Tribal invasion, sovereignty of Kashmir and problems of South Asia
Tribal Invasion is
among the biggest event in the contemporary history of Jammu and Kashmir. Other
events also had positive or negative impact on people of Jammu and Kashmir; but
this event alone has seriously affected lives of millions of people of Jammu
and Kashmir since it happened. Furthermore, this event resulted in the forced
division of our territory and separation of tens of thousands of families since
1947.
Apart from what
happened to the people of Jammu and Kashmir as a direct result of this tragic
event, or more appropriately by unprovoked aggression against the people of
this unfortunate State and its sovereignty; it also seriously affected lives of
millions of people of India and Pakistan, as both countries wanted to make
Jammu and Kashmir part of their country and have had more than one wars and spent
billions of pounds on this.
The government of
Pakistan expected the Maharajah of Jammu and Kashmir to accede to Pakistan; and
that is why Mohammed Ali Jinnah was complacent to him and supported the
Maharajah government when Sheikh Abdullah started the ‘Quit Kashmir Movement’.
Apart from the pressure from Pakistan to accede to Pakistan; the Maharajah of
Kashmir also had a lot of pressure from the Indian leaders to join India. He
resisted all kinds of pressures as he wanted to maintain his independence. Also
he withstood pressure of Mountbatten when he visited Kashmir as a Governor
General of undivided India to seek accession of Kashmir either to India or
Pakistan.
After failure of
Mountbatten’s mission, other senior Congress leaders, including Mahatma Gandhi
visited Kashmir to pressurise the Maharaja to accede to India. The Maharajah
stood his ground and refused to accede to India; and the British Raj in India
ended, and with that he became a sovereign Ruler of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Maharajah of
Kashmir concluded a Standstill Agreement with Pakistan that Pakistani
government would continue to provide all services to the State of Jammu and
Kashmir which the Indian government of the British Raj provided. He also
offered a Standstill Agreement to India. The government of India did not refuse
the offer of Standstill Agreement, but expressed its desire to discuss this
matter further.
Pakistani attempts to get Kashmir
When the Government
of Pakistan realised that the Maharaja of Kashmir was not interested in accession
to Pakistan they resorted to other methods to get Kashmir. Not only they
encouraged and actively supported a military rebellion in some parts of the
State, especially in Poonch where there was a strong resentment against the
government; they violated the Standstill Agreement and stopped the supply of
the vital items, including food to Jammu and Kashmir.
Apart from that,
the Government of Pakistan sent a junior army officer ASB Shah to seek
accession of the State to Pakistan. Justice Muhammad Yusuf Saraf in his book,
‘Kashmiris Fight For Freedom’ commented:
‘A junior officer
who may have successfully served in the tribal area where gold and guns were
the modus operandi in those days, he was definitely too unequal to the job. He
was as ignorant of Kashmir’s political scene and its intricacies as anyone
could be. To have expected of him to deliver the goods in a situation which was
being handled on the Indian side by intellectual giants like Mehr Chand
Mahajan, VP Menon and Gopal Swami Ayyanger, was to have well asked for the
moon.’ 1
Major Shah was a
son – in - law of one of the important Secretaries of the Pakistan Government.
He reached Srinagar and started negotiations in a typical military style. Mehr
Chand Mahjan in his book, ‘Looking Back’ noted that, Major Shah:
‘Was in Srinagar
with a whip in one hand and a letter of accession in the other. He had been
trying to persuade General Janak Singh and Mr Batra to advise the Maharaja to
accede to Pakistan’
Major Shah wanted an assurance that the Maharajah will accede to
Pakistan; or this negative assurance that he would advise the Maharajah not to
accede to India. Mehr Chand Mahjan told him that he was not in a position to give any such assurance without discussing
the matter with the Cabinet, other leading men of the State and with His
Highness and that it would take some time. However, Major Shah was not prepared
to wait. When Mehr Chand Mahjan realised that Major Shah ‘had come there almost
with an ultimatum, I said, “If you raise the blockade and allow food, clothes
and petrol to enter the State I will discuss the matter in detail with you”. He
agreed to persuade Mr Jinnah to remove the blockade and sent a telegram to him
at Lahore, but got no favourable reply. He then saw me again and said, “Mr Jinnah
invites you to Lahore. Go there and have a talk with him”. 2
Mahjan was an
experienced Statesman and fully understood why he was invited to Lahore. In any
case, he had no desire to accede to Pakistan; he further wrote:
‘I was in no
mood to present myself at Mr Jinnah’s Darbar, fall in Pakistani hands and meet
my doom. I declined the invitation, as the object was to coerce me in to
securing the State’s accession to Pakistan.
