MY ROOTS 9

This was 1947 when on 15^th AUGUST the country was partitioned, the states

had the option to accede to either  INDIA OR PAKISTAN depending upon direct access & compatibility of religion. Their were three delinquents: HYDERABAD, JUNAGA  RH,& J&K.the first two were Hindu majority and should have acceded to INDIA , but both had muslim rulers .JUNAGARH had to undergo a poll of preference (leading to a precedent which is being expoited by the separatists)& the state went to INDIA. Hyederabad was attacked by INDIA &annexed .KASHMIR remained stubbornly aloof. The sheikh ,in the meantime    sent his own team of  GM SADIQ,GM KARRA,&GM BAKHSHI to PAKISTAN to negotiate to settle their terms of accession in an attempt to  extract   concessions from them . This ploy was rejected outright by PAKISTAN. Negotiation with INDIA continuing in the provisional governing council in India where all  states  had teams .

  J&k had ,as a stratagem to buy time, negotiated a STAND STILL accord with Pakistan who promised peaceful neighbourliness and   free passage of essential supplies like salt,spices.kerosene etc.to the valley as the Rawalpindi route was accessible to the valley throughout the year.

        October 1947  The first war waged by Pakistan

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   The PAKISTAN state finding that the kashmiris were undecided on the accession

worked out army operation (codenamed  ‘operatin gulmarg’) to attack the state  by mixing army regulars with tribesmen of waziristan   and planned the & crossed the borders in all sectors(KOHALA,POONCH,MIRPUR,BHIMBER,RAJOURI,CHITRAL)into the state on 24th October 1947.  They wanted to capture the state by force & succeeded to a large extent by occupying nearly a third of the state,which is now known as AZAD KASHMIR.

 In Jammu province the  garrison troops of poonch,rajouri,mirpur, bhimber  etc., in  BALTISTAN at SKARDU, HUNZA ,GILGIT etc., the muslim troops crossed over to the raiders killing Hindu troops & capturing some officers.Gilgit region had a very nominal garrison at GILGIT,from which the MUSLIM TROOPS deserted to the Pakistanis. Since no help could reach the garrison , GILGIT fell to the PAKISTANIS  on 31.10.1947.the commandant BRIG.GANSARA SINGH was captured along with his personal staff . The  state officials were kept in captivity & mistreated .The survivors were repatriated much after the ceasefire by U.N.personnel. The saga of cruelities by the PAKISTAN ARMY was narrated  by such victims there and later repatriated gave   eye witness accounts of the events. Advancing further, Pakistan captured KARGIL,DRASS, AND ZOJILLA.It was only at ASKARDU that stubborn resistance was put up by a small garrison commanded by LT.COL. THAPPA for a period of six months and three days. Ultimately,they had no option but to surrender to pakistan army on 15.08.1948. as their rations and ammunitions were exhausted.both the jawans and civiliations were  brutally dealt with.Lt.Col. Thapa was taken to pakistan wherefrom he was repatriated to INDIA. Most of his juniors were not so blessed and were killed even as P.O.Ws.In western sector, BHIMBER town (only four kms. inside the border) was captured when pakistani troops crossed it as there was hardly any resistance.

 

       (A mention of BRIG. UDHAY CHAND DUBEY, BRIG.PRITAM SINGH,& BRIG.USMAN is needed here as they were finally instrumental to recapture the occupied portion of territory of PRESENT POONCH &RAJOURI DISTRICTS .All

The above officers were from the INDIAN ARMY,first being a JAMMUITE.) In  MIRPUR, BHIMBER and its neighbourhood, most of theHindu officers/troops got killed  & survivors escaped on foot in groups or individually in complete disorder resulting in killings of thousand of Hindus. In POONCH, RAJOURI ,MIRPUR, BHIMBER, and KOTLI,thousands of Hindus were killed , though many managed to flee and reach JAMMU. The valour of the army and the civilions to save POONCH city from falling to Pakistan till the Indian army cleared its approach  and reach them is saga of courage,fortitude, and faith. The garrison with civil population of MIRPUR and Kotli fought to the last bullet(due to lack of any reinforcement and succour because of  difficult and pakistani capture of routes of access. An air drop was tried at KOTLI but it fell near the enemy lines and could be barely retrieved for some real effect)) but were swamped by Pakitani military with full support of local armed muslim population .The survivors fled during the night on foot,some were captured and killed and some reached JAMMU  and thus started a chain reaction of reprisals which forced the Jammu muslims to run to Pakistan,though under army escort to set up a transit camp at BASPUR rest house for the night stay. There were some casualities when people from surrounding areas raided the camp during the night.I was conveyed this information by a local irrigation patwari in 1953 when I stayed  at Baspur during an  inspection tour.

