Till 1947, the borders of Jammu-Kashmir stretched upto Gilgit and Ladakh to the North of Zozila and Burjil mountain ranges. The region bordered with Afghanistan, Chinese Turkestan, Russian Turkestan, Tibet and the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan, that was formed in 1947.
Historically, Jammu and Kashmir did not have any border dispute with Tibet and China, till 1947. Aksai Chin was a part of Jammu-Kashmir that had legally acceded to Bharat. Infact, the Maharaja of J&K collected revenue from the village of Mansar, the only village in the harsh and unendurable Aksai Chin. Till then, China never disputed J&K’s claim of revenue.
In 1842, Treaty of Chanshul was signed by Jammu and Kashmir, Tibet and China. The East India Company, ruling over Bharat, during the time, became party to the treaty. The separate signatures were signed between the Maharaja of Jammu-Kashmir with Tibet,Tibet with China and China with Jammu and Kashmir state. Clear maps were exchanged between the parties involved, for a common perception.
When China occupied Tibet in 1950s, Bharat, instead of opposing it aggressive
ly on the basis of the Chanshul treaty, accepted it meekly.
During the 1962 Sino-India war, that Bharat lost badly and lost Aksai Chin to China. Bharat did not foresee that this war could take place. Nehru trusted the Chinese don’t know why and believed that border disputes would never escalate into war. Though Sardar Patel had warned him about China much before this war, back in 1948–49 when China had started to kill the buffer zone between India and China, viz. Tibet.
He had told that we should purchase fighter jets so that Bharat is able to target Chinese aggression but Nehru was ignorant to his advise and did not arm India well enough to defend Aksai Chin.
It was bravery of the armed forces that Arunachal Pradesh and Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir were not lost. Had they been armed sufficiently India would’ve not lost Aksai Chin.
During the 1962 war, the Chinese whipped Bharatiya soldiers but withdrew from the territory, once the war was over but it did not withdraw from the 15,000 square miles of land of Aksai Chin, that belonged to Bharat. China needed it as a strategic road from Buddhist Tibet to its North Western Xinjiang province populated by Uyghur Muslims
The eight lane expressway now, passes through the Union Territory of Ladakh.
Bharat, remained in slumber in 1950s, when China began building the highway and later, strategically occupied Aksai Chin (through bullets) for their Eastern highway.
Hence, Gilgit was an entry gateway as well as watch point to penetrate inside Bharatiya sub-continent. Taking into consideration, this strategic importance of Gilgit, British forcibly acquired the Military and administrative control of this region from the Maharaja of Kashmir, making river Sindhu as the line of control. But, as Bharat gained independence, the British returned the region in hands of Maharaja, who appointed Brig. Ghansara Singh as Governor.
The British had set up para-military force named Gilgit Scouts, to complement the regular forces to preserve the security of the region. Ironically, all three commanders of this forces were pro-Pakistan but unfortunately, they were trusted without dwelling deeper about their commitment towards Bharat and as soon as Ghansara Singh assumed office as Governor, Pakistan launched its indirect invasion. The Governor and the Hindu – Sikh soldiers were imprisoned by the Gilgit Scouts, following the orders of the pro-Pak British officers. The Pakistani flag was hoisted in Gilgit.
The strategically significant Gilgit was lost, yet the leadership in Bharat did not wake up. Instead of sending needed help to Maharaja of Jammu-Kashmir, Pandit Nehru restrained Sardar Patel from taking further decisions regarding Jammu-Kashmir.
Ladakh and Baltistan, jointly formed a district of the state of Jammu and Kashmir, with Skardu in Baltistan, as it’s headquarter.
The Hindu-Sikh population was comparatively sparse. Sikhs were mainly traders and the Kashmiri Pandits were mostly Government employees.
The Hindu-Muslim-Sikh population lived in unity but with the formation of Pakistan, the Jehadi cry became prominent and ages old bonding between the Hindu-Sikh and Muslim was filled with animosity. Their peaceful co-existence was nullified and the Muslims became hostile and blood thirsty of the Hindu – Sikh minority living in the region.
