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History Of Jammu And Kashmir

By Sanjeev Nayyar, April 2002 [[email protected]]
Ch a pt er :

History of Kashm ir
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Kashmir has taken more media space and gov ernment time than any other state. It started with the Pakistani inv asion / the Instrument of Accession in 1 947 , Nehrus going to the UN, Article 37 0, appointment and arrest of Sheikh Abdullah, Sheikh-Indira agreement of 1 97 5, appointment & dismissal of Farooq Abdullah, rigged elections of 1 987 (held by many to be a turning point in the state), Insurgency started in 1 989, kidnapping and release of the Home Ministers daughter in 1 990, migration of Kashmiri Pandits, the siege of Hazbratlal and so on.

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What touched me most was the gunning down of innocent Amarnath y atris and death of Brigadier Shergill / Colonel Chauhan by an Improv ised Ex plosion Dev ice. The Gov ernment of Indias response is that it we hav e to liv e with the danger of an IED since the company manufacturing them in the U.K. has shut down. Is this the way we treat our soldiers. If 1 00 Americans liv es were lost due to bomb blasts, would the American President and Media respond like that?
PHOT O CA T EGORIES

The Question that I asked my self is, was Kashm ir alway s like this? I hav e traced Kashm iri History from 300 to 1850 AD. It is followed by a Write Up on the ev ents that led Nehru to the United Nations and False T ruths. Amongst the oldest chronicles is the Rajatarangini . It is the history of Kashmir, written in v erse, by Kalhana in 1 1 4950 a.d. While this book is considered a masterpiece and followed a method of historical research, his account before the sev enth century cannot be considered as trustworthy . He was followed by Jonaraja who died in 1 459 a.d, imitated Kalhans sty le and brought the history narrativ e up to the reign of Zain-ul-Abidin. Sriv ara, Prajy a Bhatta and Suka carried on the history till Kashmirs conquest by Akbar. Upto 600 BC According to the Rajatarangini, the oldest ruler was Gonanda I, who appears to hav e ruled in the day s just before the Mahabharata. It is emperor Ashok who is said to hav e founded the city of Srinagari, now Srinagar. Among the many tribes in ancient North India were the Uttarakurus who were located bey ond the Himalay as. Though regarded as my thical and later literature, they appear as a historical people in Aitarey a Brahmana which states that Janatapi Aty arati was eager to conquer the land of the Uttarakurus or the land of Gods. Zimmer places the land of Uttarakurus in Kashmir.

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The dialect of the North was known for its purity hence Brahmanas flocked to the North for the purposes of study . This is corroborated by the fact that Tax ila became a centre of learning and classical Sanskrit was first dev eloped in Kashm ir. Alex ander left the King of Abhisara to rule in Kashmir. According to the Mahav imsa, the Third Buddhist Council met at Pataliputra (Patna) and deputed a missionary by the name of Majjhantika to go to Kashmir and Gandhara (in modern day Afghanistan).

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320 to 7 40 AD

History Of Jammu And Kashmir::History

According to Kalhana (referred to abov e), nearly the whole of the Gupta age was ruled by the Gonanada dy nasty ie for about 300 y rs. (unlikely though). It is also believ ed that the Kushanas and the Huns ruled ov er Kashmir during this period. After them a new dy nasty known as Karkota or Naga was founded by Durlabha-v ardhana. He had married the daughter of the last Gonanada king and became king in 527 a.d. According to Hiuen Tsang who v isited Kashmir, the king ruled ov er parts of western and north western Punjab as well. The Kings son Chandrapida sent an env oy to the

