|
The state of Jammu and Kashmir
was the largest and the fourth most populous of the
565 princely states in British India, comprising
five distinct multilingual regions
-
The valley of Kashmir.
-
Jammu Province.
-
The district of Poonch.
-
Ladakh and Baltistan.
-
The Gilgit Region.
In mid-nineteenth century these
five different regions were brought under a single
administration. In 1947, approximately 77% of
population were Muslims, 20% Hindu, 1.5% Sikh, and
1% Buddhist. Historically all these communities have
lived in relative harmony. With the decline of
Mughal power in India, Kashmir was conquered by an
Afghan ruler, Ahmad Shah Abdali. In 1819 Sikhs
ousted the Afghan ruler from Kashmir. The Sikhs soon
turned out to be even greater oppressors. In 1844
British waged war against the Sikhs, Gulab Singh
aided British. As a reward for his loyalty, by the
treaty of Amritsar (1846) the territory was
transferred to Gulab Singh as his “independent”
possession for only a sum of Rs. 7.5 million. When
Gulab Singh dynasty failed to exercise actual
control over Gilgit, the British being suspicious of
Russian motives towards the Pamirs, created the
Gilgit Agency in 1889 and placed in under direct
control of a British Political agent.
In 1947 the British withdrew from
India leaving behind a partitioned subcontinent. Two
independent states, India and Pakistan had come into
being. The state of Jammu Kashmir was at that time
one of the approximately 565 “princely” states that
had existed in India under the British.
It is important to note that the British, even at
the height of their imperial power, directly
administered only about half the continent. The
other half consisted of these 500-plus princely
states of different sizes, nominally independent or
autonomous kingdoms or principalities.
|
When the British announced that India’s independence
was to be granted in August 1947 and that power
would be handed over to both the entities India and
Pakistan. At that time, the princely states had
three choices on paper.
-
They could either accede to
India.
-
They could accede to Pakistan
-
Or they could opt to be
independent units.
|
Map
of Jammu Kashmir |
This was on paper, in practice
there were only two choices. Either accede to India
or Pakistan. What would Jammu Kashmir do? The state
was ruled by Hari Singh, a Hindu Maharaja, however,
the decisive majority population of Jammu Kashmir
consisted of Muslims at the time of decolonization,
partition and independence in 1947. Being a
territory with solid Muslim majority state JK
probably belonged to Pakistan.
What actually emerged was a
complicated sequence of events; despot of Jammu
Kashmir declared allegiance to India without
respecting the wishes & aspirations of the people of
Jammu & Kashmir. Since then the territory has been
the focus of an intense territorial dispute between
India and Pakistan.
Indian’s Claim on Kashmir:
Indian claim on Kashmir is based on the
so-called agreement of accession which, according to
Indian’s was signed by then despotic Maharaja Hari
Sing. And thus terms Kashmir as it’s integral part.
The claim was neither accepted by the people of
Jammu and Kashmir nor validated by the United
Nations.
UN Resolutions Kashmir
According
to the UN Resolutions Kashmir is a disputed
territory and the inhabitants of the state have
right to choose their political destiny through a
free fair plebiscite to be held under the auspicious
of the United Nations. |