Pakistan’s disguise invasion through Kabailis in October 1947, created trouble in Gilgit and post the fall of Gilgit in December ’47, the Hindu-Sikh community was panic struck. They began migrating to Kargil. The vazir (district head) Amar Nath was adamant to not allow people to flee.
As he was fearing that in the absence of Kashmiri Hindus who were largely employed as goverment employees, the administration would come to standstill. Hence, he persuaded to hand over the region to army. He consistently sent SOS messages to authorities in Srinagar and Jammu. He struggled hard to contact Maharaja, Maharani, Shaikh Abdullah and his Begum but in vain. By the time, Maharaja had accessed the state in Bharat and Shaikh had taken over the interim administration in his hands, thus the panick calls went unheard.
The attackers along with the support from the Gilgit scouts, foreign mercenaries and officers as well as British and American officers began amassing in a large force in Gilgit.
On the night of February 8th, Ninety Sikh soldiers marched towards Skardu, with the plunge to ‘Do or die’. They were massacred or were taken captives.
In next two days, about 600 Pakistanis attacked Skardu . The Muslim officers and men of the Sixth battalion of the state’s army has betrayed and had turned staunch jihadis.
Amar Nath Sharma, the Vazir was shot dead by treachery.
The Hindu-Sikh population took refuge in the army cantonment. The jawans led by Lt. Col. Thapa have befitting reply but they were forced to fight on both the sides. They had to take care of the citizens on one hand and on the other hand, fought the battle, within their limited resources.
Days were passing by. Each minute was precious and what seemed was like eternity, with the morale of the jawans sagged and down,as their all the plea for help had gone unanswered, the commander sent a threatening message to Srinagar, – “If no help comes I shall leave – with my men, leaving the people behind”.
This did move Srinagar, a little but they expressed more confidence in UN commission than the time and again requests from their own army. The army on the other hand, stretched themselves to the maximum and prevented the invaders to advance any further for four months, till July ’48, but at last, their rations and ammunition ran out.
The enemy, with its increasing forces were getting fortified and the Bharatiya forces were depleting. The scarcity for medical help was fast pacing up. Once, a plane did drop a box of medical supplies, but the drugs were mostly of expiry date!!!
Exactly after one year, on the day, Pakistan was born as an independent nation, Skardu fell.
On the morning of 14th August ’48, Lt. Col. Thapa passed on a wireless message to Jammu – “Everything has ended. Don’t send any help, now.”
And,
He destroyed the wireless and put the entire bunch of confidential papers ablzed.
For centuries, the valley had Muslim majority but the Muslims had began penetrating in some cities of Jammu, too.
One of them was Rajouri.
The city of Rajouri was situated on the South of Pir Panjal range. It was gateway into the hilly area of valley and it separated Jammu from the Kashmir valley and hence it was thriving commercial centre.
In October ’47, the Bharatiya army retaliated with full force and drove the attackers away, out of the Kashmir valley. They also captured Uri and thus, the attackers return journey became difficult. Some of them plummeted towards Poonch via Gulmarg and some of them towards Rajouri via Nandimarg.
The local Muslims of these areas were anyways strategising attack to beleaguer the city and the attackers hide out in the city boosted their morals.
Rajouri was away from the Pakistani border and hence it was not an epicenter for infiltration and attack.
No one had assumed that the attack would be from the valley, itself!!!
Rajouri’s population was around Seven to Eight Thousand but with influx of Hindus from the adjoining regions, it crossed Eleven Thousand. There were Fourteen under trainee recruits appointed to secure Rajouri and it had only one police station.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh had an extremely imposing impact in Rajouri. The Hindu population would abide by the dictate issued by the RSS..
There was a tradition of hanging swings on the trees on occasion of Baisakhi, in Rajouri. The young girls and women would come to swing on these swings. The Muslims would swing the ropes and while doing so, they would misbehave and pass on objectionable gestures to mock the Hindu females.
To show protest against this misbehaviour, the Sangh Swayamsevaks appealed to Hindu families, to not send their daughters to swing. There was cent percent public response from the Hindu families in support of this dictate and not a single Hindu female turned out to swing
The Muslim community noted this objection and begged pardon that no such misbehaviour would occur in future.
