“First Kashmir War of 1947”

By Rahul SachdevaMary PataneKimberly Khan

“MANKIND MUST PUT AN END TO WAR BEFORE WAR PUTS AN END TO MANKIND.”

JOHN F. KENNEDYBEFORE THE FIRST ANGLO-SIKH WAR IN 1845 BEGAN, KASHMIR WAS RULED BY THE DURRANI EMPIRE, THE LAST AFGHAN EMPIRE, AND JAMMU WAS AN ALLIANCE OF THE SIKH EMPIRE.

GULAB SINGH BECAME RAJA OF JAMMU, AND THE FIRST RULER OF THE DOGRA DYNASTY.

THE TREATY OF LAHORE OF 1846, THE EAST INDIA COMPANY ANNEXED THE KASHMIR VALLEY FROM THE SIKHS AND SOLD THE LAND FOR $750,000 RUPEES TO DOGRA RULER, GULAB SINGH, IN THE TREATY OF AMRITSAR.

IN 1925, MAHARAJA HARI SINGH BECAME THE LAST RULER OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR. BEING A HINDU RULER, OF THE DOGRA DYNASTY, OVER A MAJORITY ISLAMIC STATE, SINGH WAS SEEN AS A REPRESSIVE RULER KEEPING THE MUSLIM POPULATION POOR, UNEDUCATED, AND UNREPRESENTED.

• In 1947, British rule in India ended and the creation of two new nations began; the Union of India, primarily Hindu, and the Dominion of Pakistan, primarily Islamic.

• Following the new nations, Jammu and Kashmir, in irrespective to the wishes of its people, were allowed to accede to either India or Pakistan

• Kashmir was expected to accede to Pakistan Being mainly a Muslim population. However, the Maharaja wanted to remain independent from both nations, and did not allow the division of his Empire

• In October 1947, Muslim revolutionaries in Kashmir, along with the help of Pakistani tribal’s, started a rebellion in Kashmir in hopes of being free from Hindu Dogra control.

• Unable to stop the assault, the Maharaja turned to India for help, who refused unless Singh acceded to India. On October 26th, 1947, Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession, agreeing to join Jammu and Kashmir to India.

• Kashmir was expected to accede to Pakistan. However, the Maharaja wanted to remain independent from both nations, and did not allow the division of his Empire.

• Bombs, missiles, gun shoots all around, this was the life for people in Kashmir at the time of the Indo-Pakistani war which left many distraught and in some cases scared for life

• Pakistani forces advanced to Kashmir claiming that they needed to suppress a rebellion on the southeast of the kingdom. When Pakistan advanced to Uri, Indian forces, along with British forces, helped stop Pakistan from advancing.

• Many people expressed their feelings through the resources they had available to them. Many wrote poems, music, and many even made documentaries, which gave a vivid insight of the Indo-Pakistani war first hand.

"Who knows where my friend is? Who knows where my friend is hiding?

Who knows whether he is scared in the dark night? Who knows whether he is hungry and unable to stand on his feet?

Who knows if the place where he sits is damp?”

By Shakeel Shan

Shakeel Shan found this was the only way to express what he saw, and felt as he was overwhelmed with the loose of his friend, during the war. Shakeel said, “"What do I write? These are amateur poems which reveal whatever I see. I have no other means to tell my story”

"I CANNOT DRINK WATER IT IS MINGLED WITH THE BLOOD OF YOUNG MEN WHO HAVE DIED UP IN THE MOUNTAINS. I CANNOT LOOK AT THE SKY IT IS NO LONGER BLUE; BUT

PAINTED RED. I CANNOT LISTEN TO THE ROAR OF THE GUSHING STREAMIT REMINDS ME OF A WAILING MOTHER NEXT TO THE BULLET-RIDDEN BODY OF HER ONLY SON. I CANNOT

LISTEN TO THE THUNDER OF THE CLOUDSIT REMINDS ME OF A BOMB BLAST. I FEEL THE GREEN OF MY GARDEN HAS FADEDPERHAPS IT TOO MOURNS. I FEEL THE SPARROW AND

CUCKOO ARE SILENTPERHAPS THEY TOO ARE SAD."

