This year, a pro-Pakistan group in London used the day as an excuse to organize a 'Million March' from Trafalgar Square to Downing Street to bring the Kashmir issue to 'international attention'. The organisers were able to get only a few hundred persons for the so-called 'Million March', but unfortunately for them, there was an attempt by Pakistan Peoples' Party Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari to hijack the event . The crowd pelted him eggs and plastic bottles, glasses and containers, forcing his security detail to whisk him away from the site, and the 'Million March' subsequently melted away.
India has to learn to live with the Kashmir issue. At the time of Independence, the British left the subcontinent by partitioning the country, and, as far as the Princely states were concerned, they were left free to join either of the dominions. Some sections in Britain hoped that they would see a Balkanised India, but that did not happen. Those within the geographical boundaries of India merged with it, and similarly those within West and East Pakistan, merged with Pakistan. As far as Jammu and Kashmir was concerned, it had borders with both India and Pakistan.
The ruler of Jammu and Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh, first thought he could retain his status and not join either India or Pakistan. He sought a standstill agreement with India and Pakistan. While Pakistan agreed to it , India kept the request pending.
Jammu and Kashmir was, in a sense, a mini-India. The population of the state was 77 percent Muslim, but they belonged to different antagonistic segments. The people in the Kashmir Valley followed Sufi traditions, the Muslims in Ladakh and Baltistan were Shias, and those in the Jammu and Poonch were Sunnis. Jammu was predominantly Hindu and Ladakh Buddhist. No wonder, the Maharaja toyed with the idea of remaining autonomus and sought a Standstill Agreement.
Also Read
Unfortunately for the Maharaja, Pakistan had no intention of honouring the Standstill Agreement. In August 1947, Pakistan provoked violence in Poonch . The communal violence could not be put down by state forces. Mohammed Ali Jinnah publicly declared that the "time has come to tell the Maharaja of Kashmir that he must make his choice and choose Pakistan...Should Kashmir fail to join Pakistan, the gravest possible trouble will inevitably arise" And, the trouble arose .
Tribals in thousands along with Pakistan regular troops entered the state on October 22, 1947 from several points and indulged in bloodshed.
Maharaja Hari Singh decided to accede to India, but there was some delay in finalising the Instrument of Accession, as Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru insisted that the Maharaja must transfer power in the state to the head of the National Conference, Sheikh Abdullah. who enjoyed the confidence of the people. The Maharaja, who had earlier released Sheikh Abdulah from prison, agreed to induct him into the government.
The Instrument of Accession was signed on October 26 and troops of the Indian Army were flown in on October 27 to fight the raiders who were on the outskirts of the Srinagar Airport.
The Indian Army was able to push back the Pakistani raiders, backed by the Pakistan Army from the Kashmir Valley. Meanwhile, on October 30, an Emergency Government was formed with Sheikh Abdullah as the head.
While India was on the verge of pushing out Pakistani forces from the state, it was directed to march towards Poonch as indicated by Lt. Gen. L. P. Sen, who was commanding a Brigade in the state in his book 'Slender was the Thread."
In addition, India had taken up the issue of Pakistani aggression to the United Nations on January 1, 1948 . After prolonged debate, it was agreed to observe a ceasefire effective from January l, 1949. An agreement was reached to conduct a plebiscite, but before it was to be conducted, Pakistan was required to withdraw its troops from the state and undertake to secure the withdrawal of its tribesmen and nationals who had invaded the state. Pakistan never withdrew its forces and the Agreement could not be put into effect.
Pakistan tried again in 1965 to send troops inside Jammu and Kashmir. A war followed, and before a cease-fire could come into force after 22 days, India was in possession of large tracts of Pakistan territory in West Punjab. India agreed to vacate the captured territories following the Tashkent Agreement.
Following the India-Pakistan War of 1971, which resulted in the creation of Bangladesh, India agreed to return 93,000-odd Pakistani soldiers who had surrendered to the Indian Army, as per agreements signed in Shimla in July 1972. The cease-fire line was called the Line of Control, and it was agreed that both countries would agree to solve the problem bilaterally and the border was be treated as an official boundary between the two countries. But that has not happened.
Pakistan has been trying its best to reopen the issue, It tried to wage a proxy war in the 1980s, was involved in a border conflict in Kargil in 1999, and has tried to reopen the "Kashmir Issue" several times, including this year at the 69th session of the United Nations General Assembly. There has been little response, and Pakistan has been told that the problem should be solved bilaterally.
The latest effort was stated by the Foreign Affairs Advisor to the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Sartaj Aziz-"India wants to resolve the Kashmir dispute in its own way and Pakistan will not allow this Indian attempt to succeed".
For the world community, there are many more issues to face . Pakistan should realize that its strategic value to the western world has become less, and its credibility has suffered ever since its attempt to give shelter to Osama bin Laden.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended his hand of friendship to Pakistan by inviting his counterpart Nawaz Sharif to his swearing-in ceremony in May this year. The lesson for India is Pakistan will never learn.
Mr. I. Ramamohan rao can be reached on his e-mail-raoramamohan@hotmail.com By I.