The RSS office bearers urged the then Prime Minister of Jammu-Kashmir, Meharchand Mahajan to send the Bharatiya army to protect the people of Jammu and Rajouri, as later was under endangerment. Looking at the situation, Mahajan agreed and passed on directive to the Bharatiya army to march towards Rajouri but Pandit Nehru had other plans. Panditji was overwhelmed by Shaikh Abdullah’s narrative and would not think ahead of his opinion and thus, he ordered Bharatiya army commanders to follow the dictate issued by Shaikh Abdullah, regarding deployment of forces.
Shaikh Abdullah directed the forces going to Rajouri, towards Reasi, instead…
Amidst the shivers of fear about their future, the Hindus were in no mood to celebrate approaching Diwali.
The RSS Swayamsevaks were patrolling at all hours, on outposts. They had decided to sound a bugle, if any danger was suspected. On the day of Diwali, the thundering noise of “Allah ho Akbar” was heard near the outpost. The attackers in huge strength and almost difficult for the few Dogra soldiers to thwart them. Thus, as planned earlier, the Nagarkaryawah Krishna Kumar blew the bugle and the Hindus gathered in the courtyard of the Tehsil.
The Swayamsevaks were patrolling the city lanes and they had few hand grenades and conventional rifles. They attacked on the aggressors using this and some were wounded by it. Their ammunition fell into the hands of the Swayamsevaks and they fought back ferociously with these miniscule supply of arms and handful strength for almost Eighteen hours!!!
The citizens also landed their support to the Swayamsevaks. Swami Shatanand of Arya Samaj, who kept fiting from the Arya Samaj premises as long as he could, but finally their heroic fight back came to an end as the enemy was much well equipped and in much larger number.
Now, it was the time to take a painful call. The supreme sacrifice by the courageous daughters. They decided to commit jauhar to shield their honour. The Swayamsevaks distributed packets of poison and every women accepted the packet, like it was pack of sweets.
As the preparations for jauhar was going on, the attackers launched a massacre. When they approached the women, they immediately put the poison in their mouth and instantly crumbled down lifeless.
Around Seventeen hundred women committed suicide.
Yet, there were few who did not have access to poison. They asked their family to end their lives, before the Kabaili foes could touch them.
Nine hundred women were thus killed by their own relatives. Their relatives showered them with Gold and Silver jewellery as those who could escape the assassination, had lost all the will and longing to live.
The ill-willed goons had succeeded in capturing some young girls. One girl, named Krishna had managed to free herself, with the aid of Tirath Ram. He had been forcibly converted to Islam. Krishna belonged to the army background. She was the grand daughter of Major Jhanda Singh of Rajouri.
The fate of other girls who were taken captives by the aggressors, remained unknown to all and could never be known by their families.The most anticipated truth was that these girls would have been sold in the Pakistani market like cattle.
There was mayhem all around. Men, women, children ran in every direction to save their lives. A very few were fortunate ones to reach Jammu, to narrate their heinous saga. Along with them around five hundred Swayamsevaks also faced death.
Eventually, Rajouri fell.
Within one month, the Bharatiya army re-captured it but when they entered the town, there was eeri silence all over. The entire town was in ruins. There were heaps of dead bodies scattered all around. The courtyard of the Tehsil, was filled with bodies of women who had committed suicide by taking poison. Their bodies were lying around, unattended without any proper funeral rites performed.
The Swayamsevaks of the Sanatan Dharma Sabha collected thousands of bodies and them on the funeral pyre. They took truckload with the ashes and ‘asthi’ to immerse it in Ma Ganga at Haridwar .
After Rajouri was brought back under Bharat, a ‘Balidan Bhavan’ memorial was built at the Tehsil building, in memory of the massacre and the women’s jauhar.
The Black Day was the day of Ashwin Amavasya, the day of Diwali and hence, for twenty five years, celebration of Diwali was self banned. No lights, no Diya and no firecrackers and the day was observed with a lump in the heart, as the Martyrs day. Now-a-days, Martyrs Day is still observed in co-operation with the army.
Shri Balraj Madhok, the former president of Bharatiya Jansangh and the one who was the son of the soil (he hailed from Baltistan and was born in Skardu) visited Rajouri, five years after the heartbreaking incidence and bow down at the spot, in reverence and paid homage to the sacred reminiscent of the women who laid down their lives.
