PROF.G.M.ATHAR
CONTINUOUS POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY IN JAMMU AND KASHMIR STATE:- The people of former Dogra princely state of Jammu and Kashmir in general and the Kashmiri nation in particular has been living in a state of uncertainty ever since the mass political awakening in Kashmir began following the killing of 22 persons by police firing outside the Srinagar Central Jail on 13th July 1931.The establishment of the first political party of Kashmir namely, All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference under the leadership of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah in October 1932 marked the beginning of democratic political discourse in Kashmir.The abolition of Dogra autocracy, landlordism and money lending system were the three fundamental goals of both All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference and All Jammu and Kashmir National Conference prior to the announcement of Partition Plan of British India by Lord Mountbatten on 3rd June 1947. Soon after the British Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act on 18th July 1947, the All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference held a meeting under the chairmanship of Mirwaiz Mohammad Yusuf Shah at Srinagar on 19th July 1947. A parallel resolution moved by Mohammad Yusuf Saraf, General Secretary of the party was passed by All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference to support accession of Muslim dominated Jammu and Kashmir State with Pakistan with respect to defence, foreign affairs and communication. However, Mohammad Yusuf Saraf has admitted in his book that some of the persons who participated in the meeting were not even the members of Muslim Conference but the followers in prayer by Mirwaiz at the Jamia Masjid Srinagar.
Soon after Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was released from the prison on 29th September 1947 he addressed a huge public gathering at Hazuri Bagh Srinagar on 2nd October 1947 and said, “As long as there is a single drop of blood in my body, I will oppose Jinnah’s two-nation theory”. A meeting of the National Conference Working Body under the chairmanship of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was held on 3rd October 1947 in which a resolution was passed to support the accession of Jammu and Kashmir State with Indian Union but the decision was not made public. However, Bilkis Taseer in her book has mentioned that soon after his release from the prison Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was approached one of his Lahore based leftist friend who had joined Pakistan Muslim League and took him to Lahore in the first week of October 1947 to meet Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the Governor General of Pakistan. Once Jinnah was contacted by the Muslim League member, the former refused to meet Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah and challenged his credentials to discuss the future of Kashmir with him but expressed his willingness to discuss the future of Kashmir with the representative of Jammu and Kashmir Government. So the National Conference leader had to return back without meeting Jinnah. After the Pakistan sponsored tribal raiders invaded Kashmir on 22nd October 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh deputed Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah to New Delhi to request Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Prime Minister of India the military assistance to Kashmir. Sandeep Bamzai has mentioned in his book that when Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah was at Nehru’s residence at New Delhi, Mohammad Ali Jinnah tried several times to contact the National Conference leader Sheikh on 24th October 1947 but it was too late by then.
Since the Government of India demanded the accession of Jammu and Kashmir State with Indian Union prior to any military assistance so Maharaja Hari Singh was obliged to sign the Instrument of Accession of Jammu and Kashmir State with Indian Union with respect to defence, foreign affairs and communication on 26th October 1947 to have the deployment of Indian troops in Kashmir the next day early in the morning. Lord Mountbatten Governor General of India in reply to Maharaja Hari Singh’s Instrument of Accession wrote back on 27th October 1947 that once the law and order is restored in Jammu and Kashmir State, the wishes of the people will be determined on the subject of accession of Jammu and Kashmir State with Indian Union. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru addressed to the people of Jammu and Kashmir on the All India Radio to declare that once the Pakistani invaders are taken out and the law and order situation improved in Jammu and Kashmir State, the wishes of the people will be ascertained on the subject of state’s accession with India. The reference of the ‘Kashmir Question’ to the United Nations Organisation on 31st December 1947 gave a hope to the people of Jammu and Kashmir that their wishes with respect to the political future of their homeland will be ascertained by the two countries through a plebiscite under the supervision of United Nations as recommended by the United Nations Security Council in its Resolutions on Jammu and Kashmir State on 21st April 1948, 13,th August 1948 and 5th January 1949. Although the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan intervened to have ceasefire between India and Pakistan in Jammu and Kashmir State on 1st January 1949 yet the dismissal from Prime Ministership and arrest of Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah on 9th August1953 and the establishment of Jammu and Kashmir Plebiscite Front on 9th August1955 by Mirza Mohammad Afzal Beigh created the conditions for further political uncertainty in Kashmir. Subsequently the India-Pakistan War in 1965, 1971 and 1999 as well as the rise of Pakistan sponsored low cost guerrilla war in Jammu and Kashmir from 1988 onwards created political instability and developed a sense political uncertainty among the people of the conflict-ridden state.
