan in 1947. Both the countries have made claims to Kashmir, based on
historical developments and religious affiliations of Kashmir and Kashmiri
people. State of Jammu and Kashmir lies strategically in the north-west of the
sub-continent, bordering China and former Soviet Union.
Historical
Background
In the 18th century, Kashmir was ruled by the
Muslim Pashtun Durrani
Empire. In 1819 Kashmir was conquered by the Sikh ruler Ranjit
Singh. Following the First
Anglo-Sikh War in
1845-1846 Kashmir was first ceded by the ‘Treaty
of Lahore’ to the East
India Company, and shortly after it was sold by the ‘Treaty
of Amritsar’ to Maharaja
Gulaab Singh. From then until the Partition
of India in 1947, Kashmir was ruled by the Hindu
Maharajas although the majority of the population was Muslim.
Independence movement
in sub-continent also created some awareness in Kashmir and as a result in 1932
a state political party under the name of Muslim Conference was founded. It was
lead by Sheikh Abdullah. In 1939 the name of this party was changed to All Jammu
and Kashmir National Conference. The main objective of this party was to create
awareness against the cruelties of Maharaja and the rights of Muslim Kashmiris.
Afterwards Sheikh Abdullah started spreading secular ideas. First he favored
Kashmir to join India, later on he demanded an independent Kashmir .On 17th
June 1944 Quaid-e-Azam in his speech said “As
congress is cheating the minorities in India same way National Conference is working
on the same lines in Kashmir.” He declared Kashmir as the ‘life-line’ (Shah-rug)
of Pakistan. On 19th July 1947 a meeting was held in Srinagar
where Muslim Conference passed a resolution to join Pakistan
At the time of
partition there were 562 princely states. As per partition plan of 3rd
June, these states were given the option to join India or Pakistan keeping in
view the principle of partition i.e. majority of population and geographical
contiguity..
Accession issue of
almost all the states was decided one way or the other well before partition
i.e. 14th August 1947. However dispute arose about three states namely
Junagarh, Hyderabad and Kashmir.
Hyderabad state decided
to remain independent while Junagarh state decided to join Pakistan. Both these
states were ruled by Muslim rulers but had Hindu majority population. India
rejected the decision of state rulers on the grounds that these two states have
Hindu majority and were not contiguous to Pakistan. India forcibly occupied
Junagarh in Oct 1947 and attacked on Hyderabad. India occupied it on 18th
September 1948.
As regards Kashmir,
India took a somersault and accepted the request of Hindu Raja Hari Sigh to
join India against the wishes of Kashmiri Muslim majority and violated the
principle of partition.
Under a planned and a
convert deal, boundary commission headed by Radcliffe, on 17th
August 1947 unjustly awarded Gurdaspur and Pathankot to India with a view to
provide India a land access into Kashmir..
India started providing
full support to the Raja in his mission of driving out Muslims from Kashmir. In
October 1947 volunteers from Pakistan’s tribal area and Lashkars from NWFP
entered through Deer to support the people of Kashmir and liberate it from
Dogra rule. Fighting commenced between the Dogra Army and Freedom Fighters. As
a result Dogra Army suffered heavy reverses and withdrew to Srinagar.
Violating the partition
plan India inducted troops into Kashmir and occupied Srinagar. Freedom fighters
started with-drawing under the pressure of regular Indian Army and the borders
of Pakistan were threatened. On 20th April 1948 Pakistan also moved
its troops into Kashmir and Kashmir war 1948 started. As a result some area was
liberated from Indian occupation which is now known as Azad Kashmir.
At this juncture India
knocked the door of UN. United Nations Security Council Commission for India
and Pakistan passed a resolution for immediate ceasefire, declared Kashmir as a
disputed territory and said that its future will be decided by a free, fair and
impartial plebiscite under UN. After some time India established a rubber stamp
assembly through a drama election in Kashmir and started calling Kashmir as an ‘integral part of India’. Due to
India’s rigid attitude Pakistan knocked the door of UN on 2nd June
1957 and drew the attention of the world body to Indian fraud. Since then UN
sent number of missions to negotiate with India but all in vain.
India went to war with
China in 1962 and suffered a humiliating defeat. On the pretext of threat from
China India got maximum economic and military aid from USA and USSR. Pakistan
did not intervene in the Sino Indian war. India promised with Pakistan that
after this war it will settle the Kashmir issue with Pakistan. This promise was
never fulfilled as usual.
During 1965 and 1971
Indo Pak Wars, India continued to raise the China bogey to get sympathies from
US but deployed her troops against Pakistan and in 1999 Kargil war started.
Fearing that it will turn into a nuclear
war President of USA Mr. Bill Clinton pressurized Pakistan to retreat. Gradually many other voluntary groups got
involved in Kashmir freedom fight.
Main
Disputes
Map
Issue
As
with disputed territories, each government issues map depicting their claims in
Kashmir territory. The Government of Pakistan maintains un-provisionally and
unconditionally that the informal accession of Jammu and Kashmir to Pakistan or
India remains to be decided by UN plebiscite. Pakistan accepts the UN’s map of
the territory.
Water
Dispute
Kashmir
is the origin point for many rivers and tributaries of the Indus River basin.
They include Jhelum and Chenab rivers which primarily flow into Pakistan while
other branches the Ravi, Beas and Sutlej irrigate northern India. In dire need
India may withhold the water-flow and thus choke the agrarian economy of
Pakistan. Indus Water Treaty signed in 1960 resolved this issue to some extent
but some concerns are pointed out by Pakistan over the construction of dams on
the Indian side which limit the water flow to Pakistani side.
Pakistan’s
View and Role in Kashmir Conflict
·
Maharaja Hari Singh used brutal force to
suppress Kashmiris
·
Maharaja being Hindu, held no authority
to determine Kashmir’s future
·
Indian forces stepped in Kashmir before
Pakistan
·
More
than 1.5 million Kashmiris have been made homeless from Indian held Kashmir
·
Pakistan is not supplying any arms,
ammunition or training to the militants engaged in reckless killings and mayhem
in the name of religion
·
Pakistan gives only moral, ethical and
military support to Muslims of Kashmir
·
Pakistan has repeatedly claimed that by
constructing a fence along the line of control India is violating the Simla
Accord.
·
Pakistan has promised to check
infiltration in Jammu and Kashmir
·
Pakistan points towards reports from the
United Nations which condemns India for its human rights violations against
Kashmiri people. HRO have strongly condemned Indian troops for widespread rape
and murder of innocent civilians accusing falsely for being militants
Conclusion
As Kashmir is nuclear flash point in the sub-continent, so for the sake of the
peace of the world, this dispute has to be settled according to the will of
Kashmiris’ religious and strategic ground realities and natural affiliations of
this heaven on earth.
Kashmir
for Pakistan is not only the piece of land or origin of rivers but a part of
our religion. We are supporting and fighting for Kashmir on the same principles
as we fought for Pakistan. Kashmiri people, Islamic cause, Nuclear power,
Kashmir and Chinese friendship are the four pillars of our strength and unity
Namra
Nasir
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