When Major Shah failed to coerce Mehr Chand Mahjan, he departed with the warning, ‘that His Highness would soon come to
grief and realise his folly. I retorted bluntly that the result of such action
on the part of Pakistan would be to throw the State in the lap of India, no
matter what the result. I assured him that we could not be coerced by such
tactics to sign an agreement of accession of the State to Pakistan.’ 3
Major Shah was
correct. The Maharajah didn’t have to wait long for Major Shah’s prophesy to
come true. Already there was some resistance going on against his government in
some areas of the State. Also there were communal riots in Jammu, which further
complicated the matters and destroyed peace and harmony in some areas of the
State.
In order to punish
the Maharaja for not yielding to whims of the Pakistani government, they
further violated the Standstill Agreement and managed the Tribal Attack and
trampled the sovereignty of the State of Jammu and Kashmir. It must be
reiterated that at the time of this unprovoked aggression the State of Jammu
and Kashmir was a sovereign country. They sent hordes of tribesmen to Kashmir
in name of Jihad, who had special skills in brutally killing and frightening
their opponents.
This event – the
tribal invasion was designed to get Jammu and Kashmir or, at least, the Kashmir
Valley. The problem with wars is that they don’t always proceed according to
plans and achieve the desired results. Same was the case with the Tribal
Invasion because it did not go according to the plan. The plan was to enter the
State territory with the lightening speed and capture Srinagar - the biggest
city of the State and the Summer Capital.
Why the Tribesmen
did not proceed to Srinagar
The majority of the
attackers were Tribesmen, who had little appreciation for the strategic
importance or military priorities of the Pakistani government which arranged
this attack; and they spent more time in looting raping and kidnapping women.
In Muzaffarabad and on way to Baramullah, the tribesmen did not hesitate to
loot, set on fire shops, rape women and kidnap them. It is reported that
hundreds of Kashmiri women were taken back to the Frontier Province and sold to
brothels or forced to convert them to Islam and married.
It must be pointed
out that not all those who joined Tribal Attack went there for the purpose of
looting; there would be some who genuinely believed that they were performing
obligations of ‘Jihad’. Anyhow, when these reports got back to Khan Abdul
Qayyum Khan and the damage it was causing to their mission, he sent Pir of
Manki Sharif to Baramullah to tell his followers that:
‘Plunder was not
the primary purpose for which they entered Kashmir’. He further ‘told
them what were the commands of God and our Holy Prophet (Peace Be Upon Him)
about the rules of conduct in a war and how essential it was to protect every
body’s honour, life and property, regardless of religious beliefs.’ 4
Baramullah was the
second biggest town in the Valley of Kashmir; and was only one hour bus drive
from Srinagar as road even at that time was among the best roads of the region.
It was fast developing as a tourist resort; and centre of fruit and timber
industry. Major General Akbar Khan who reached Baramullah on 29th
October 1947, while explaining the town wrote: ‘This used to be a town of
orchards, schools, roads, river transport stations, shops and restaurants- in
short a bright and cheerful looking place. But now it looked as if an
earthquake had shaken it.’ 5
After the fall of
Baramullah, conquering Srinagar, Summer Capital and economic hub of Jammu and
Kashmir was not difficult, as the town was only 35 miles away and was left
defenceless after the Maharajah fled for safety to Jammu. Major General Akbar
Khan puts it like this: ‘Only 35 more miles remained of level road and
virtually no resistance. The tribesmen had a barely two hours journey left –and
before them lay Srinagar, seemingly trembling at their mercy.’ 6
Justice Yusuf Saraf
comments on the situation: ‘The road to Srinagar lay open but while the city
of seven bridges kept hourly waiting; the tribesmen did not resume their
advance. They wasted three most precious days which was not only to cost us our
freedom, for how long, God only knows, but that was also to damage the
reputation of tribesmen so much that it was never to be the same again. 7
The Tribesmen did
not move towards Srinagar, as they had other priorities – looting, raping and
kidnapping and celebrating their victory. Once they realised that there was
nothing else left to plunder and they have made arrangements to send back what
they looted and girls they kidnapped, they started moving towards Srinagar.
It would be
pertinent to point out that some tribesmen in form of small groups did proceed
to Srinagar, but this was uncoordinated movement and resulted in many problems
and deaths because of some resistance by citizens of Srinagar. Also it is
believed that the tribesmen were not fully aware of the problems or natural
defence of the city in the form of water rain, marshland, small lakes, river
and paddy fields.