Sachar Committee Report ? Ratnagiri Monastery RKM Hospital Itanagar

Chinese in 7 1 3 ad for help against the Arabs. Inspite of not receiv ing any help he was able to defend his kingdom against the Arabs. He was followed by Lalitaadity a Muktapada in 7 24 ad, the greatest king of that dy nasty . He defeated the Tibetans and the Turks. His ex tensiv e conquests, up to Bengal, made Kashmir the most powerful kingdom since the day s of the Guptas. The most famous of his works is the Martanda T em ple . He died in 7 60 ad while the dy nasty continued to rule till the middle of the ninth century ad. When Jay apida, the grandson of Lalitadity a, lost the throne of Kashmir, he came to North Bengal. Besides the Purannas, there are certain tex ts called Upapuranas, also 1 8 in number. Among these works is the Vishnudharm ottara, a Vaishnav a work from Kashm ir. It deals with fine arts like dancing, singing, painting, and sculpture besides other subjects. The Pancharatna had three distinct v ersions, amongst which one was a Kashmiri one called Tantrakhy ay ika. The Hinamay a school of Buddhism was div ided into V aikhasika and Sautrantika. The former was popular in Kashmir on account of their acceptance of the V ibhashas, compiled around the second century ad, and translated by the Chinese in 383-434 ad. These are mainly studied and preserv ed in Kashmir. V asubandhu (5th century ad) a nativ e of Gandhara went to Kashmir and made a study of the Vibhashas condensed them into Kosa. This Bhashy a came to be regarded as one of the classical tex ts by monks of Hinay ana and Mahay ana sects. It attained so much importance in China that schools were started after Kosa and is still studied in China and Japan. The Sautrantika School came into being as a bitter opponent of V aibhasikas. The traditional founder, Kumaralabdha, was a nativ e of Tax ila. Another great proponent was a nativ e of Kashmir, Srilabha, a great Sastra-master. In the 8th century ad, Sarv ajnamitra, a nephew of the King of Kashmir became one of the principal teachers of Nalanda. Renowned scholar, Kum arjiv a, responsible for translating ov er 1 00 Sanskrit tex ts into Chinese, was taken by his mother at the age of nine to Kashm ir to study Buddhist literature . After completing his studies he v isited Central Asia. From 31 8 to 41 3 ad he translated tex ts and was the first to Interpret Mahamay a philosophy in China. The fact that Kumarajiv a was taken from Kuchi to Kashmir for the purposes of education shows the high position held by Kashmir in the Buddhist world. Among the Kashmiri scholars were Sanghabhuti (381 -384ad), Buddhajiv a (423ad), Dharmamitra (422-424 ad). Another noble son was Gunav arman. He proceeded to Cey lon and Jav a and preached Buddhism there, reaching Nanking in 431 ad. 7 50 to 1000 A.D. Lalitadity as son V ajradity a who ruled from 7 62 a.d. is said to hav e sold many Kashmiris to the Arabs of Sindh and introduced many Islamic practices in Kashmir. The Arab gov ernor of Sind raided Kashmir around 7 7 0 and took many slav es / prisoners. The nex t successor was Jay apida referred to abov e. He was a brav e general like his dada Lalitadity a. Away from Kashmir, he won some battles and lost others and ruled Kashmir from 7 7 0 ad up to the closing y ears of the eighth century . Thereafter, a series of Kings ruled Kashmir. The Karkota dy nasty came to an end in 855-6 ad. Av anti-v arman was the founder of the Utpala dy nasty . Through a series of engineering operations, he used the riv er waters to increase agricultural output significantly . He was an able general who brought neighboring areas under his control. He died in tragic circumstances to be succeeded by his minor son Gopala-v arman. His m other Suganadha

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History Of Jammu And Kashmir::History

ran the adm inistration (notice the status giv en to women) and later on went to become Queen. She was ov erthrown by the Tantrin infantry , a powerful political organization in Kashmir. What followed was a number of kings with no significant contributions. The Utpala dy nasty came to an end in 939 ad. Nex t in line was Y asakara who earned a reputation as a man of great learning. Besides being a good administrator, he built a Matha (monastery ) for the residence of students coming from Ary adesa to Kashm ir for higher education. Nex t important king was Parv agupta who died in 950 ad whose son died within eight y ears to be succeeded by his wife Didda, a wom an of keen intelligence . A no nonsense women she got rid people of who came in her way to ascend the throne in 980 ad. (note women power). She died in 1 003 ad not before establishing the supremacy of the Lohara dy nasty in Kashmir. A Turkish family ruled the Kabul V alley and Gandhara for a long time. Kallar, a minister, ov erthrew the king to found the Hindu Shahi dy nasty in the second half of the ninth century a.d and is identified as Lalliy a Shahi in the Rajatarangini. Lalliy a was brav e and able to withstand the inv asion of King Sankarav arman of the Utpala Dy nasty of Kashmir. After the death of Lalliy as son, Kamaluka, his grandson Bhima-about 900 ad, ascended the throne. By giv ing his bitiy a is marriage to the King of Lohara in Poonch, he was able to ex ercise influence in Kashmir to build a magnificent temple of V ishnu and call it Bhimaksav a. (Has now been conv erted into a Muslim Ziarat). There were a series of kings thereafter. It ends with King Jay apala who fought the Sultan of Ghazni. Literature The Buddhist Siv asv amin has giv en us an epic, Kapphanabhy uday a and Harav ijay a, a long epic in fifty cantos, narrating the story of Siv a killing the demon Andhaka. Was written under Av antiv arman referred to abov e. Another epic was Y udhishthirav ijay a, narrating the story of Y udhisthir up to his coronation. The Jain Somadev a, composed the Nitiv aky amritaa which is almost based on Kautily as Arthasastra. There are numerous books written during this period. Philosophy In Kashmir, we hav e two schools of Saiv ism , the Spandasastra and the Praty abhijnasastra. The former was founded by Vishnugupta to whom Siv a rev ealed the Siv asutra. The important works of the latter are Siv adrishti and Praty abhijnasutra composed by Somananda and his pupil Utpala. In Paramarthasara, Abhinav gupta, has combined the teaching of Adv aita with the practices of Y oga and the Bhakti of Saiv ism & v aishnav ism in such a manner that it can be said to strike a new path altogether. During this period Kashmir continued to be an important centre of Buddhism which attracted monks from western countries. The V ikramasila monastery in modern day North Bihar had six important dv ara-panditas, one of them being from Kashmir, Ratnav ajra. A scholar named Ananta translated tex ts and preached Buddhism in T ibet during this period. Kashm ir Saiv ism The sy stem is also is also referred to as Trika that refers to the triple principle with which the sy stem deals v is Siv ai-sakti-anu. Though the other schools of Saiv ism accept these three categories, Kashmiri Saiv ism regards the indiv idual soul and the world as essentially identical with Siv a and so three are reducible to one. The beginnings of Kashmir Sav isim are to be traced to the Siv asutras whose authorship is attributed to Siv a himself. The sutras are said to hav e been rev ealed to a sage Vishnugupta, who liv ed about the end of the 8th century ad. Kallata, Somananda were his pupils. The Ultim ate Reality in KS is Siv a himself. He is pure consciousness, absolute ex perience and the supreme lord. He resides in all that mov es and all that does not. He is called anuttara, the reality bey ond which there is nothing. The manifestation of the univ erse is effected through Power (sakti) of Siv a. Sakti is Siv as creativ e energy . The fiv e most important modes of Sakti are 1 )chit-sakti, the power of intelligence, which means that the Supreme shines without dependence on any other light 2) anada-sakti, the power of independence which is bliss or joy , 3) icchchha-sakti, the power of will, 4) jnana-sakti, the power of knowledge, 5) kriy a-sakti, the power of action. Since Sankarachary a v isited Kashmir, it is likely that Adv aita, influnenced the formulation of KS. Solar Cult Though questioned recently , Kashmir may hav e some hand in popularizing the worship of the Sun in western India. Towards the middle of the 8th century was built the magnificent Marthananda tem ple . While resting in the V alley the learned Brahmans told Sankarachary a that unless he defeated the learned persons of Sarada Pitha they would not accept the supremacy of his philosophy . With his arguments he defeated all the learned men at that high seat of learning including Jains and Buddhists. The King of Kasmira or Kashmir has made arrangements

