ASIA TIMES
OLIVER TEMPEST
While making pronouncements very few decision makers or authorities notice its impact in long term. History reveals that occasionally wrong decision prove to be very drastic though at that time, they seem quite enthralling. One such wrong choice which has an astounding impact was the day in history when “Treaty of Amritsar” was signed. This treaty signed on 16th of March, 1846 has ten articles which suggest how the Kashmir was cleverly vended. 16 March, therefore is noticeable as a day on which beautiful valley of Kashmir was sold for just seventy five lac rupees.
Against the desires of its inhabitants Gulab Singh Dogra, the then ruler of Jammu sold this valley to British Government in India under a contract. Gulab Singh Dogra had long term relations with the British Indian government and to further strengthen the ties he worked as the British wished. It is noteworthy that under the suppression of Gulab Singh Dogra, the wishes of Kashmiris were never addressed by the British government nor this whole business of Amritsar Treaty was in their knowledge. According to Article 1 of this treaty “The British Government transfers and makes over for ever in independent possession to Maharajah Gulab Singh and the heirs male of his body all the hilly or mountainous country with its dependencies situated to the eastward of the River Indus and the westward of the River Ravi including Chamba and excluding Lahol, being part of the territories ceded to the British Government by the Lahore State according to the provisions of Article IV of the Treaty of Lahore, dated 9 March 1846. Under Article 3 of this treaty, Gulab Singh was to pay 75 lakhs (7.5 million) of Nanak Shahi rupees (then ruling currency of the Sikh kingdom) to the British Government, along with other yearly honours. History actually narrates “The Treaty of Amritsar” as the foundation of Dogra rule in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. During Dogra raj plight of Kashmiri Muslims is known by the act of brutalities on them as they were ruthlessly tortured and were deprived of basic human necessities. So this seed of oppression was sowed back centuries back by the Indians against Muslims which has stronger roots today and proves how this wrong decision taken to please authorities of the time has drastic consequence after more than a century.
Going a little back in history will help to understand the Kashmir predicament. During the partition of the Sub-continent, the people of Muslim majority State of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) decided to join Pakistan according to the British-led formula. But, Dogra Raja Hari Singh, then Hindu ruler of J&K, in involvement with the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Governor General Lord Mountbatten joined India. The real design to forcibly gain Kashmir began to unfold on August 16, 1947, with the announcement of the Red Cliff Boundary Award. It gave the Gurdaspur District which was a Muslim majority area, to India to provide a land route to the Indian armed forces to move into Kashmir. This led to a rebellion by State forces, which stood against the Maharaja and were joined by Pathan tribesmen. When Pakistan responded militarily against the Indian aggression, on December 31, 1947, India made an appeal to the UN Security Council to intervene and a ceasefire ultimately came into effect on January 01, 1949, following UN resolutions calling for a plebiscite in Kashmir. On February 5, 1964, India backed out of its promise of holding plebiscite. Instead, in March 1965, the Indian Parliament passed a bill, declaring Kashmir a province of India, an integral part of the Indian union.
The bloody tragedy of poor Kashmiris had started after 1947 when they were denied their legitimate and UN approved right of self-determination. As a natural outcome of Indian injustice, people of IOK organized themselves and launched a war of liberation which India tried to crush through coercion and brutalities. Later, in 1988, Indian positioned a very large number of Armed Forces to suppress Kashmir struggle on gun point. With advent of Indian occupational Forces the ethnic cleansing campaign against the Kashmiri people has intensified manifolds. So far, more than 100,000 killings have been done by Indian occupational forces. The number is growing logarithmically as Indians are using increasingly brutal methods to suppress the people of IOK and their legal struggle for freedom. Many human rights organizations including Amnesty International in their reports have mentioned the sufferings of Kashmiris from the hands of Indian forces. Several Kashmiri political parties have joined hands to form All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) to steer the political struggle for self-determination. India has been victimizing Kashmiri leaders every off and on through dirty tactics to break their will and resolve. They have been repeatedly harassed and physically intimidated. Instead of accepting the existing reality, India has sought to blame Pakistan for allegedly promoting the Kashmiri uprising. These Indian accusations against Pakistan is a tactic to delude the International Community on Kashmir issue and a concealment to their state sponsored atrocities on innocent people of IOK.
A peaceful, negotiated settlement of the Kashmir dispute in accordance with UN resolutions has always persisted as Pakistan’s foreign policy. In order to find an early and just solution to the decades old Kashmir dispute, Pakistan has always urged the international community to play an active role. So the year’s long mistake of signing a treaty and handing over a territory without the consent of its people must now be resolved according to the will of its dwellers.