Another beautiful poem wrote by an unidentified poet, This tragedy left the citizens of Kashmir in utter and complete trauma. When the poet says, “I cannot listen to the thunder of the clouds, it reminds me of a bomb blast, conveys the trauma that left many scarred for life.

"I fearThey will comeWhose eyes pierce like spearsAnd bruise over heartsThose faceless people do talkDoors of wine houses have been boltedGuards have been stationedOn the temples of beautyThe city has been vandalizedWailing bleak evenings seem to be descending.”

by: Farooq Nazki

This poem express the pain he felt at the sight of seeing a blood-drenched dress of a bridegroom. Everyone seemed to have been effected by the invasion of Pakistani forces, which left many bloodied. Like Nazki many people feared the mass exodus of Kashmiri Hindu, was around the corner.

• Through the darkness, arose a bright side, which resulted in the mobilization of Kashmiri writers and other artist. Their poems and words will always live on.

• News reports, songs, documentaries, and even movies were produced with their own visions, depicting the war. One of the most famous that gained an audience worldwide was the Bollywood film, “Mission Kashmir."

• The film tells a story about a boy Altaaf, who witnessed his parents and sister being killed by an invasion from the police. When Altaaf is eleven years old he I adopted by officer Khan and his wife Neelima. A few years after being adopted, Khans fear came to life, and Altaaf realized who he was and left seeking out revenge. Altaaf leaves Kashmir for ten years and is found by the leader of a terrorist group, Hilal Kohistani. During the ten years with him, Altaaf is brainwashed and trained to be a terrorist. When Altaaf returns he is under the impression that they are going back to kill the prime minister.

• They found out that Mission Kashmir has nothing to do with taking down the Prime Minister but to launch missiles on the local Muslim mosque and the local Hindu temple to escalate Hindu-Muslim conflict across the subcontinent, thereby dividing Kashmir and turning it into a war zone.

• Khan is able to get Altaaf past his hatred and to be on his side; Altaaf is able to get his hands on the missile launcher and use it to destroy the other launchers and kill the remaining terrorists.

• Although the movie features a love story, they are able to bring about one of the main problems that continue in Jammu & Kashmir; a war over religion.

• in the Indian Embassy, They claim that “Kashmir is not an Islamic or a religious issue and the two nation theory has been seen to be irrelevant….The problem of Kashmir today is one of terrorism sponsored by Pakistan. The targets are Muslims in Kashmir, belaying Pakistan’s argument that it is concerned about the welfare of Muslims in Kashmir.

• The Pakistani Government concludes that “Pakistan has never shield away from bilateral engagement with India of which the ongoing composite dialogue is a manifestation. We hope that the process of composite dialogue will lead to peaceful settlement of all bilateral issues, including Jammu and Kashmir, to the satisfaction of both sides.

• On December 31st, 1948, after one year, two months, one week, and two days, and the death of 1,500 soldiers and the hundreds of citizens, the United Nations had arranged for a cease fire.

• Pakistan was to remove all of its forces from Kashmir and allow India to keep some of their troops in the state for law and order.

• All fighting was to be stopped and the future of Jammu and Kashmir was supposed to be decided by its citizens in a direct vote.

• Nevertheless, a solution has yet been agreed too, and although the cease fire ended the First Kashmir War with Pakistan controlling 2/5 of Kashmir and India the remaining 3/5 larger parts of Kashmir, problems continued to arise, and three more wars over Jammu and Kashmir followed.

• Without the poems and movies, news reports, documentaries, etc. voicing the facts of the war and those of the people that suffer in silence; without all these different forms of media, the world wouldn't be able to know the truth of what went on and continues to develop in Kashmir and how the innocent lives of all the citizens in Jammu and Kashmir are affected.