Pakistan Occupied J&K and Gilgit – Baltistan.
Jammu and Kashmir has immense significance geographically as well historically.
The state of Jammu-Kashmir, including the POJK and the area under the ilegal occupation of Chinese, came into present form of state, on the March 16th 1846, as per the treaty signed by Maharaja Gulab Singh and British Government. It was known as the Amritsar treaty. The region to the right side of the river Indus were annexed during the regime of Maharaja Ranbir Singh.
During this era, the state was divided into provinces of :
A,) Jammu, B) Kashmir C) Ladakh D)Gilgit and Frontier region.
Within two months of Bharat attaining independence in 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh acceded the state of J&K to the union of Bharat.
But, Pakistan was not ready to accept the Redcliff demarcation and it initiated a disguised war, occupying a part of area under its control and most unfortunately, the area still, till date, remains under the illegal occupation of Pakistan (POJK and Gilgit – Baltistan) and China (Aksai Chin) and no strong and fruitful steps were taken,ever.
Total area of the state of Jammu-Kashmir is (TOTAL – inclusive of POJK+Gilgit+Baltistan) is 222, 236 sq km.
Out of it, area under illegal Pakistani occupation (POJK+Gilgit+Baltistan) is 78,114 sq km.
Area of Jammu-Kashmir under Chinese operation (Aksai Chin) is 42,685 sq km.
Thus, total area under Pakistani and Chinese occupation is 78,114 sq km + 42,685 Sq km = 120,799 sq km. (5,130 sq km has been ceded to China, out of the total area).
Bharat, has 101, 437 sq km under their possession.
The region of Gilgit – Baltistan has approximately two million population. Baltistan region is divided in two district. Eg. Gangche and Skardu.. The Gilgit region has five districts, Astore, Diamer, Ghizer, Hunza Nagar and Gilgit. The city of Gilgit is the capital city.
The region comprises of Shia, Nurbakshi, Shia-Ismaili, Ahlehadith and Sunni religious groups and ethnic communities of Shin, Balti, Tatar, Mon, Khowar, Dom, Gujjar, Tibetan and Kashmiri.
Shia, Balti, Wakhi, Khowar, Gujjari Burushaski, Puriki and Kashmiri languages are spoken here.
The region of Gilgit-Baltistan, formerly known as Northern area, is situated in the North of Jammu-Kashmir. To its, South – west, the POJK and to the West, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are situated. Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan lies in its North West and Xingjyang Uyghur autonomous region of China is in its North.
The region is sparsely populated and is The region is administered by Pakistan and it covers an area of over 72, 971 km. The area is highly mountainous. Though capital city is Gilgit, Skardu is the largest city of the region.
The history of the region in the last seven decades has been catastrophic. The region is originally, a part of the state of Jammu-Kashmir but there have been numerous attempts of amalgamating it with Pakistan but the authority in Islamabad, have remained unsuccessful in implementing such a state as they fear that it would weaken their claim on Kashmir.
Though Pakistan maintains the administration of Gilgit-Baltistan in its control, the status of the region is ambiguous. It is not even a part of the POJK. With undefined status, there is no transperancy of accountability in the governance. Sectarian violence and unemployment have been riding stiffly.
The Gilgit Baltistan assembly (GBLA) approved a resolution on the 11th September 2012, demanding complete provincial status for the region.
The move of the assembly received enormous criticism from within the Gilgit Baltistan region and across the world.
MLA Nawaz Khan Naji, of the Balwaristan National Front opposed the bill.
The Kashmir National Party, established in 1985 supported the Independence of Kashmir but did not approve of state’s affinity with Pakistan. Hence, leaders of KNP, Abbas Butt, Dr. Shabir Choudhary and Zubair Ansari issued a joint statement, renewing the KNP stand that Gilgit-Baltistan is a legal and constitutional part of state of Jammu-Kashmir; and the entire state is disputed and forcibly divided and occupied. The state of Jammu-Kashmir is one political entity and must not be divided in any form or shape.