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History Of Jammu And Kashmir::History

for the Ss stay at Srinagar but the S chose to stay near an ancient Siv a temple ov erlooking the city . Since then the temple has popularly been known as the Sankarchary a temple. 1000 T O 1300 AD Around 1 01 4 ad, Mahm ud Ghazni plundered the V alley for the first time. He carried him with a large number of prisoners and conv erted to Islam. He returned in 1 01 5 ad and made a fruitless attempt to capture the hill fort of Lohkot, modern day Loharin. He failed to capture the fort in 1 021 ad too. The Lohara dy nasty happened around 1 003 referred to abov e, Samgramaraja was the first king. There were a series of non consequential ev ents, kings thereafter up to the second Lohara dy nasty started by Uchchala around 1 1 05 ad. V antidev a (1 1 65-1 1 7 2) was the last king of this dy nasty . After some more kings, in 1 301 ad, Suhadev a asserted his supremacy ov er Kashmir but had to face Dulucha, commander in chief of the King of Kandhar who took a large number of Kashmiris as slav es. At the same time, Rinchana, the son of a Western Tibetan chief, inv aded it from the south. By killing one Ramachandra he became the undisputed ruler of Kashmir in 1 320. An able ruler, he was killed by his enemies. Suhadev a behav ed like a coward all along and died in 1 320. Rinchanas wife Kota became head of Kashmir. Unwilling to trust her minister Sahamera, she appointed Bhatta Bhikshana. Unhappy at being sidelined Sahamers murdered Bhatta, imprisoned the queen and became King in 1 339 ad under the name Shams-ud-din. T his m arked the adv ent of Muslim rule in 1338 ad. Literature Kshem endra, the 1 1 th century poet of king Ananta of Kashmir, giv es us the epitomes of two great epics in his Bharata-manjari and Ramay ana-manjari. His Dasav atara-charita describes the ten incarnations of Vishnu . The Haracharitachintamnai by Jay adratha is important to the ex tent it embodies some and new Saiv a practices and legends some of which are directly linked to the places of pilgrimage in Kashmir. There were a number of other learned writers / poets during this period. There was an ex odus of Buddhist missionaries from this region to Central Asia and Tibet so much that the v alley became some sort of a holy land for Northern Buddhists. In 980 ad two missionaries went to China to translate scriptures from Sanskrit to Chinese. There were two centers of Buddhist learning, Ratnagupta and Ratnarasmi that figure amongst the greatest centers of Buddhist learning during this period. Buddhism produced such a salutary effect on the people of the v alley that ev en some kings insisted on the practice of Ahimsa. The Saiv ite schools that came up in the 9th and 1 0th centuries had been influenced by Buddhism. Saiv ism continued to flourish in Kashm ir. It is a v ery significant fact that the Himalay an countries of Kashmir, Nepal and Tibet came out of the mountain seclusion and enter the arena of Indian history and culture, almost simultaneously , from the sev enth century onwards. Kashmir maintained this intimate association till it was ov errun by the Muslims while Nepal, Tibet until v ery recent times. The Sufi saints appeared during this period, the first of whom was Shaikh Ismail of Lahore. The greatest saint was Khv aja Muinuddin of Ajmer. 1300 to 1526 AD The history of Kashmir was giv en in three Sanskrit chronicles ie from the middle of the 1 2th century to the time it was conquered by Akbar. The earliest one was by Jonaraja. The Muslim chronicles are based on these writings. The ascent of the first Muslim ruler in Kashmir in1 339 ad was described abov e. (Adv ent of the Shah Miri dy nasty ). After a series of kings came Shihab-ud-din who by v arious conquests restored Kashmir some of its glory . He possessed a spirit of toleration seldom display ed by any Muslim ruler in India. The nex t important king was Sikandar whose reign marks a turning point in the history of Kashmir from a religious/social perspectiv e. A large number of fanatical Muslims from outside the country came, occupied offices of the state and became the kings friends. Idols were destroy ed; temples demolished, attempts were made to kill the Brahmins. His son Mir Khan continued with the torture of Brahmins. Shahi Khan became the nex t king in 1 420. He is the greatest king of Kashmir. The state became prosperous and he treated the Hindus well . He was well v ersed in Persian and Sanskrit, had the Mahabharat translated into Persian. His

