Background of Kashmir Issue between India and Pakistan: The state of Jammu and Kashmir (کشمیر), which existed in 1947 when the Subcontinent achieved its independence, had started taking shape in 1846, when the Valley of Kashmir was sold by the British East India Company to Ghulab Singh (گلاب سنگھ) of Jammu. In 1947 the area of the State of Jammu and Kashmir was 84471 Sq. miles. The Line of Actual Control (The cease-fire line) has now divided the state. On the Pakistani side, the administrative units are Azad Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan Northern areas. Roughly 35 percent of the territory comprises Northern Areas and Azad Kashmir, which is under the control of Pakistan, 45 percent of the area is Indian occupied and 20 percent of the territory of the state, called Aksai Chin, is controlled by China. Population of the State of Jammu and Kashmir is roughly 80 percent Muslims, and the rest non-Muslims. In 1947 the state of Jammu and Kashmir had thirteen districts, which were called wizarats (وذارت). Trouble in Kashmir erupted in July 1947, when against the wishes of the popular Muslim Conference to join Pakistan, Maharaja Ghulab Singh ordered the Muslims to surrender their arms to the police. On 22 October 1947 under these circumstances a large number of tribesmen crossed the border in Kashmir to support the Kashmiri Muslims. By 24 October the tribesmen reached near Srinagar and the state capital was threatened. On the suggestion of India (انڈیا), Maharaja signed an Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947 and the Indian troops were flown to Srinagar on 27 October crushing the Muslim uprising. Thus the first Indo-Pak war started in October 1947. On 1st January 1948 India took the issue to United Nations to seek its judgment to solve the issue. The issue of the future of the Jammu and Kashmir is very much on the agenda of the UN and there are UN resolutions that the future of Kashmir should be decided by a plebiscite. India who took the Kashmir case to the UN in 1947 now is standing in the way of the UN resolutions. She has tried to sabotage the UNSC and UNCIP resolutions for the past half a century. This is because India is sure that if and when a reference is made to the people of Jammu and Kashmir, their votes would in any case goes against India and in favor of Pakistan or to form an independent Kashmiri state altogether. References: Josef Korbel. Danger in Kashmir. 1997 Maj Iqbal Hashmi. The Bleeding Kashmir. Royal Book Coy. 1993 Rehmat Ullah Khan. Kashmir and United Nation . National Printing works
Posted on: Sat, 10 Jan 2015 08:03:13 +0000