India was divided into India and Pakistan in August 1947 when it got independence. The division was done on a religious basis. Jammu and Kashmir was a princely state ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh. He had decided not to join either India or Pakistan. He wanted to have an agreement with both countries and maintain the status of an independent princely state. Partition-related communal violence became rampant, particularly in the border areas. Tribals were armed by the Pak army and they started raiding border areas. It was also a probing technique adopted by Pakistan to see the strength to resist princely state forces and if India rushed its troops to save Kashmir. Border area villages were being looted by the tribal who were armed and trained by the Pakistani army.
Pak military and political leaders had come to know about Maharaja’s inclination towards India and wanted to forcibly annex Kashmir. They made plans to send tribal from the North West Frontier Province of Pakistan to create havoc in Jammu and Kashmir. Freehand was promised to these tribal invaders and they were assured to be suitably rewarded for capturing Srinagar. En route to reaching Srinagar, they were given all the freedom to carry out loot, plunder, rape, and murder. They were asked to capture the geographical area for political annexation of Jammu Kashmir in Pakistan and keep the loot including females with them. These tribal invaders were brainwashed and radicalised. They were told that local Muslims in Kashmir are subjugated and they didn’t have the freedom to practice their religion. Their womenfolk were not safe. Thus, it was the religious duty of the believer tribesmen to carry out attacks in Jammu & Kashmir and save the local Muslim population of Jammu & Kashmir. The point to note is that even today also brainwashing and radicalisation of terrorists are carried out by Pakistan on the same lines and they are sent across the border to fight the Indian security forces.
This plan was named Operation Gulmarg, it was planned by the Pakistani Army, and tribal were trained & equipped by the Pakistan army as well. These details have been written by Major General Akbar Khan (Retired) of the Pakistan Army. The attack was launched by tribal forces on 22 October 1947 who overran the outposts manned by Maharaja’s forces and created large-scale atrocities while moving towards Srinagar. Mass murder, loot, rape, and abduction took place. Even hospitals were also not spared. These attackers who were mainly from the Pashtun tribe of North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, now called Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, were savage and barbaric. They were armed with swords, axes, rifles, machine guns, grenades, and mortars. They created havoc and atrocities on the entire public which came en route irrespective of their religious following.
The Maharaja of Kashmir signed the treaty of accession on 26 October 1947 and Indian armed forces reached Srinagar on 27 October 1947. By 08 November 1947, Srinagar was secured, and then the pushing back of these invaders by the Indian Army started. The conflict continued till the end of 1948 before the situation became peaceful but with a heavy cost in terms of life, property, and a large part of Kashmir under Pakistani control. It gave deep psychological and emotional scars in the heart and souls of the people of Jammu and Kashmir. There is a need to understand that Pakistan has always made the soil of Kashmir bleed due to its nefarious and wicked motives. It has been doing so for the last 75 years. It is high time that we understand this fact and do everything possible to put an end to the further exploitation of Kashmir and the Kashmiri people by Pakistan.
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