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court was a meeting place of Hindu Muslim scholars, poets. He died in 1 47 0 ad. From there on till 1 530, there were a number of kings with treachery and instability being the name of the game. The bulk of the Sanskrit literature during this period came from Bengal, South and Western India. Kashm ir recedes into the background. The Sufi m ov em ent dev eloped during this period. The Muslim Sufis were men of deep religious feelings who believ ed in soul, a spiritual substance, different from the body but akin to the univ ersal soul (sounds like V edanta). They regarded inward light or intuitiv e ex perience of far more importance than dogmatic formalism of the orthodox ty pe and think lov e to be the only means of reaching God. 1526 to 17 00 AD A series of kings ruled Kashmir till 1 540. It was then decided by Humay uns generals mainly Mirza Haidar to inv ade Kashmir. He conquered it in 1 540. His description of Hindu temples make delightful reading but he was also a bigoted Sunni. Unable to control the v arious feudatories he fought them and died in one such war in 1 551 . There were a series of kings between 1 551 and 1 57 9 till Y usuf Shah became king. Oscillating between making peace ov ertures and being aggressiv e he submitted to Akbars forces in 1 586. Unhappy with the treaty between his lieuftant Bhagwan Das and Y usuf, Akbar imprisoned Y usuf. His imprisonment inspite of a promise of safe custody is a dark blot on the character of the chiv alrous Akbar. His son Y aqub continued fighting Akbar till he was defeated. Restored the kingdom, he did not administer it well compelling Akbar to hav e Mirza Y usuf conquer it in 1589. The reigns of Jahangir and Shah Jahan did not see much interaction with Kashmir. During Aurangzibs stay in Punjab in 1 67 4-7 5 officials conv erted a large number of Hindus to Islam. In order to infuse courage in Hindus, Guru T egh Bahadur v isited East Punjab. This created confidence in the minds of people. Enthused, the Kashmiri leaders told the Guru of their plight. He adv ised them to inform Aurangzeb to conv ert the Guru first and then all of them would embrace Islam. Surely Guru did not conv ert and paid for his life by being beheaded on 1 1 /1 1 /1 67 5. Literature Not much is known about Kashmiri literature prior to the 1 5th century . The poetic compositions of Lalla Didi is the oldest specimen. During the reign of Sultan Zain-ul-Abidin, a number of Sanskrit, Persian and Kashmiri writers flourished but their works are not known. During the 1 6th century , the ex quisite ly rics of Habba Khotun were v ery popular. The Muslim conquest of large parts of Northern India meant that places like Kashmir, once an important center of Sanskrit learning, hardly produced any noteworthy work after the end of Hindu rule. Religion The Qadriy a school of Sufism which traces its origin to Shaikh Abdul Qadir of Gilan who liv ed in Baghdad in the 8th century was introduced during the reign of Akbar by Shaikh Abdul Haqq. One of its famous ex ponents was Mulla Shah of Badakshan who settled down in Kashmir. Other Sufi saints were Saiy y id Ali Hamdani and Say y id Bilal Shah. 17 07 to 1818 AD Jam m u The hill states ly ing between the Indus and the Rav i fell into two political groups. The first was Kashmir ruled by Muslim chiefs and the second embraced Jammu. Of the 22 states in Jammu, eight were ruled by Muslims and the balance by Hindus. Jammu had been under the rule of a Rajput dy nasty since olden times. With the decline of the Mughal power, the Raja of Jammu stopped pay ing tribute to the Mughals. Jammu was under Ranjit Deo from 1 7 50 to 1 7 81 . He helped Ahmad Shah Abdali conquer Kashmir in 1 7 52 and 1 7 62. During his reign the city prospered and became an important center of trade. About 1 7 7 0, Ranjit Deo submitted to the Sikhs. Kashm ir After Aurangzebs death the decline of Mughal power did not affect Kashmir till Ahmad S Abdali conquered it in1 7 52. The Afghans ruled it till 1 81 9. As long as they got their annual tribute of Rs 20 lacs a y ear, the Afghan king did not intefere in the administration. There were 28 gov ernors during Afghan rule of which there was only one Hindu, Sukhjiwan. In 1 7 53 he was the first Hindu chief of Kashmir since 1 320 ie in 433 y rs. He was a brav e soldier, wise administrator, scholar and poet. His liberal and sy mpathetic outlook won the hearts of all. He fell out with Ahmad Shah Abdali who inv aded Kashmir with the help of Ranjit Deo, the ruler of Jammu. Sukhjiv an was captured, blinded and trampled to death by horses. After this Afghan rule was a tale of atrocities. Sunni Shia riots broke out in 1 7 63-65. Mir Hazar Khan in 1 7 93 sewed up Hindu leaders in gunny bags and threw them in the Dal Lake to be drowned. Ata M K Alkozai forcibly seized pretty girls to satisfy his lust. Many parents were forced to shav e the heads of their daughters rather than allow them to be