People’s Liberation Army of China attacked Gilgit-Baltistan in 1949 and occupied Shimsal, Raskam, Aghil and Shaksgam valleys.
As Indo-Soviet relations grew stronger, it became mandatory for Pakistan and China to to establish a strategic alliance.
However, the alliance was not affirmed without sacrificing 5,800 square kilometres of Shimshal and Raskam valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan to Pakistan in 1963.
Very soon, after occupying the area, thousands of Chinese soldiers and workers arrived in Gilgit-Baltistan to construct the Karakoram Highway. The construction was completed in 1978 and it gave Pakistan, an additional edge to infiltrate into Bharatiya Jammu and Kashmir through the transportation network of Gilgit – Baltistan. For China, too, it gave an easy access to waters of Hind Mahasagar (Indian Ocean). Thus, through Gilgit-Baltistan, China acquired safe approach route to South Asia, Africa and Middle East.
The Karakoram Highway has enabled thousands of Chinese tourists, Engineers, Traders and Merchants, Pilgrims and Students to use it as a transit route.
The Chinese Military officials pay regular visits to the field command office of Gilgit where Pakistani military headquarter is established. With the support and encouragement of Pakistani authorities, the Chinese companies have ventured in constructing bridges and roads in different valleys of Gilgit-Baltistan.
The Geo-strategic significance of the region has increased manifolds after Pakistan-China joined hands to construct Gwadar port in the Persian Gulf.
China, discerning that the Karakoram Highway was an ideal route for maximising it’s import of Fossil fuels, copper and iron ores, for ascending it’s economic progress, it commenced with a plan to convert the Karakoram Highway into an expressway, build railway parallel to it and pass Oil and Gas pipeline through the series of tunnels in the Karakoram mountain range.
As China is connected to Pakistan through the Karakoram Highway (KKH) and 580 kms of Karakoram Highway runs through the Gilgit – Baltistan region of POJK, China often uses this highway for illegal transfer of Nuclear materials to Pakistan.
Hydel projects of Comat dam and rising of the heights of Mangla dam in POJK, are being worked out by China.
Zhejiang Design Institute of water conservancy and hydroelectric power of China has carried out feasibility studies building small and medium size dams. Building highways and railways through POJK and issuing Paper visa to people travelling to China from Jammu-Kashmir, was under consideration of the Chinese Government and this was attempted to project the status of J&K as a disputed territory.
The security implications of Chinese presence in Jammu and Kashmir is extremely huge.
The sectarian violence has been prevalent in the region since 1980. The Sunni hardliners, originally from the Pakistani states, settled here in Gilgit-Baltistan and along with them brought severe hatred towards Shia and Islamia.
The construction of Karakoram Highway changed the accessibility of Pakistani citizens with Gilgit-Baltistan. The easy accessibility began changing the demographic composition of this region. Along with those seeking economic gains, several religious fanatics too, migrated to this region.
Noting some of the sectarian killings and significant human right violation in Gilgit-Baltistan.
A) The Kohistan Killings that assassinated 18 on February 28th, 2012.
B) 25 Shia were killed while traveling in bus, in Lalusar on 16th August 2012.
C) The massacre at Chilas on April 3rd 2012 killed 15-20.
The United Nation’s secretary General Ban-Ki-Moon also took note of this brutal violence. He issued statement condemning the killing of Shia Muslims in a bus in Northern Pakistan. Nevi Pollay, the UN’s High Commissioner for Human Rights in Pakistan, expressed deep concern over unbridled killing and especially imprisonment and atrocities towards nationalist political leaders.
As per the survey by Abdul Hamid Khan, chairman of BNF (Balwaristan National Front), around 900 youth had been assassinated, 1000 had been disabled and 40 were missing. Number of buildings had been destroyed due to Pakistan sponsored terrorism.
Massive protests have broken out in the Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan region over the arrest of a Shia cleric under Pakistan’s reinforced blasphemy laws. The protests are said to be the largest that the region has ever seen, with slogans of “Chalo, chalo Kargil chalo” rending the air.
Shia cleric Agha Baqir al-Hussaini was booked and arrested over his comments at a religious gathering.