It is debatable if
these tribesmen advanced before the others to conquer Srinagar or they saw
Srinagar as a ‘bigger prize’ than Baramullah; and wanted to make most of it by
looting and kidnapping beautiful Kashmiri women. If the intention was to
conquer Kashmir before the arrival of the Indian army then even a person with
ordinary sense would have gone to take control of the airport to stop Indian
aid reaching there by air; rather than attacking the city defences. Evidence
suggests that individual groups tried to enter the main city; and did not
proceed towards the airport.
One view is that
they were held in Baramullah by their Commander, Major Khurshid Anwar, who sent
a message to Azad Kashmiri leaders that if he conquered Srinagar what position
he would get in the Kashmir government. The Road to Srinagar was plain, but the
road back to Rawalpindi where the Azad Kashmiri leaders were staying was
mountainous and difficult to travel; and convoys of tribesmen and other
transport carrying these Jihadi groups and arms and supplies slowed down the journey
back. So by the time the Major Khurshid Anwar’s messenger could reach back to
Baramullah after meeting the Azad Kashmiri leaders, the Indian army had landed
in Srinagar, and the game was over. 8
While explaining
India’s position on Kashmir, Mr Gopal Swami Ayyanger said:
‘India without
Kashmir would cease to occupy a pivotal position on the political map of
Central Asia. Strategically Kashmir is vital to the security of India; it has
been so ever since dawn of history. Its northern provinces give us direct gate
–ways to the North West Provinces of Pakistan and Northern Punjab. It is
India’s only window to Central Asian Republics of USSR in the north, China on
the East and Afghanistan on the West.’ 9
Pakistan had its
own reasons for capturing Kashmir. Not only that Jammu and Kashmir was a Muslim
majority State, it was important to Pakistan because of its great strategic
location, natural resources and security it provided to Pakistan. If the entire
Jammu and Kashmir had gone to India, and the Indian forces were deployed on
Kashmir’s border with Pakistan, then that would have seriously endangered
Pakistan’s main civil and military lines of communication between Rawalpindi
and Lahore. If Pakistan was to safeguard this route properly then that would make
cities of Lahore, Sialkot and Gujrat vulnerable to the Indian invasion. Apart
from that Jammu and Kashmir was important to Pakistan’s economy, especially
agriculture. So, as far as Pakistani ruling elite were concerned they felt it
was absolutely necessary to get Kashmir at all costs.
Jammu Riots and the
Tribal Attack
It is unfortunate
to note that majority of Pakistanis and many Kashmiri people, including some
writers and academics still believe that the Tribal Attack was essential
because Muslims were being killed in Jammu in communal riots; and some non
Muslims from neighbouring States entered the region for the purpose of killing
Muslims.
No one can deny
about the communal riots in Jammu where the Muslims were victims; but if the
aim of those who planned the Tribal Attack was to help the Muslims of Jammu
then why they did not arrange attacks from Sialkot which is about 28 miles from
Jammu or from Gujrat side which provides easy access to the various towns of
Jammu Province. Why they had to send tribesmen towards Muzaffarabad, Uri,
Baramullah and Srinagar where Muslims were in great majority and there were no
communal disturbance? Answer is very simple, the Maharajah was in Srinagar,
Summer Capital of the State; and more importantly they wanted to capture the
Valley of Kashmir because of its resources and great strategic importance.
Furthermore, the
communal disturbances started in Jammu in the third week of August 1947. Why
the government of Pakistan remained quiet over this issue till mid October? Why
they did not send any military help to Jammu where the Muslims were victims?
Again reason is very simple; the Pakistani government, at that time, expected
the Maharajah to accede to Pakistan, and they did not want to do anything to
annoy him. However, when they realised that the Maharaja had no interest in
joining Pakistan, they decided to punish him and take over his State by force,
hence the attack on Muzaffarabad and Baramullah to capture Srinagar.
Major Khurshid
Anwar was a retired officer of the Indian Army, and belonged to Jhullandur (now
part of Indian Punjab). His wife was a Kashmiri Pathan. He played a leading
role in Punjab Disobedience Movement on behalf of the Muslim League. He was
later sent to North West Frontier Province to organise a similar movement; and
because of his skills and experience he was appointed a Commander of the Muslim
League National Guards.
He was a brave man
with good contacts with different Tribal Chief and the Muslim League leaders,
including Khan Abdul Qayyum Khan, a key Muslim League leader in that region.