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molested and degraded. This forced many Pandit families to migrate to Rajauri, Poonch and Delhi. As a result of oppression, great unrest spread in the prov ince. It was conquered by Maharaj Ranjit Singh in 1 81 9. 1818 to 1905 AD Jammu was conferred as a jagir to the family of Gulab Singh by Maharaja Ranjit Singh. Among the three traitors in The First Sikh War was the Dogra Chief Gulab Singh. As a reward for siding with the Brits he was giv en the state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1 846 on pay ment of fifty lakhs rupees in cash. The reign of Ranav ira Singh (ascended in 1 857 ) witnessed a great amount of enthuiasm for Sanskrit. Siv asankara compiled the Dharmasastra Digest, V asudev a wrote the Chittapradipa amongst others. The king appears as the sponsor of no less than thirty two branches of Sanskrit literature. Will write about the Dogra rule later. From the abov e we can see how Kashmir has changed from a center of Buddhist / Sanskrit / Saiv ite learning to the orgy of v iolence that it has been for most of its last nearly sev en hundred y ear history . Y et our gov ernment believ es that sacrificing more innocent civ ilian and army liv es is the only way that peace will be restored! Ev ery one keeps on holding misgov ernance being responsible for the terrorism in Kashmir. Is the Kashmir V alley the only part of the country where there is misgov ernance? What about Jammu, Ladakh, Orissa and Uttar Pradesh. Can any one tell us why there is no insurgency there? Secondly , the local administration has alway s been in the hands of the Kashmiris. Being part of the gov ernment, are they not responsible for misgov ernance. This essay is based on inputs from The History and Culture of Indian People by the Bhartiy a V idy a Bhav an. Long Liv e Sanatan Dharam By a Well Wisher PRINCELY J&Ks ACCESSION T O INDIA From How & Why to War, the UN Stalem ate & Constitutional Dem ocracy J&K was the biggest among the 562 princely Indian States that comprised two-fifths of the India under colonial rule for well ov er a century . Unlike the remaining 60 per cent area constituting the British India Prov inces, these States possessed sov ereignty in v arious degrees depending on their indiv idual treaties with His Majesty s gov ernment; broadly speaking, they had a sy stem of personal gov ernment while being under the ov erall suzerainty of the British Crown. The British Parliaments Indian Independence Act, 1 947 (which receiv ed Roy al Assent on 1 8th July that y ear) created two independent Dominions of India and Pakistan made up of the erstwhile British India Prov inces. The Act freed the princely States from the Crowns paramountcy but denied them dominion status while permitting them to accede to India or to Pakistan. The terms of accession were determined by the then V iceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten. Considering their past status, it was agreed that each of these States would sign an Instrument of Accession whereby they would concede the subjects of defence, ex ternal affairs and communications to the appropriate Dominion, leav ing themselv es a fair degree of independence. Howev er, the V iceroy made it clear to these States that there were certain geographical and practical factors which precluded their total independence. The Instrument of Accession document was prepared by the States Department under Sardar Patel and was got approv ed from the princely rulers by Mountbatten. J&K was, along with Hy derabad, one of the only two princely States that dilly dallied with their decision on accession. In fairness to Maharaja Hari Singh, it was not easy for him to come to a decision. If he acceded to Pakistan, the nonMuslims of Jammu and Ladakh as well as considerable sections of Muslims led by the National Conference Party would definitely hav e resented such action. On the other hand, accession to India would hav e prov oked adv erse reactions in Gilgit and certain regions contiguous to Pakistan. Further, the road communications were with Pakistan and forest resources that constituted a considerable portion of the States rev enue were being transported by riv ers flowing into Pakistan. Besides, the Maharaja was toy ing with the notion of an Independent Jammu & Kashmir.

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A cascading flow of ev ents forced the hand of the Maharaja.

On 1 5th October 1 947 J&Ks Prime Minister complained to the British Prime Minister that the Pakistan Gov ernment had discontinued supplies of essential articles, that the railway serv ice from Sialkot to Jammu had been stopped without reason, and that the whole of the State border from Gurdaspur to Gilgit was threatened with inv asion that had already begun in Poonch. No reply was receiv ed from the British Prime Minister. On 1 8th October 1 947 the J&K State sent a protest to Jinnah, Pakistans Gov ernor-General, against the continuing raids and the stoppage of essential supplies. Jinnah replied on the 20th October taking offence at the language of the protest and attributing the disruption of supplies to alleged widespread disturbances in East Punjab. An all-out inv asion of J&K started on 22nd October 1 947 . The main raiders column consisted of an estimated fiv e thousand tribesmen including soldiers of the Pakistan Army on leav e and led by a few regular officers who knew Kashmir well. Garhi and Domel were quickly captured and the gates of Muzaffarabad were reached. On 24th October, Mahura Power House supply ing electricity to Srinagar was taken ov er; the capital of the State was plunged in darkness.