        The route taken by the raiders to annex the valley was the jehlum valley road connecting Srinagar to Muree in PAKISTAN PUNJAB. The raiders entered the state on this side by crossingKOHALA bridge over R. KISHEN GANGA ,to the   border town of MUZZAFARABAD which was the HQRS. of the Taluqa.Even though I was in teens, I gleaned information from the displaced of rampant rapine,murder,forced conversionOf hindus &Sikhs . ( These displaced persons from MUZZAFARAD were placed in DEWAN DANPAT RAI’S home hardly half a KM from our karan nagar house and they were pushed to Jammu region not to allow them to settle in the valley to avoid any changes in demography of the valley .

         The garrison at MUZZAFARABAD fought valiantly but were outnumbered &

retreated in disorder over mountain trails as also did the govt. officials . Many were captured & tortured to get information on troops formation & mostly killed.

There was no resistance to the raiders upto URI where Brig.Rajinder Singh(who was

requisitioned from retirement by the maharaja ) took a last ditch stand with the left over troops, and scanty ammunition. They fought to the last man  detained the raiders

for nearly two days,& their sacrifice proved to be of much help and SRINAGAR could be saved. BRIG. RAJINDER SINGH’S monument is a revered place in his native village BAGOONA(NOW NAMED RAJINDERPUR). The raiders proceeded without any resistanc to BARAMULLA ,a major town in north Kashmir where theyinduldged in plunder & rapine and wasted two days which proved to be a boon to saving SRINAGAR. The hero of Baramulla was GM SHERWANI, a young

Muslim who gave his life for not cooperating with raiders for pinpointing the pandits’ houses & he led them a merry go round. The raiders  thus wasted two more days which gave a breather to srinagar. The raiders contined their progress towards SRINAGAR. There was no plausible resistance.

  The Maharaja was whisked off to JAMMU in his private plane . IT WAS ONLY AT THIS STAGE THAT THE MAHARAJA MADE A REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE TO INDIA. The INDIAN P.M. NEHRU asked for ABDULLAH’S(who was already at Delhi) participation .

All the conditions of ABDULLAH were conceded ,though these were not a part of   (legal) instrument of accession duly signed & sealed.There was a rumour that Mehr Chand Mahajan ,the maharaja’s representative treatened to walk out and surrender to pakistan. This posture worked and no conditionalities were incorporated in the deed. The sheikh who was in a separate room at delhi persuaded Nehru that  the state would have itsownconstitution,flag,P.M.,property ownership rights only to hereditary state subjects & governor to be named SADR_ I_RIYASAT(PRESIDENT OF THE STATE) The accession was later ratified by the elected assembly. The MAHARAJA  transferred the reins of power to sheikh under pressure from INDIA & shifted to MUMBAI staying there till his death. In this entire exercise the people of JAMMU & ladhakh  were not even consulted. Sheikh’s govt. also introduced entry permit system at LAKHANPUR for being allowed to enter the state!( this permit issue was later abandoned)  TO ACCEPT THESE CONDITIONS WAS THE 1^st BLUNDER OF INDIA IN KASHMIR, as it laid the foundation of a separate mindset with the seed of an autonomous kashmir. The instrument of accession by the maharaja is a complete legal and  constitutional document unrestrained by any conditionalities.

 The first sortie of INDIANtroops arrived  just some hours before the srinagar airport would have been captured by the raiders who were hardly a few kms away& the vanguard at beckoning distance.The first priority thus was to operate from the only airport at Srinagar.The raiders surrounded the airfield  & the first confrontation with took Place here . Col. Rai became the first officer to die to save KASHMIR for INDIA. The air link being through, the emergent troops & supplies were rushed in.