THE POLITICAL VISION OF AN INDEPENDENT JAMMU AND KASHMIR:- In order to have peace and stability in Jammu and Kashmir and end political uncertainty among the people, different political visions have been put forward by different political parties active in the Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory.The most popular political vision for Jammu and Kashmir has been the establishment of an independent country originally envisioned by Maharaja Hari Singh and Pandit Ramendra Kak to maintain the status quo in the Dogra kingdom in 1947. Following the India-Pakistan War in 1965 the vision of an independent Jammu and Kashmir was revived by Mohammad Amanullah Khan and Mohammad Maqbool Bhat with the establishment of Jammu and Kashmir National Liberation Front in1966 to start armed struggle for liberation of Kashmir from Indian control. After Amanullah Khan migrated to Birmingham, U.K. he established the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front to employ peaceful means to secure the freedom of Jammu and Kashmir. However, following the murder of Ravindra Mahtre Assistant High Commissioner of India in U.K. in1984 Amanullah Khan was deported back to Pakistan and India in response hanged Mohammad Maqbool Bhat at the Tihar Jail in Delhi on 11th February 1985. Following the rigging of elections by National Conference against the Muslim United Front on 23rd March 1987 and the police repression of Muslim United Front candidates and political workers forced the frustrated youth code named ‘HAJY Group’ comprising of Hamid Sheikh, Ashfaq Majeed, Javid Mir and Yasin Malik to cross over the Line of Control and seek arms training and arms and ammunition to start armed struggle in Kashmir under the banner of Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front in July 1988. The people of Kashmir welcomed the militants of JKLF as the Mujahideen with the result by 1990 around 50,000 Kashmiri youth crossed the Line of Control to seek arms training and arms and ammunition from across the border to continue armed struggle in Kashmir.There are there fundamental challenges for an independent country of Jammu and Kashmir, which include:
The liberation of the territory of former Dogra kingdom from the three powerful countries of Asia, namely, India, Pakistan and China;
The defence against the hostile neighbours of an independent Jammu and Kashmir; and
The lack of direct physical communication of Jammu and Kashmir with the outside world.
THE VISION OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR AS A PROVINCE OF PAKISTAN:-The Islamist organisations in Kashmir such as Jammu and Kashmir Jamat Islami led by Syed Ali Shah Geelani, Jamiat Tulba led by Sheikh Tajamul Islam and other groups supported the accession of Jammu and Kashmir State with Pakistan so the pro-Pakistan militant organisation named as Hizbul Mujahideen was established to start the armed struggle in Kashmir under the leadership of Master Ahsan Dar and after his death commanded by Mohammad Yusuf Shah alias Syed Salahuddin. Later on Pakistan sponsored the non-local militant organisations like Jaish Muhammad, Lashkar Toiba and Harkatul Mujahideen etc. to direct the militant struggle in Jammu and Kashmir State.The women Islamist organisation named as Dukhtaran Milat led by Syed Asiya Andrabi became active in Kashmir to impose Islamic dress code in Kashmir and propagate the religious orthodoxy among the women. Apart from the religious minded political leadership there have been the Muslim nationalist groups in Kashmir who have advocated the accession of Jammu and Kashmir State with Pakistan on the basis of two-nation theory as 77% population of Jammu and Kashmir State as per the 1941 census has been the Muslim.The workers and supporters of All Jammu and Kashmir Muslim Conference, sympathisers of Pakistan Muslim League and Pakistan People’s Party have been working in different Muslim organisations of Jammu and Kashmir. To such people an independent country is not the viable option for a demographically small, economically poor, geographically mountainous and accessibility wise landlocked territory of Jammu and Kashmir State. Therefore, the only option left for the Muslim dominated Jammu and Kashmir State is to become a province of Pakistan.