J&Ks day of destiny had finally come. Its Maharaja sought Indias military help and signed the Instrument of Accession on 26th October 1 947 to enable that help to be rendered. As Gov ernor-General of the Dominion of India, Lord Mountbatten signed his acceptance of the Instrument deed on the nex t day . In the early hours of 27 th October 1 947 began an operation the like of which had nev er before occurred in the history of warfare. With the wholehearted co-operation of the civ ilian air companies, ov er a hundred civ ilian aircraft and Roy al Indian Air Force planes were mobilized to fly troops, equipment and supplies to Srinagar. Some of the pilots flew did sev eral sorties in the course of the day ; the ground crew rose to the occasion. On 7 th Nov ember the Indian troops won the battle of Shaltang, thereby remov ing all threats to Srinagar. Three day s later, Baramulla was recaptured. The process of retreat by the enemy on all fronts began. With the Indian Army finding that the only way the raiders could be completely remov ed from Kashmir was by attacking their bases and sources of supply in Pakistan, India warned Pakistan on 22nd December 1 947 that unless Pakistan denied her assistance and bases to the inv aders, India would be compelled to take such action. At that critical stage in J&Ks history , 53 y ears ago, Lord Mountbatten urged our PM, Jawaharlal Nehru, about the ov erwhelming need for caution and restraint; he stressed how embroilment in war with Pakistan would undermine the whole of Nehrus independent foreign policy and progressiv e social aspirations. And, on Mountbattens adv ice, Nehru decided to lodge a complaint to the United Nations Security Council. That was done on 31 st December 31 , 1 947 . Inv oking Article 35 of the UN Charter, India appealed to the Security Council to ask Pakistan to undertake sev eral measures that would end Pakistans illegal act of aggression in J&K. On 1 3th August 1 948 the UN passed a resolution whereby the future of J&K would be determined by a dem ocratic plebiscite under the UNs auspices but after Pakistan first of all withdrew its troops from the State. Pakistan has not com plied with that condition till date . Accordingly , it remains possession of about one-third of the original J&K that was Maharaja Gulab Singhs at the end of 1 846. And, accordingly , ev en after millions of words of debate stretching ov er y ears, the UN has not resolv ed the issue ev en as India has been left sucking the wounds of crossborder terrorism while also being the recipient of hectoring from sev eral sources including Indian journalists who hav e nev er opened the pages of history documenting the issue. The only but major sav ing grace of the last 53 y ears ev ents in J&K has been the States emergence from hereditary rule to a democratic entity with a Constitution of its own framed by a Constituent Assembly elected in August 1 951 on the basis of univ ersal adult franchise, thereby fulfilling an old wish of the States people. Section 3 of that J&K Constitution , 1 957 , is a matter of pride for ev ery genuine Indian. It say s that T he State of Jam m u and Kashm ir

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is and shall be an integral part of the Union of India. What is more, the States Constitution prohibits any amendment of that Section 3. So whats this plebiscite the Pakis and, alas, sev eral Indians, keep talking about? What was the Am erican attitude towards Kashm ir at the tim e of Independence? Refer article by Narendra Singh Sarila published on the edit page of The Times of India, Mumbai edition, dated 1 4th August 2000. That article, based on US State Departments secret archiv es, establishes the following:

In October 1 948, General George Marshall, US Secretary of State, was conv inced that J&Ks accession to India was v alid and he therefore refused to toe the British Foreign Secretary s line of recognizing Pakistans occupation of J&Ks northern territories including Gilgit. Dean Rusk, Assistant to General Marshall, upheld the v alidity of J&Ks accession to another British delegation that v isited him in 1 948. It was Britain that play ed the perfidious role of letting Pakistan continue to occupy J&Ks northern territories as a bulwark against the feared inv asion by the Sov iet Union, the argument being that Islam is incompatible with Communism. The change in US policy towards Indias legally rightful claim to the entire J&K State came only after Nehru was persuaded by Mountbatten to agree to a cease-fire and to consider partitioning J&K leav ing Gilgit in Pakistan.

