Azad Kashmir
Azad Kashmir ("Free Kashmir") is the portion of Kashmir controlled by Pakistan, comprising Gilgit, Baltistan, and western Kashmir, an area about 51,200 square kilometers.
Azad Kashmir came about because of convoluted political maneuvering that followed the end of British rule in India in 1947. At that time, all of Kashmir was ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh, whose forefather Maharajah Gulab Singh had bought the province from the British in 1837 for a million pounds sterling.
It was also in 1947 that Punjab and Sind were partitioned and Pakistan created, thus giving Muslims of the subcontinent a homeland.
Hari Singh was not willing to let his land be divided between India and the newly created Pakistan. Instead, he chose to remain independent of the two nations. However, forces larger than he could control erupted in Kashmir. Historically, Kashmir was 60 percent Muslim and 40 percent Hindu and Sikh. The Muslims in Gilgit and Ladakh revolted and by October 1947 they has set up an area that they declared free ("azad") of Hindu and Sikh dominance (rhetoric similar to that used in the creation of Pakistan). Thus was established Azad Kashmir, with its capital at Muzaffarabad. Before long, an army was created, supported and supplied by Pakistan, and many thousands of tribesmen entered Kashmir and headed for Srinagar, the maharaja's capital. Widespread fighting broke out in the region; Hari Singh ceded his kingdom to India and sought refuge in New Delhi.
The Indian army immediately moved to quell the violence. In response, in May 1948, Pakistan sent in troops to defend Azad Kashmir against efforts by the Indian army to overrun the area. The two sides fought each other to a stalemate; in January 1949, they petitioned the United Nations to broker a cease-fire. The U.N. sent in a peacekeeping force and established a cease-fire line, which divided Gilgit, Baltistan, and western Kashmir from the rest of Kashmir. Neither side recognized the cease-fire line as an official border; it was merely a temporary line to keep apart the two warring nations.
Lengthy and fruitless talks followed between India and Pakistan, which did not settle the fate of Kashmir. Both sides wanted to hold a plebiscite, but could not agree on how it would be managed. Pakistan argues that Hari Singh's cession of his lands to India was not legitimate; therefore, Indian troops must withdraw. Only then can a plebiscite be held. India, on the other hand, claims the maharaja's actions were legitimate and wants all Pakistani troops to withdraw, especially from Azad Kashmir, while Indian troops will stay to keep the peace. And only then can a plebiscite be held. Both sides have fought two wars over Kashmir; in the second war, Pakistan lost 15 percent of its territory, with the creation of Bangladesh.
In 1972, India and Pakistan signed the Simla Accord. According to this agreement, the previous cease-fire line became a permanent line of control, and both nations agreed not to use force to change this boundary. The area remained peaceful until 1989. Unrest has plagued the area ever since, with sporadic violence and buildup of tension. The demands of the last fifty years have not changed, and Kashmir remains a flash point that could send the two nations into another war.
Further Reading
Jha, Prem Shankar. (1996) Kashmir 1947: Rival Versions of History. Delhi and New York: Oxford University Press.
Schofield, Victoria. (2000) Kashmir in Conflict: India, Pakistan, and the Unfinished War. London; New York: I. B. Tauris.
——. (1996) Kashmir: In the Crossfire. London; New York: I. B. Tauris.
Sheikh, Mohammad Naeem. (2001) The Division of India: How Pakistan Came into Being, and the Lingering Dispute over Kashmir. Markham, Canada: Commerce Horizons.
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