Pakistan-Administered Kashmir (PAK), which India refers to as Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK), is a disputed territory claimed by India but controlled by Pakistan. It is administratively divided into three parts:
- Azad Kashmir;
- The Northern Areas, consisting of the regions of Gilgit and Baltistan. Gilgit was an agency leased by the Maharaja to British Government. Baltistan was western district of Ladakh province which was annexed by Pakistan in 1948. Both regions of Gilgit and Baltistan are administered as a de facto "Federal Territory" of Pakistan by a Pakistani minister. As the area is part of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region, the local population is denied the right to vote or send representatives to the Pakistani parliament or senate;
- A part of Hunza-Gilgit called Raskam and the Shaksgam Valley of Baltistan region, ceded by Pakistan to the People's Republic of China in 1963 pending settlement of the dispute over Kashmir. This ceded area is also known as the Trans-Karakoram Tract.
These territories border the Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir to the east and Pakistan to the west.
History
During the partition of British India into the Dominion of Pakistan and the Republic of India, the Princely states had the options of joining either India or Pakistan.
The Pakistan Declaration of 1933 had envisioned the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir as one of the "five Northern units of India" that were to form the new nation of Pakistan, on the basis of its Muslim majority. The Maharaja of Kashmir however wanted independence.
In 1947 tribal invaders arrived in Jammu and Kashmir. Pakistan has always claimed that its government was not behind these raids and that these were spontaneous expressions of Muslim sentiment following reports of killing of Muslims in Jammu and Kashmir.
India disputes this citing the book "Raiders in Kashmir" in which Major General Akbar Khan, a Pakistani states the following "I wrote out a plan under the title 'Armed Revolt inside Kashmir'. As open interference or aggression by Pakistan was obviously not desirable it was proposed that our efforts should be concentrated upon strengthening the Kashmiris internally—and .. to prevent arrival of armed civilian or military assistance from India into Kashmir...".
American journalist Margaret Bourke-White describes the plunder by the raiders:
"Their buses and trucks, loaded with booty, arrived every other day and took more Pathans to Kashmir. Ostensibly they want to liberate their Kashmiri Muslim brothers, but their primary objective was riot and loot. In this they made no distinction between Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims".
"The raiders advanced into Baramulla, the biggest commercial centre of the region with a population then of 11,000, until they were only an hour away from Srinagar."
Unable to prevent the advance the Maharaja, on October 24, 1947, appealed for military assistance from the Government of India. The Indian Government argued that in order for assistance the state would have to accede to India.
According to the Indian embassy:
“Whereupon the Maharaja signed the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947. A simultaneous appeal for assistance and for the state’s accession to the Indian Union was also made by Sheikh Abdullah, leader of the National Conference, and the undisputed leader of the people, who had for his views been imprisoned by the Maharaja’s government into September ’47 and released only under pressure of India’s Prime Minister.
On receipt of the signed Instrument of Accession from the Maharaja, preparations were made to fly Indian troops to the State. The formal letter of acceptance of the Accession was signed by Lord Mountbatten on October 27 making Jammu and Kashmir an integral part of India even as Indian forces were airlifted to Srinagar.”
Pakistan disputes this and according to the BBC
“Recent research, from British sources, has indicated that Hari Singh did not reach Jammu until the evening of 26 October and that, due to poor flying conditions, V P Menon was unable to get to Jammu until the morning of 27 October , by which time Indian troops were already arriving in Srinagar. In order to support the thesis that the Maharaja acceded before Indian troops landed, Indian sources have now suggested that Hari Singh signed an Instrument of Accession before he left Srinagar but that it was not made public until later. This was because Hari Singh had not yet agreed to include the Kashmiri leader, Sheikh Abdullah, in his future government. To date no authentic original document has been made available.”
Indian forces started pushing back the Pakistanis. The then Prime Minister of India asked the UN to intervene. The United Nations asked for a ceasefire and the present 'Line of Control' was created. The area which remained under the control of Pakistan became the Pakistan-administered Kashmir.
Human Rights
(which has been critical of all parties in the Kashmir Dispute) - recently published a report on human rights in Azad Kashmir.
According to the report:
"Azad Kashmir is a legal anomaly. According to United Nations (U.N.) resolutions dating back to 1948, Azad Kashmir is neither a sovereign state nor a province of Pakistan, but rather a “local authority” with responsibility over the area assigned to it under a 1949 ceasefire agreement with India. It has remained in this state of legal limbo since that time. In practice, the Pakistani government in Islamabad, the Pakistani army and the Pakistani intelligence services (Inter-Services Intelligence, ISI) control all aspects of political life in Azad Kashmir—though “Azad” means “free,” the residents of Azad Kashmir are anything but. Azad Kashmir is a land of strict curbs on political pluralism, freedom of expression, and freedom of association; a muzzled press; banned books; arbitrary arrest and detention and torture at the hands of the Pakistani military and the police; and discrimination against refugees from Jammu and Kashmir state. Singled out are Kashmiri nationalists who do not support the idea of Kashmir’s accession to Pakistan. Anyone who wants to take part in public life has to sign a pledge of loyalty to Pakistan, while anyone who publicly supports or works for an independent Kashmir is persecuted. For those expressing independent or unpopular political views, there is a pervasive fear of Pakistani military and intelligence services—and of militant organizations acting at their behest or independently."
It also says:
"Virtually all independent commentators, journalists, as well as former and serving militants, Pakistani military officers and Pakistan-backed Azad Kashmir politicians speaking off-the-record told Human Rights Watch that there was continuing militant infiltration from Azad Kashmir into Jammu and Kashmir state, but were not willing to be quoted for fear of reprisal from the ISI. Most of those interviewed were of the view that though the level of infiltration had decreased substantially since 2004 (a brief spike in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake notwithstanding), there have been no indications that the Pakistani military or militant groups had decided to abandon infiltration as policy."
Kashmir Treaty
FYI: There are many external links (text with blue color) in the post, please use them for more information and to check for terminologies.
Say Cheese!!!
Lalloo become Prime Minister and goes to Pakistan for one-on-one talk with General Parvez Musharaff. They decide to meet for about 60 minutes but finished in 5 minutes. Laloo first emerges from the room.
Reporters clamour for a statement.
Lalloo tells "Parvezbhai will make the announcement".
Parvez Musharaff comes out and drops a bombshell "Pakistan has decided to give up all claims on Kashmir, with no strings attached"
The world is stunned. Lalloo has achieved in 5 minutes what others had failed to in 50 years!
How did you do it, what did you promise, the press clamours.
Lalloo says "Yeh sab idea akhabar-waalon ka hai, Woh kehte hain na, TV loge tho fridge free doonga, video khareedein to cellphone free... tho ham bhi Parvezbhai se keh diye: "Aapko Kashmir chaahiye na? Le jaayie. Magar, saath mein bihar free milega, bas!"
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