Charges against Kashm ir Valley Clique! The charges against the Kashmiri clique are many . Writing in the May 2000 issue of Voice of Jam m u Kashm ir magazine, J.N.Bhat, retired judge of the J&K State High Court, alleged that: 1 . Thousands of plots carv ed out in the suburbs of Jammu hav e been allotted to Kashmiris, all the beneficiaries belonging to one particular community . 2. In some localities of Jammu city , water is supplied after a gap of three to four day s, and not ev en enough of it to quench the thirst of the people. Obv iously , funds got for dev elopment get misused. 3. In the Jammu region, Hindu minorities of Doda and Poonch districts hav e been tortured and many of them hav e found, according to sources, conv ersion the only option, though they prefer death to forced conv ersion. Another eminent person who has made more serious accusations is Hari Om, Professor of History in Jammu Univ ersity , and a member of Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR). In a recent newspaper article, the Professor complains that 1 . Though Kashm iris constitute roughly 22 per cent of the States total population , the mechanism clev erly dev ised by Sheikh Abdullahs National Conference Party in 1 951 enables it to capture nearly half of the total Assem bly and Lok Sabha seats. The trick lies in 46 Assembly segments hav ing been created in the small V alley as against 41 segments combined in Jammu and Ladakh regions that are far bigger and more populated than the V alley . This mechanism is apparently contrary to the rules framed under the Indian Parliaments Representation of Peoples Act and those under the relev ant State Act of 1 957 . 2. Kashm iris hold ov er 2, 30,000 positions out of a nearly 2, 40,000 positions in gov ernment and semigov ernment organizations in the V alley . In addition, they corner nearly 25 per cent of the jobs in the regional serv ices of Jammu and Ladakh. 3. All the professional and technical institutions, univ ersities and all the big public sector industrial units like the HMT, telev ision, telephone and cement factories located in the V alley are the sole preserv e of the Kashmiris. Besides, they manipulate for themselv es more than 50 per cent of the seats in Jammus ill-equipped and under-staffed medical and engineering college, and the Agricultural Univ ersity in R.S.Pura. No such institution ex ists in Ladakh. 4. T he Kashm iris control trade, com m erce, transport and industry , and own big orchards as well as landed estates. None of them is without a house. Likewise, the per capita ex penditure on woolen clothes in Kashmir is perhaps the highest in the world. Till date, none in Kashmir has, unlike in UP, Bihar and Orissa, died either of hunger or cold. 5. Interestingly , y et not surprisingly , a v ast m ajority of the Kashm iris don't pay ev en a single penny to the State in the form of rev enue due to it. It is Jammu and Ladakh that contribute ov er 90 per cent to the State

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ex chequer, but a major part of this money is spent not in the ex tremely backward and underdev eloped Jammu and Ladakh but in the highly prosperous and dev eloped Kashmir V alley . As a result of the abov e, Prof. Hari Om say s that it is the Kashmiris and Kashmiris ev ery where and all others in the State ex ist nowhere. The dismal scenario abov e has apparently prev ailed so long that ev en editors of our national daily newspapers refer most casually to J&K merely as Kashmir, forgetting the fundamental fact that J&K is not Kashmir and that Kashmir is not J&K FALSE T RUT HS UNMASKED by a well wisher. A T he India T oday issue of August 1 4 would hav e us believ e that J&K acceded to India in 1 947 in return for Nehru's promise of plebiscite and Article 37 0's nomenclature of "prime minister" of J&K was changed to "chief minister" in 1 964. The Centre ex tended jurisdiction ov er J&K in 1 953. Sheikh Abdullah died in 1 983 and his son Farooq became J&K's chief minister in that y ear. Facts 1. Firstly , J&K's accession to India had nothing to do with the promise of plebiscite by Nehru or any one else. It was instead directly linked to the tribal inv asion from Pakistan that threatened the v ery surv iv al of Srinagar city , forcing its ruler to ask India's military help and offer accession for that purpose. And Nehru's promise of plebiscite was made in his All India Radio broadcast of December 23, 1 949. (It is a different matter that according to a former chief justice of India, M C Mahajan, the Instrument of Accession, designed by the British and the Indian Independence Act, 1 947 , of the British Parliament gav e no legal or constitutional authority to Nehru or Mountbatten, the then gov ernor general, to make that promise). 2. The draft Constitution of India was presented to our Constituent Assembly for debate in February 1 948 and, therefore, Article 37 0 being promised in 1 947 is poppy cock. 3. The Centre's jurisdiction ov er J&K was ex tended, not in 1 953, but on January 26, 1 950, by a Presidential Order issued under Article 37 0. 4. The nomenclature of 'prime minister' of J&K was changed to 'chief minister' not in 1 964 but April 1 965 by the six th amendment to the J&K State Constitution, 1 957 . 5. Finally , Sheikh Abdullah died, not in 1 983, but on September 8, 1 982. Similarly , his son Farooq became J&K's chief minister, not in 1 983, but on September 9, 1 982. Had the India Today correspondent read a authoritativ e book on J&K like that of Chief Justice, Dr A S Anand, (done his PhD on the subject approv ed by London Univ ersity .) he would hav e sav ed the need to repeatedly clarify . But the media in our country ! B. Shekhar Gupta, editor-in-chief of the T he Indian Ex press. In his column of August 5, one of his brazen accusations is that "We had defied the UN resolutions on a plebiscite." Facts 1. India has nev er defied the UN resolution on plebiscite. Rather, it was Pakistan that did so by just not fulfilling the resolution's first condition requiring it to withdraw its tribesmen and nationals from the J&K state territory it had inv aded for the purpose of fighting in October 1 947 (resolution adopted on August 1 3, 1 948, by UN Commission for India and Pakistan). 2. Gupta's second accusation is that, "We had consistently and calculatedly diluted the autonomy promised to Kashmir under the Instrument of Accession and Article 37 0." Facts 2. That charge is based on a lack of comprehension of the essence of Article 37 0 which, while guaranteeing the sanctity of the accession deed, also permitted an ex tension of the Indian Parliament's laws to J&K with the concurrence of the gov ernment of that state or in consultation with it. Let it be known here that Article 37 0, as it stands, had the approv al of the four representativ es from J and K appointed on the Indian Constituent Assembly in June 1 949 by the Sadar-i-Riy asat on the adv ice of his council of ministers. Let it be known too that all the parliamentary laws ex tended to J&K so far hav e the latter's nod. Let it be known finally that the enlargement of v arious prov isions of Indian laws to J&K