Agha Baqir al-Hussaini was booked for his remarks at an ulema council meeting in Skardu that was held to discuss Pakistan making its blasphemy laws stricter, apparently to target the Shia community.
The Shia and the Sunni share the same basic tenets of Islam, but Shias do not idolise Islamic figures who opposed the fourth Caliph, Ali.
Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country but Shias form a sizeable chunk of the population in Gilgit-Baltistan.
Starting with Gen Zia-Ul Haq’s regime, successive Pakistan governments have tried to change the demographic composition of Gilgit-Baltistan by moving Sunnis into the region.
Silk Road, the ancient trade route, linking China with the West, that carried goods and ideas between the two civilizations of Rome and China. Silk went westward, and wools, gold, and silver went east. China also received Nestorian Christianity and Buddhism (from Bharat) via the Silk road.
One of the major route on the historic Silk route, was passing through the state of Jammu and Kashmir in the Bharatiya sub-continent and Tibetan plateau. It covered the Oasis land route, that had consistent human movement and hence, remained extremely effectively as trade route.
During the glorious days of thriving trade on Silk route, Gurez in Bandipore in North of Kashmir and around 129 kms from Srinagar, was Kashmir ‘s gateway to the Silk route.
Historically, Gurez was part of ancient Dardistan, stretching between Sharada Peeth in the west, Minimarg in the north, Drass in the east, and Bagtore in the south. The valley falls along the ancient Silk Route, which connected the Kashmir Valley with Gilgit, before continuing further to Kashgar.
During this economically flourishing era, Bharat had 28 % of world GDP and was considered prosperous economic power than. This area was a trade meeting point of West Asia, Central Asia, South Asia and East Asia.
Gurez is situated at 146 km away from Gilgit. Gilgit is around 1000 km away from Iran and at an equal distance from Bharatiya capital, New Delhi.
Basically, Gilgit is an extremely significant mid-way destination, connecting many regions of Asia and Europe, by land. Hence,
as we have seen earlier, state of Jammu – Kashmir was highly crucial for Britain to maintain economic supremacy even after handing over independence to Bharat. They put in every effort to keep Jammu-Kashmir with Pakistan but Maharaja chose accession with Bharat.
The illegal occupation of Gilgit-Baltistan has caused a huge loss to Bharat’s land route to central Asia, China, West Asia, Africa and Europe.
Economical growth is not the only sector, where Gilgit-Baltistan have significance. On defence front, this region holds utmost importance as most of the invasions to Bharat, have happened through the Khyber Ghat (valley), bordering Afghanistan.
In Asia, the regions of Gilgit-Baltistan and Tibet practically control most of the fresh water supply. Now, as Tibet has fallen to China, the Gilgit-Baltistan is the only other alternative available, as the major water source.
Out of the ten tallest peak, situated in Bharat, eight lie in Gilgit-Baltistan. Unfortunately, now they are under the control of Pakistan. World’s second tallest peak, the famous K2 Himalayan peaks is in Baltistan.
Gilgit has some of the world’s largest Gold deposits. China has acquired the mining rights for it.
The Turkmenistan – Afghanistan – Pakistan – India (Bharat) – TAPI project of Gas pipeline (also known as Trans Afghanistan pipeline project) is a mega project to transport natural gas from the Galykynsh gas field in Turkmenistan through Afghanistan into Pakistan and finally to Bharat, in Fazilka, near the border between Bharat and Pakistan. This ambitious project has been halted due to the denial mode of Pakistan.
Sources of Information :
हमारी भूलोका स्मारक : धर्मांतरित कश्मीर
नरेन्द्र सहगल
कश्मीर : दहकते अंगारे
जगमोहन जी
जम्मू कश्मीर की अनकही कहानियां
कुलदीप चंद अग्निहोत्री
Kashmir : Behind The Vale
M J Akbar
My Frozen Turbulence in Kashmir
Jagmohan ji
100 Documents
Kul Bhushan Mohtra
Jammu-Kashmir : Facts, Problems and Solutions
Ashutosh
http//tribune.com.pk/story/423357/part-of-gilgit-baltistan-shut-down-toprotest-shia-killings/
Madhvi Bhuta is the National Executive of BJP Mahila Morcha and a Columnist on various Forums.
