This was a clear indication that the Government of Pakistan had accepted the independence of the State of Jammu and Kashmir, while the discussion for the same status of Kashmir with India was going on. In the same way, states of Juna Garh and Hyderabad in India and States of Bahawalpur, Qalat and Swat in Pakistan decided to remain independent at that time.
However, suddenly a few Pakistan Army officers planned to attack Kashmir with the help of tribal people from NWFP of Pakistan. These Tribal warriors managed to successfully reach the capital of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu & Kashmir, killing and plundering on the way. This led the Maharaja of Kashmir to decide in favor of joining India by signing the instrument of accession with India, and Indian forces landed in Sri Nagar rescuing Kashmir from the hands of these Tribal Warriors. The Maharaja himself left Srinagar for fear of being killed and urged the Indian government to save the state. While Srinagar was restored and a considerable portion of the state of J & K was taken over by India, a smaller portion remained with Pakistan, and is today known as Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan.
The Government of India brought the issue to the
United Nations and requested for mediation. The issue
was discussed in the United Nations and Security
Council passed a resolution known as resolution 38
(1948) 229 of 17 January 1948. In this resolution both
India and Pakistan agreed to resolve the issue with a
fair and impartial plebiscite. It meant that the
people of the State of Jammu and Kashmir were given
the right to decide by their vote; either to Join
India; or Pakistan; or to remain independent. The
Government of Pakistan agreed to withdraw all its
troops along with the Tribal invaders from the entire
territory of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The
Government of India agreed to decrease her troops to a
minimum number just to assist the government of the
state of Jammu and Kashmir to maintain peace and order
for a fair and impartial Plebiscite. But since that
time, no government seriously took measures to
implement the Security Council Resolution for a fair
and impartial Plebiscite in the state.
Fearing the possibility of an independent Kashmir, The
Pakistan Foreign Office, in a letter to the Security
Council, enquired if the words 'future status' could
mean an independent Kashmir. The reply was that the
Kashmiri people could have an independent Kashmir if
that was the majority decision. After receiving this
reply, the Pakistani government decided to suggest an
amendment to this resolution. It was unfortunate that
the Pakistan government in its letter to General A. G.
L. McNaughton, President of the Security Council,
dated 28 December 1948, wrote to propose a change in
this clause:
Paragraph 1 (A) reads,
For the words "the future status of State of Jammu and Kashmir" substitute the following:
"The question of the accession of the state of Jammu and Kashmir to India and Pakistan. 20
As a result of this request the next resolution which was passed on 5 January 1949, read like this:
'The question of the accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to India and Pakistan will be decided through the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite'.
Despite this important change in the Resolution, General A. G. L. McNaughton after intensive interaction between both governments, in his report in December 1949, still proposed the following:
"To determine the future of Jammu and Kashmir by the democratic method of a free and impartial plebiscite, to take place as soon as possible". 21
Pakistan once again wrote him a letter and asked for a change that was made in the Resolution of 5 January 1949. What this meant was that the government of Pakistan, in principle, was prepared to accept the whole of the State going to India in the event of the plebiscite going against Pakistan; but was not prepared to accept the State of Jammu and Kashmir becoming independent if the people voted in favour of this option.
It is an open fact before the world that Kashmiri Nation has never accepted the forced annexation and occupation of Jammu Kashmir by Pakistan & India. So the Kashmiri nation, from 1947 is struggling for its freedom. Until now thousands of innocent men, women and children have been mercilessly killed, hundreds of thousands have been displaced and thousands are missing. A large number of prominent Kashmiri social, intellectual and political figures have been targeted and eliminated by the state security agencies of Pakistan, India and the Militants. The state establishment of Pakistan & India have always used different tactics to silence the voice of reason raised for the lawful rights of the Kashmiri people. Due to Geographic interests, Pakistan government is keen to change the status of Gilgit Baltistan as its fifth province because the “Silk Route” leads to China from this particular area of Kashmir.
The Pakistan side of Kashmir is called Azad or free Kashmir. They have their own Flag, President, Prime Minister, Legislative Assembly, their own Supreme Court and High Court, but they all are under the order of an officer of Pakistani Bureaucracy known as Chief Secretary. This AK government has no status anywhere in the world. This is just a puppet government and every member of this assembly is requested to sign documents conforming the accession of the state to Pakistan, before contesting the election for AK Assembly. Even the President and Prime Minister of AK are not allowed to visit the area of Gilgit and Baltistan and as matter of fact no President or Prime Minister of AK have ever visited Gilgit Baltistan.
The situation on Indian side of Kashmir known as Jammu and Kashmir is also not much different as on the Pakistani side of Kashmir. The two decades of militancy has disrupted the normal life in all aspects. According to official reports of government of India some 43,000 people have lost their lives in the last two decades of insurgency in Kashmir and this is regarded by human rights organizations as a conservative estimate. Independent sources reported the death toll to be around 100,000 by militant and by the Indian and state security forces. Dusk to dawn curfew is a common practice. Statements by AK leadership that they are sending hundreds and thousand of freedom fighters to Indian Kashmir, give India a chance to increase the number of its troops in that part. The Indian security forces have not abstained from using bullets to assassinate people’s democratic rights. Thousands of detainees are cleared by courts, they are again arrested by the police and detained under draconian laws like public safety act (PSA) and armed forces special powers act (AFSPA).
The people of Kashmir have been suffering for more then 63 years and are in desperate need of justice and reunification of Jammu and Kashmir. In Pakistani part of the State of Jammu and Kashmir we are fighting against the Pakistani security forces only. A pro-independence or a pro-Indian Kashmiri has to face all kind of state repression. In Indian part of the State, we are fighting against the Indian Security forces and against the militants alike. Militants who come across the border from Pakistan side are also attacking prominent Kashmiri leaders and important personalities in Kashmir in order to create a situation of turmoil and insecurity. The killing of Mir Waiz of Kashmir, Khawaja Abdul Ghani Lone and Mollana Shaukat Shah by hardliner militants are few examples of this brutality.
European Union collectively should play an effective role as an honest broker to end the deprivation of the people of the entire Jammu Kashmir state who have been sandwiched between power games of the two rival neighbors. We, Kashmiri people, are deprived of our basic civic facilities and development opportunities .Our culture, language, traditions identity and even existence are under threat, our social economical civil and political rights are violated.
We demand our birth right, unconditional and unlimited right of self-determination according to UN charter & withdrawal of all foreign forces from the Jammu Kashmir state including Gilgit Baltistan.
We believe that a free independent and secular democratic Jammu and Kashmir is the only solution of Jammu Kashmir.