     The knowledge about the happenings seeped to the public at large slowly but nobody knew about the magnitude. THE  ACTIVE MOBILISATION BY NATIONAL CONFERENCE OF A VOLUTEER FORCE TO MAINTAIN

INTERNAL LA W & ORDER IN ABSENCE OF ANY ADMINSTRATION

AROUND IS ETCHED IN MY MEMORY. THERE WOULD BE NIGHT PATROLLING WITH LATHIS IN OUR HANDS &WE WOULD SHOUAT THE TOP OF OUR VOICE :

          HINDU, MUSLIM,SIKH ITEHAD ZIDABAD

          HAMLAWAR KHABARDAR HUM KASHMIRI HAIN TAYYAR.

UNKNOWING OF THE GRAVITY OF THE SITUATION,THERE WERE

MARRIAGES  BEING CELEBRATED IN SRINAGAR,LITTLE KNOWING

THAT THE front of ATTACKERS HAD REACHED BEMINA VILLAGE EXACTLYTHREE KMS. FROM OUR HOUSE AT KARANNAGAR.Our womenfolk  had determined to kill themselves in the event of raiders entering the city. The males would die fighting with whatever came handy (!)We were simply fodder for their cannons. BUT FOR MAHARAJA’S SACRIFICE OF GIVING UP HIS RIGHTS,THERE WOULD NOT BE MANY PANDITS LEFT FOR EXODUS IN 1990’S.

           The airfield was saved & the surrounding areas secured . Now began the

job of repulsing the invading force . The first to immediately rush back was the

pakistani army personnel. The qabailies gave a stand at PARIMPORA inflicting

Heavy casualities on the INDIAN army who ultimately overpowered them. The IndianTroops motored on towards Baramulla to find some resistance at SINGHPORA

But the invaders were decimated IT WAS IN THIS REACH THAT MAJ. P.N.SHARMA DIED FIGHTING & RECEIVED A P.V.C. Now Indian army rushed to URI. By then INDIA was persuaded (by the British through MOUNTBATTEN and the western powers) to declare a ceasefire which we did on informing the UNSC.)& the fighting ceased with PAKISTAN capturing nearly on third of the state.

THIS WAS THE 2^ND MISTAKE COMMITED BY INDIA IN KASHMIR.It will always be a riddle as to why the cease fire was initiated by us.

     I vividly remember the winter of 1947_ 48. There was no electric supply as  MOHORA powerhouse was damaged by raiders.There were no foodstuffs as the crops were damaged. The staple diet of the common man were boiled potatoes for any & every meal . the rock salt from Pakistan stopped & its price per seer

(1 kg=2.2 seers)shot upto 16rs.

      The Hindu dominated areas of Jammu did not find any space in this agenda which

was simply Kashmir (muslim) specific. This laid the base of ensuing simmerings in JAMMU. There was no strife before the mahrajas abdication as he belonged to JAMMU. There was thus no leader of any consequence . In this vaccum SHRI PREM NATH DOGRA (having had been an admintrator .He had served as D.C. POONCH) stepped in& started the PRAJA PARISHAD whose chief aim was to agitate against the provision of a separate constitution ,president, flag & no jurisdiction of Indian law &Supreme court.              

      The agitation was action packed only in Hindu dominated areas of JAMMU,KATHUA & PART UDHAMPUR districts . But almost the entire   population took part in it in some form or the other. The police from  places other than jammu,kathua, & udhampur were brought in resorting to suppressive measures to crush the agitation . The agitation, however,lost its steam due to early overheating & lack of second rung leadership.  Meantime SHRI SHYAMA PRASAD MUKERJI  who founded THE JANA SANGH tried to protest against the permit system to cross the LAKHANPUR entry to the state. He was arrested & brought to POKHRIBAL SUB JAIL IN SRINAGAR, where he died in .mysterious circumstances . The matter was rumoured to have been hushed up.

    ABDULLAH  having  suddenly shot into power started getting more ambitious . IN THE INTERVAL NEHRU BEING RAW TO INERNATIONAL DIPLOMACY COMITTED THE GRAVE ERROR OF FILING  A CASE OF AGRESSION AGAINST PAKISTAN IN THE U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL. THIS WAS OUR THIRD MISTAKE IN KASHMIR. That was the start of the oft_repeated  term of ‘ KASHMIR DISPUTE’ . Perhaps NEHRU could not be  deterred by advice being too tall among his peers even though he always meant well. As the case

Proceeded on,sheikh was also sent as a part of INDIA’S representatives.He made the right noises in the securitycouncil.