Pakistan-administered Kashmir
 | The neutrality of this article is disputed. |
Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK or POK) or Azad Kashmir is the name given to a portion of Kashmir controlled by the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and People's Republic of China. Pakistan's position is to hold a plebiscite in Kashmir to determine the will of the people, according to the three resolutions of the UN Security Council and the United Nations Commision. Although the plebiscite was planned to be held in 1950, India tactfully sabotaged the UN plan by unrealistically demanding to hold the plebiscite under the condition that Pakistan withdraw all its forces, and the plebiscite be held under the control of Indian forces, which Pakistan saw as a situation of asking the wolf to mind the hens.[1] PoK borders the Indian occupied Kashmir to the east, Himachal Pradesh to south-east and Pakistani Punjab to the west.
History
After the partition of the former British colony(India),India was divided into Republic of India and Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Maharaja of Kashmir who had an option of either joining India or Pakistan, chose to remain independent. However, he had no legal or logical right to decide the fate of the Kashmiri people, since he had purchased the territory from the British. The suppressed Kashmiris, with the support of Pakistani tribesmen, launched a struggle to liberate the area of Raja. The Kashmiri Rajah, having spent his wealth on extravagant luxury, was unable to withstand the revolution and the law and order situation in the region soon detoriated. The troubled Maharaja had to ask India for assistance. India used this as an opportunity to use the Indian Armed Forces' intervention and made promises to reinstate the Maharaja if he chose to sign his territory into India. The stateless and ousted Raja, eager to get military help from India, agreed to accede Kashmir to India. The Instrument of Accession was signed on October 26 1947 and on the next day, the Indian Air Force airlifted Indian Army men into Srinagar, Kashmir's capital. By this point Pakistan had promised to assist the revolutionaries in control of the region since they shared the same religion as a majority of Pakistanis, and under the rules of partition the region was seen to fall into Pakistan (all muslim majority states were to be part of Pakistan). Thus, the Indian Army which went into Kashmir at the Maharaja's request, did not recover all the area that was under Pakistani control because of peace poltics of then prime minister Nehru& the persuasion of the western powers like USA , USSR & UK. The area that was left under Pakistani control after the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947 came to be known as Pakistan occupied Kashmir by India (Azad Kashmir by Pakistan), while the Indian part of Kashmir was referred to by Pakistan as Indian Occupied Kashmir. On an international level, however, under UN resolutions the area remains disputed and does not entirely belong to one state or the other.
Regions
Pakistan divided this area into three parts:
- The Islamic Republic of Azad Jammu & Kashmir,
- The Northern Areas, or the regions of Gilgit and Baltistan. Gilgit was an agency leased by the Maharaja to British Government. Baltistan was western district of Ladakh province which was annexed by Pakistan in 1948. Both regions of Gilgit and Baltistan are administered as a de facto 'Federal Territory' of Pakistan.
- A part of Hunza-Gilgit called Raskam, and Shaksgam valley of Baltistan region were ceded to People's Republic of China by Pakistan in 1963 with the proviso that the settlement was subject to the final solution of the Jammu & Kashmir dispute.
Notes
- ^ See the BBC article Kashmir's forgotten plebiscite for more information.
See also
- Azad Kashmir
- Indian Occupied Kashmir
- Kashmir
- Terrorism in Kashmir
- Indian-administered Kashmir
- Baltistan
- Balti people
- Balti Language
- Ladakh
External links
- ^ Template:En icon World News, BBC. ""Kashmir's forgotten plebiscite"". Retrieved 2006-04-19.