According to him, initial planning was to attack Muzaffarabad on 15th
October 1947. He came to Rawalpindi on 12 October and requested Syed Nazir
Hussain Shah to provide him with four – five guides that he could secretly
proceed with 500 hundred armed men and capture Srinagar airport. 10
Tribal Attack and
‘Jihad’
However, there were
some wise men who wanted to give a last chance to the Maharajah before taking
the military option. As explained above, Major Shah was sent to Srinagar for
‘negotiations’; and few days after his failed mission, the Tribal Invasion was
launched in name of ‘Jihad’ with disastrous consequences for people of Jammu
and Kashmir and for the rest of South Asia, as genie of ‘jihad’ used for the first
time to advance political agenda in October 1947 is still haunting us all.
It is claimed that
these people went to Kashmir to perform religious duty of ‘jihad’. One may ask
why sentiments of ‘jihad’ did not influence them when their Muslims brothers
were killed in Jammu in August; and why they had to wait nearly two months
before they decided to perform this religious duty? Moreover why they did not
proceed to the spot – Jammu Province where the Muslims were in minority and
were under attack?
Because of hyped
religious sentiments and division of the British India on communal lines, it
created hatred and set one community against the other; and to make things
worse they launched the tribal attack in name of jihad to advance political
agenda of the government. It was not the last time the name of ‘jihad’ was used
to sponsor violence, promote extremism and advance a political agenda.
After the invasion
of Afghanistan, ‘jihad’ for some became a thriving industry, which attracted
recruits from many parts of the world. Those who sponsored this kind of ‘jihad’
not only became extremely rich, but they wielded unimagined power and
influence; and in some cases dictated foreign policies of many countries. Sad
thing was that no one could even speak against the actions committed in holy
name of ‘jihad’; even now people are reluctant to speak against actions taken
in name of ‘jihad’ because of threat of serious repercussions.
Many of the
problems we face in South Asia today; and India Pakistan rivalry that we have
witnessed over many decades have its roots in that unfortunate and ill advised
military action to conquer Kashmir in October 1947. I know we cannot turn back
the clock of history; but just for a moment if we assume that there was no
Tribal Attack, then State of Jammu and Kashmir could have remained independent.
An independent
Jammu and Kashmir could have had friendly and cordial relations with all its
neighbours; and could have been a bridge of friendship between India and
Pakistan. Both countries wanted Jammu and Kashmir and had their own arguments
to justify their claims; but it was possible that they could have accepted an
independent buffer state which could have helped them to boost their trade and
have joint projects to improve quality of life in the region, instead of
competition in military warfare.
The partition of
India on communal lines promoted sentiments of hatred and resentment against
each other that created a gulf between the two countries, but that could have
healed with time; however the competition over ‘ownership’ of the State of
Jammu and Kashmir ensured that this ‘wound’ keeps on bleeding and generate
hatred and extremism. This resulted in wars and arms race between the both
countries and the resources that should have been spent to provide better
quality of life to people were diverted to build large armies and military
hardware. Millions of people are below the poverty line in both countries; yet
the ruling elite in both countries spend billions on military preparedness.
Many Pakistanis
hold us – people of Jammu and Kashmir responsible for their problems, lack of
democracy and fundamental human rights. Their contention is that if there was
no Kashmir dispute perhaps the ruling elite might not have spent so much on
defence and deprived them of democratic rights. This is to blame the victims.
We are suffering because of the policies of both India and Pakistan. We don’t
want to be occupied, forcibly divided and denied of our basic rights. The Ruler
of Jammu and Kashmir did not ask rulers of Pakistan to violate the Standstill
Agreement and attack his country.
Yes, I agree that
many problems of Pakistan and that of South Asia are directly related to the
Kashmir dispute; but it must be understood that we did not create this dispute.
It was the Tribal Attack that landed us in this quandary and deprived us of our
independence, right of movement and many other rights. Furthermore, it divided
the State of Jammu and Kashmir between the two countries and started a new era
of competition, confrontation, violence and hatred in South Asia.
I also agree that
the Kashmir dispute has to be resolved in order to have peace and harmony in
the region; and if the ruling elites of both countries have realised that the
Kashmir dispute is holding back their progress then they must make serious and
sincere efforts to put right mistakes of the past, and allow people of the
divided State to determine their own future.
Reference:
1.
‘Kashmiris Fight For Freedom’, Justice
Muhammad Yusuf Saraf, Feroz Sons Limited, Lahore, volume 2, page 803
2.
‘Looking Back’, Mehr Chand Mahjan,
page 269
3.
Ibid, page 269
4.
Justice Yusuf Saraf, page 908
5.
Major General Akbar
Khan, ‘Raiders in Kashmir’, Pak Publishers Limited, Karachi, Pakistan, pages, 36-37
6.
Ibid, Page 37
7.
Justice Yusuf Saraf, page 904
8.
Major General Akbar
Khan,
Page 38
9.
Ibid, page 100
10.
Justice Yusuf Saraf,
page 886
