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| History of Azad Kashmir and 1947 Poonch Rebellion |
History of Azad Kashmir and 1947 Poonch Rebellion
At the time of the Partition of India in 1947, the British abandoned their suzerainty over the princely states, which were left with the options of joining India or Pakistan or remaining independent. Hari Singh, the maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, wanted his state to remain independent.[13][14] Muslims in Western Jammu province (current day Azad Kashmir) and the Frontier Districts Province (current day Gilgit-Baltistan) had wanted to join Pakistan.[15]
In Spring 1947, an uprising against the Maharaja broke out in Poonch, an area bordering the Rawalpindi division of West Punjab.
Maharaja's administration is said to have started levying punitive
taxes on the peasantry which provoked a local revolt and the
administration resorted to brutal suppression. The area's population,
swelled by recently demobilised soldiers following World War II,
rebelled against the Maharaja's forces and gained control of almost the
entire district. Following this victory, the pro-Pakistan chieftains of
the western districts of Muzaffarabad, Poonch and Mirpur proclaimed a provisional Azad Jammu and Kashmir government in Rawalpindi on October 3, 1947.[note 2] Khwaja Ghulam Nabi Gilkar, under the assumed name "Mr. Anwar," issued a proclamation in the name of the provisional government in Muzaffarabad. However, this government quickly fizzled out with the arrest of Anwar in Srinagar. On October 24, a second provisional government of Azad Kashmir was established at Palandri under the leadership of Sardar Ibrahim.
On October 21, several thousand Pashtun tribesmen from North-West Frontier Province
poured into Jammu and Kashmir to liberate it from the Maharaja's rule.
They were led by experienced military leaders and were equipped with
modern arms. The Maharaja's crumbling forces were unable to withstand
the onslaught. The raiders captured the towns of Muzaffarabad and Baramulla, the latter 20 miles (32 km) northwest of the state capital Srinagar.
On October 24, the Maharaja requested military assistance from India,
which responded that it was unable to help him unless he acceded to
India. Accordingly, on October 26, 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh signed an Instrument of Accession, handing over control of defence, external affairs and communications to the Government of India in return for military aid.[20] Indian troops were immediately airlifted into Srinagar. Pakistan intervened subsequently.[14]
Fighting ensued between the Indian and Pakistani armies, with the two
areas of control more or less stabilised around what is now known as the
"Line of Control".[22]
India later approached the United Nations, asking it to resolve the
dispute, and resolutions were passed in favour of the holding of a
plebiscite with regard to Kashmir's future. However, no such plebiscite
has ever been held on either side, since there was a precondition which
required the withdrawal of the Pakistani Army along with the non-state
elements and the subsequent partial withdrawal of the Indian Army.[23] from the parts of Kashmir under their respective control – a withdrawal that never took place.[24] In 1949, a formal cease-fire line separating the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir came into effect.
Following the 1949 cease-fire agreement
with India, the government of Pakistan divided the northern and western
parts of Kashmir that it occupied at the time of cease-fire into the
following two separately-controlled political entities:
- Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) – the narrow, southern part, 250 miles
(400 km) long, with a width varying from 10 to 40 miles (16 to 64 km).
- Gilgit–Baltistan formerly called the Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA) – the much larger political entity to the north of AJK with an area of 72,496 square kilometres (27,991 sq mi).
At one time under Pakistani control, Kashmir's Shaksgam tract,
a small region along the northeastern border of Gilgit–Baltistan, was
provisionally ceded by Pakistan to the People's Republic of China in
1963 and now forms part of China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
In 1972, the then current border between the Indian and Pakistani controlled parts of Kashmir was designated as the "Line of Control". This line has remained unchanged[25] since the 1972 Simla Agreement,
which bound the two countries "to settle their differences by peaceful
means through bilateral negotiations". Some political experts claim
that, in view of that pact, the only solution to the issue is mutual
negotiation between the two countries without involving a third party
such as the United Nations.[citation needed] The 1974 Interim Constitution Act was passed by the 48-member Azad Jammu and Kashmir unicameral assembly.[26]
