ON THIS DAY- 26th October:- Foundation Day Of Jammu & Kashmir State Is Observed

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On October 26, 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession and acceded the state of Jammu & Kashmir to India during the time of Pakistan invasion. 72 years ago, the state agreed to become a part of India. Just after India and Pakistan got their independence, Jammu & Kashmir witnessed a political and diplomatic turmoil. Both India and Pakistan were angling to assimilate the state into their respective territories, but Maharaja Hari Singh, the Hindu ruler of the Muslim-majority princely state, was not committing to either side. At the same time, there were anti-Maharaja protests.

 

Becoming A Unified State

In 1846, Kashmir experienced a unique development with enduring consequences. The development was that three distinctive political, geographical and cultural entities i.e., Kashmir Valley, Jammu and Ladakh were merged into one political entity. The princely state of J&K had been brought under British paramountcy in 1846 via the Treaty of Amritsar which was signed between the East India Company and Maharaja Gulab Singh, the founder of the royal Dogra dynasty, who paid 7.5 million Nanakshahi rupees and bought the Kashmir Valley and the Ladakh Wizarat (comprising Baltistan, Kargil and Leh), and added it to Jammu, which was already under his rule. Gilgit Wizarat was conquered later through the Dogras’ war against the Sikhs.

 

 

 

Dogra Rule

The Treaty of Amritsar by virtue of which Jammu & Kashmir state was handed over to Maharaja Gulab Singh and his successors with independent authority, maintained the dynastic feudal and religious centred rule of the medieval ages. The Dogra rules considered Kashmir as their purchased property and ruled their subjects as a master rules over the slave. The Dogra rulers openly demonstrated their communal stance and the transfer of Jagirs from Muslims to non- Muslims remained a dominant feature of the Dogra rule. During the initial phase, Maharaja handed over all key positions to the Hindus. The Muslims constituted 80% of the total population of the state but their share in government services was not more than 15% in late 1931.

Dogra rule was facing a shift due to intent of bias as the nature of Dogra rule was despotic, religious centred, feudal-like and dynastic. It can also be seen by the fact that from 1846-1947, about 28 persons were appointed as Prime Ministers but none of them were Muslims. From top to the bottom, the administrative machinery was comprised of the Hindus. The taxation policy of the state was discriminatory which hit hard the Muslim subjects particularly. They not only had to pay Mujwaza Mandri, Ashgal but also marriage tax is known as Sathrashahi and grazing tax. The government confiscated many religious places of Muslims.

But after 1931, there was a major shift in the anti-establishment sentiment, headed by a small group of Left-wing Muslim intellectuals under the name of the Reading Room Party, which was a precursor to Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah’s Muslim Conference, which in turn would go on to become the National Conference, according to Birth of a Tragedy 1947 by Alastair Lamb.

 

After The British Departure

Maharaja Hari Singh was left in dilemma after the departure of the British. After the freshly gained independence of India & Kashmir, he was left with two choices either to join Pakistan or India. William Norman Brown, in his book United States of India and Pakistan, labels the Maharaja’s position after 15 August as “precarious”. “He disliked becoming part of India, which was being democratised, or Pakistan, which was Muslim… He thought of independence,” Brown writes.

Amidst building pressures from the two nations what gave Maharaja the blow was the ‘Tribal Invasion.’ About 60,000 ex-army men mostly from Poonch had started a no-tax campaign against the Maharaja. The campaign later turned into a secessionist movement following 14 and 15 August, when Poonch Muslims hoisted Pakistani flags. The Maharaja imposed martial law in Poonch, which further angered the Muslims there. With ammunition and personal support provided by the tribals of Pakistan’s NWFP, the situation got more complex. Pakistan also levelled similar charges on the Jammu and Kashmir administration, about incursions by Jammu Hindus into Sialkot. With growing tensions and release of Sheikh Abdullah Pakistan feared Kashmir accede to India.  Pakistan took the decision to seize Kashmir by force. Due to the geostrategic location of the state, Pakistan feared that if Kashmir went to India, Pakistan would cease to be militarily and politically viable. Pakistan launched ‘Operation Gulmarg’ by mobilising tribals from the NWFP on 22 October 1947. About 2,000 tribesmen, fully armed with modern weapons and under the direct control of Pakistan Army generals, entered Muzaffarabad in motor-buses and on foot.

As the invaders captured Uri and Baramulla with minimal resistance from the Maharaja’s forces, the fall of Srinagar looked imminent. On 24 October, Maharaja Hari Singh appealed to India for military assistance to stop the aggression. Lord Mountbatten suggested the accession should be considered as provisional, and “when law and order had been re-established in Kashmir, a plebiscite should be held as regards Kashmir’s future”.

The Instrument of Accession & The Aftermath

An agreement was signed between Jammu & Kashmir and India, that included Article 35A followed by Article 370. Both of these Articles are now demolished and not in existence.

On 13 August 1948, the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan passed a resolution providing for a ceasefire; the withdrawal of Pakistani troops and tribal militia, followed by an Indian withdrawal; and a plebiscite.

However, following the ceasefire, neither side pulled back their armies, and the plebiscite never took place.