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v ia Article 37 0 was upheld by that state's high court in 1 959 and by the Supreme Court in 1 961 as well as in 1 97 0. C. J N Dix it - he adv ocates autonomy to J&K in the framework of the Sheikh Abdullah-Indira Gandhi agreement of 1 97 5. But in summing up the contents of that accord, he say s that one its clauses laid down that with regard to those prov isions of the Indian Constitution as had been made applicable to J&K, only those affecting the unity of India were unalterable, thereby imply ing that all others of those prov isions were alterable. Facts 1. But such an open general licence just doesn't ex ist in the tex t of that agreement published in The Statesman, Calcutta, of February 25, 1 97 5. That tex t say s clearly that only alterations and modifications to such prov isions of the Indian Constitution as had been made applicable to J&K can be repealed after considering the merit of each; those prov isions made applicable to J&K without modifications were unalterable. Dix it conceals more than he rev eals with his assertion that Maharaja Hari Singh's decision to accede to India did not represent the v iew of the Kashmiri people. This is another of those opinions from a reputedly high source that harms India's cause. Under the monarchical sy stem, the act of accession is the prerogativ e of the prince and that his people had no legal right to be consulted on the issue of accession. He also fails to mention that when the duly elected Constituent Assembly of J&K unanimously ratified in February 1 954 the state's accession to India, the people of J&K had endorsed their Maharaja's action of October 1 947 . Our nex t intellectual in the list is Praful Bidwai , professional journalist, anti-nuclear activ ist, and anti-Hindutv a warrior. In a round about way , so ty pical of committed leftists, he supports autonomy to J&K as a way to rev erse the damage allegedly caused by New Delhis repeated failure to fulfill its constitutional commitments and political promises ov er the last 53 y ears. In that signed article in The Times of India of 29th July , he does not elucidate that charge but cites how Delhi had effected 42 amendments to the Constitution of J&K, no less, and some of them without legal warrant and propriety . Its a marv el, really , the way these learned leftists like Bidwai produce fiction from fact. And the facts are that (i) President of India has issued 43 orders from 1 4th May , 1 954 making sev eral Central Acts applicable to J&K (ii) 24 amendments, not 42, hav e been made in the J&K Constitution till 1 3th April, 1 997 , and all of them hav e been made by the State Legislativ e Assembly , not by Gov ernment of India and (iii) since the 43 Presidential Orders were issued as per the procedure of State gov ernment consultation/concurrence set out in Article 37 0, not a single one of them can be tainted as being illegal or improper. What is truly a marv el about all the shallow and superficial intellectualism we hav e seen in this commentary today is the unwillingness of opinion makers to open books and dig deep? The reputation of being this or that seems to be license enough to just sit at the lap top and fire away at the key board. And nev er mind ev en if the subject is as sensitiv e as J&K, the cause of so much heartburn and fighting and killings all these 53 y ears. It is also interesting to speculate why , in all the sound and fury of State autonomy , nobody is questioning why Karnataka and Tamil Nadu didnt ev en ask the Central gov ernments assistance in securing actor Rajkumars release and capturing V eerappan once and for all. Or is that what State autonomy is all about?

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'The purpose of this feature is to prov ide a platform for ex change of v iews. Please Register with site to post a comment and av oid abuse and getting into personal arguments.

[7] Com m en t (s) Post ed Comment By - Dilip Kumar Das Date - 01 Jul 2013 Time - 9:16AM

Many Pundits have moved to safety of Jammu, where they languish in refugge camps. No community can win the

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right to freedom and existence until it learns to fight for itself. Why cannot Pundits settle near Kishtwar, in Doda, arm themselves, and fight for their own rights and existence?

Comment By - Dilip Kumar Das

Date - 01 Jul 2013

Time - 9:11AM

Why do Pundits languish in Jammu? Why do they not settle in Doda , take up arms and fight the terrorists?

Comment By - Rahul Banerjee

Date - 23 Nov 2012

Time - 10:55PM

Lalitaditya muktapida captured many foreign lands, but when I click in net about which Indian hindu king captured foreign lands, i dont get any answers, why this happens?

Comment By - sanjeev nayyar

Date - 23 Jan 2012

Time - 5:39PM

Good point Anand. Actually when I compiled it was more to do with earlier period history. But will keep yr suggestion in mind.

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