The giant ‘Broken Chair’

Pakistan’s Kashmir Policy – III
Make a joint war on them

Pending

a UN supervised vote in the State of Jammu and Kashmir, the Government of Indiahas taken upon to “help Kashmir forces to defend the territory and to protect the lives, property and honour of the people”. This commitment stands in regards to the State as a whole and to all people of the State. UN discipline has set out three more restraints on the appearance, number and location of Indian army.

Pakistan formally became a party to the discussion on the “Situation in Jammu and Kashmir” at the UN Security Council on 15 January 1948. It has flagged its role, to provide political, moral and diplomatic support to the people of the State. In addition it has ‘assumed’ specified responsibilities in Azad Kashmir under UNCIP Resolutions. Pakistan has entered into a detailed Agreement, called, Karachi Agreement with the Government of Azad Kashmir and the only political party which was functional in April 1949.

In her reference made under Article 35 of the UN Charter the Government of India had pleaded that, “Invaders are still on the soil of Jammu and Kashmir and the inhabitants of the State are exposed to all the atrocities of which a barbarous foe is capable …The matter is therefore one of extreme urgency and calls for immediate action by the Security Council for avoiding a breach of international law”.

Government of India made three immediate demands. In her reference she has stated that, “The Government of India deeply regret that a serious crisis should have been reached intheir relations with Pakistan. Not only is Pakistan a neighbour but, in spite of the recent separation, India and Pakistan have many ties and many common interests. India desires nothing more earnestly than to live with her neighbour-state on terms of close and lasting friendship. Peace is to the interests of both States; indeed to the interests of the world”.

In its submissions in Document II titled “Pakistan’s Complaint Against India” Government of Pakistan submitted that “The tragic events and the happenings in East Punjab and the Sikh and Hindu States in and around that Province had convinced the Muslim population of Kashmir and Jammu State that the accession of the State to the Indian Union would be tantamount to the signing of their death warrant”.

Pakistan does not deny the outside incursion into the State. In her Document III titled “Particulars of Pakistan’s Case” Pakistan submits that, “In conspiracy with the Indian Government, they seized upon this incursion as the occasion for putting into effect the pre-planned scheme for the accession of Kashmir as a coup d’état and for the occupation of Kashmir by the Indian troops simultaneously with the acceptance of the accession by India”.

The submission adds that, “The Pakistan Government have not accepted and cannot accept the accession of Jammu and Kashmir State to India. In their view the accession is based on violence and fraud. It was fraudulent in as much as it was achieved by deliberately creating a set of circumstances with the object of finding an excuse to stage the “accession”. It was based on violence because it furthered the plan of the Kashmir Government to liquidate the Muslim population of the State”.

The sequence of events described in the Pakistan Document III do not fully agree with the Rights Movement of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. People had raised the issue of misgovernment and mal-administration in 1877. In 1888, the British Government asked the Maharaja to make certain reforms in the administration. Under a false pretext of conspiring with the Czar of Russia Maharaja was deposed for a while and when restored in authority in 1905, he was made subject to the veto of the Resident. Maharaja kept on working with limited powers till 1921. The first major demand was “State for the State’s People”.

Kashmiris, who had hitherto been excluded from the affairs of the State, strongly resented the encroachment from outside. As education advanced, this resentment, which had been growing for the past half-century became stronger. The slogan “State for the State’s People” came to be heard everywhere.

One can trace the desire for social justice as far back as to 1877. It was in October 1924, that the people of Kashmir presented a 17-demands memorandum to Viceroy Lord Reading. The major demand was that the “Muslim representation in the State Council should be according to their ratio in the population”.

Therefore, the submission of a likening of Kashmir situation to what happened in East Punjab, in Sikh and Hindu States, does not hold strong. By 1932, people of Kashmir, had moved to third important demand for a “responsible government”.

There is another puzzle in the submissions made by the Government of Pakistan in her Document III. All the love and affection shown for the honour and the welfare of the people of Kashmir, in particular, the Muslims has evaporated in thin air. While making an argument in reference to “the forces of the Azad Kashmir Government”, Pakistan has referred to an earlier proposal that it had made in November 1947 to the Government of India. It was to make a “joint war on them”, that is, on the independent tribesmen and the forces of the Azad Kashmir Government.

The offer to wage a joint war, would occupy the interest of the present and future generations. Historians would have a subject of prime interest. The proposal does not remain in line with the fundamentals of the case presented by the Government of Pakistan at the UN Security Council. Nor has it ever before surfaced for a thorough debate.

Dr Syed Nazir Gilani

Dr-nazirgilani@jkchr.com