A valley of wars

If there is paradise on earth, it is Kashmir – Amir Khusro

The quote above perfectly sums up Kashmir -snow-capped mountains, the picturesque valleys, meadows of vibrant flowers along with graceful chinar and apple trees makes this place surreal which transcends all reality. Prior to independence, it was a destination for affluent tourists from Punjab and Delhi to spend the summer. But post-independence, this place went into a state of frenzy and chaos due the territorial conflict between the newly created states of India and Pakistan.

More than 500 princely sates acceded to the Union of India which included massive states of Hyderabad and Travancore to minorjagirs in the villages.Of all these states, the state of Jammu and Kashmir was of significant importance as it was the largest state in terms of land area with a complex heterogeneous culture and demography. The part of Jammu was dominated by Hindus who came in huge numbers after partitions whereas the valley of Kashmir chiefly consisted of Muslims. The valley was also home to seasoned craftsmen expert in artifacts made of silk, wood, metal etc. This geographic location acted as both boon and bane for the Jammu and Kashmir. The location gave the state a strategic importance but after importance it led to the conflict as this state shared continuous boundary with both India and Pakistan. Also, the rarity of a Hindu ruler ruling over an area consisting of chiefly Muslim Population was also a complication.

The Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir during independence was Hari Singh who in all terms was an inefficient ruler who would rather spend his days in the racecourses of Bombay than focusing on his state. His policies were also biased againstMuslim and it was extremely difficult for a Muslim to get government job. As it is always the case, from the oppressed stood a leader who vowed to address the concerns of the oppressed community. In this case, he was Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, who was denied job in state administration despite being qualified. He later became a school teacher and represented his community giving voice to their demands and needs. In summer of 1931, there were violent communal clash due to the arrest of Muslim minority leader and lead to the loot and burning of Hindu shops.

This unrest eventually lead to the formation of ‘All Jammu Kashmir Muslim Conference’ in 1932 which was to act as leading light for the increasing opposition against the Maharaja. This conference in six year evolved into ‘National Conference’ under the leadership of Abdullah which also included Hindus and Sikhs. Around this time, Abdullah became associated to Nehru and they instantly became friends as they shared a common dream of Hindu-Muslim unity and socialism. This association also brought National Conference close to All India Congress. By mid 1940’s Abdullah gained huge popularity in the state due to his policies and was incarcerated numerous times by Dogra Rulers. In 1946, when it became clear that Britishers would be liberating India soon, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir asserted that he wished to remain independent from both India and Pakistan. He was mainly emboldened into this decision by his Chief Minister RamchandraKak as evident from the meeting with Lord Mountbatten and Kak in June 1947 where he strictly refused to accede to neither India nor Pakistan. Mahatma Gandhi also made attempt to make Maharaja reconsider the decision but he failed in his attempt.

On 15th August, Jammu and Kashmir did not acceded to either India or Pakistan and offered a ‘standstill agreement’ which allowed unrestricted movement of people and goods within the borders of both the countries dominions. It was signed by Pakistan but India decided to play ‘wait and watch’. However Pakistan violated the terms when rail service and lorry traffic were prohibited from entering the Pakistan side of border which alienated the Maharaja from Pakistan. Nehru had special interest in Kashmir as he was native Kashmiri and SardarVallabhbhai Patel was enraged from the fact that Pakistan accepted the proposal of Junagarh to accede to Pakistan when it lies in India. They both decided that Sheikh Abdullah had to be released from prison which he was on September, 1947. As soon he was released, he gave speech in which demanded ‘complete transfer of power to people of Kashmir on basis of universal of Suffrage’ and people rallied to him in huge numbers. However, Maharaja remained steadfast to his decision of remaining independent and added that he will change his mind only when any one side decides to use force. Within few weeks, the state was invaded from north by several thousand armed man in October who quickly overran the insubstantial state forces and steadily marched towards Srinagar. Most of the raiders were Pathans from a province of Pakistan.

The fact which remain disputed even sixty years later is that why they came and who was supporting them. However it is debated that Pakistan was supporting them as rifles and ammunitions, truck and military lorries were hardly standard operating style of tribal Pathan raiding party. Also, there was rebellion in the Poonch District in Septemberwhen they flew Pakistani flag and joined the raiders. Here the greed overcame the religious obligations and there was widespread Loot, rape and pillage of Hindu and Muslims alike. They rapidly moved toward the capital overrunning Muzaffarabad, Uri and Baramula. It is extensively believed that by this violent October incursion, Pakistan hoped to trigger the accession of Kashmir into Pakistan mimicking India’s Operation Polo in which State of Hyderabad was annexed into Indian Union. However this incursion strategically proved suicidal as it pushed Maharaja into asking India for military assistance. On October 26, 1947 a meeting of Defence committee consisting of VP Menon, Mountbatten, Nehru, Patel and Abdullah was convened and it was decided to provide military assistance to Kashmir in lieu of its accession to India.

The Maharaja agreed to this readily and signed the instrument of accession. With this Indian army, assisted by members of National Conference drew a defensive cover around Srinagar and quickly took over Baramula and Uri but the northern parts still remained occupied by the Raiders. Then the governor general on behalf of India and with support of Nehru decided to take this matter to United Nations and the case was presented on January 1, 1948 in the Security Council general meeting. Many historians and strategists consider this particular step to be fallacious on part of India as it brought external influence driven by their own power politics and ambitions to an internal issue of the country.

In the Security Council, Pakistan suggested to conduct plebiscite under an impartial temporary government whereas Indian wanted to conduct plebiscite under National Conference as its leader Sheikh Abdullah was most popular political person of the state. The negotiation in UN continued and meanwhile, Sheikh Abdullah was elected Prime Minister of Kashmir and Indian Army was able to capture Kargil and Dras from raiders. However, northern and western part of Kashmir still remained under Pakistan control where they financed an Azad Kashmir government and created an Azad Kashmir army who threatened nearby regions. As one may notice, the war of 1947-1948, was not only a war for territories; it was also war of two different ideologies, culture, belief and most importantly way of living. The war also represented the bitterness of partition and this is one of the chief reasons as to why Nehru and Gandhi supported Abdullah. They saw him as an example of secular India of which they dreamt of and for which national leaders such as Vallabh Bhai Patel and VP Menon worked for.

Both sides invested massively in terms of manpower and resources but were unable to capture the whole of thestate. And this failure would continue to hurt them for times to come as a viable solution to this dispute is still to be found costing innocent life on both the sides in the further wars to come.

By Swaptik Chowdhury with Piyush Chaudhari