Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) historically belonged to the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. Soon after the partition of India in 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir signed the Instrument of Accession, thereby acceding to the Indian Union. Hence, POK is legitimately an inherent part of India. This territory has been under Pakistan’s unlawful control ever since the Pakistan Army orchestrated the tribal invasion of the territory in October 1947.
POK comprises the so-called Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan (earlier named as Northern Areas) and has remained an amorphous entity for six decades now. The Trans Karakoram Tract, comprising Shaksgam from Baltistan and Raskam from Gilgit, which Pakistan ceded to China in 1963, is also a part of POK. China promised to assist Pakistan in building the Karakoram Highway as a payoff.
The terrorist attack in Mumbai on 26 November 2008 added a new dimension to the existing discourse on the training camps in POK.
The so called Azad Kashmir (AJK) is governed under the Azad Kashmir Interim Constitution Act passed in 1974. Even though AJK has a President, Prime minister, and a council, the governing structure is totally powerless and dependent on the Pakistani establishment for the smallest issue at hand. Very often AJK is described as a “constitutional enigma” with “trappings of a country”. The Karachi Agreement, which governs the rule of Pakistan over Gilgit-Baltistan, was signed between the President of Azad Kashmir, the Muslim Conference and a minister without portfolio from Pakistan, Mushtaq Ahmed Gurmani. Even though there was no formal merger between AJK and Gilgit-Baltistan, the fate of the latter was decided by Prime Minister AJK and Pakistan with no local representative participating in the matter.
The Government of Pakistan announced the Gilgit-Baltistan Empowerment and Self Governance Order on 29 August 2009, which reversed the nomenclature of the Northern Areas to the original Gilgit-Baltistan. The order has been widely criticized as it failed to address the basic questions of the rights of the people and the critical issue of provincial autonomy. The order introduced elements that brought Gilgit-Baltistan closer to the structure in AJK in spirit and form but with no impact, as the strings of power were placed with the Government of Pakistan. The order was rejected by the political groups in Gilgit-Baltistan, the pro-independence groups, and the pro-Indian groups. There have been allegations that the order was designed to secure increasing Chinese interest in POK. The development works in POK are heavily dependent on Chinese investments.
POK has been in the news during this decade for wrong reasons. In the wake of the events of 11 September 2001, when the United States launched a massive hunt for the Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, there were reports that he was in Muzaffarabad, the capital of AJK. On 8 October 2005, a devastating earthquake measuring 7.6 on the Richter scale hit the region; AJK is yet to emerge from the colossal damage. The region also harbours militant training camps. The terrorist attack in Mumbai on 26 November 2008 added a new dimension to the existing discourse on the training camps in POK.
The Government of Pakistan would find an outsourced option to contrive cross-border terrorism in India, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir.
The terrorists travelled from Bait-ul-Mujahideen, the operational headquarters of Lashkar-e-Toyyaba (LeT) in Muzaffarabad, via Karachi to Mumbai. The chief of LeT, Zaki ur-Rehman, the nodal person in the Mumbai conspiracy, was arrested by Pakistani authorities from Muzaffarabad.
Why POK’s Future?
As a case for future scenario building, POK is immensely significant. POK’s strategic geographic location has consistently been “leveraged” by Pakistan to fulfil its “strategic and economic objectives”. POK shares its borders with several countries – the Punjab and NWFP provinces in Pakistan to the west, the Wakhan Corridor of Afghanistan in the north-west, Xinjiang province of the People’s Republic of China to the north and India’s Jammu and Kashmir to the east. It is situated in the vicinity of the two fastest growing economies of the world, but remains extremely backward.
The key actors in POK are India, Pakistan and China, which during the last few years has developed considerable stakes in the region. This paper, attempting to draw future projections for POK, is divided into four sections: (I) identifying and describing the key drivers; (II) envisaging future trends in the key drivers; (III) determining alternative scenarios; and (IV) Prognosis.
Key Drivers in POK
The Taliban Threat
Over the past few years, the Taliban have seized power in some parts of Pakistan. Few reports hinted at the possibility of Shariat law being imposed in POK; it has already been implemented in Swat in the heartland of Pakistan. The Taliban would attempt to gain strategic depth in this strategically located region. The presence of Afghans in POK would further facilitate the Taliban interests, enabling the militants to amalgamate with the local Afghans and carry on dubious activities under a suitable camouflage. The Government of Pakistan would find an outsourced option to contrive cross-border terrorism in India, particularly in Jammu and Kashmir. Recently, the Pakistani authorities arrested and deported from Bagh and Muzaffarabad at least 200 Afghans who were living there illegally. Developments such as the suicide bomb attack in Muzaffarabad on 26 June 2009 have strengthened claims of Taliban presence in POK; the Tehrik-e-Taliban (TTP) was eventually implicated in the incident.
Due to the US-led War on Terror, the Afghan youth were pushed into these camps by the ISI, which was facing dearth of mercenaries after American pressure compelled men from Sudan, Kuwait and Lebanon to leave Pakistan
Two soldiers of the AJK regiment were reportedly killed and three others injured in the attack.
Militant Training Camps
POK has for long provided safe haven to home-grown terrorists of Pakistan – both those operating in Kashmir Valley and those having close links with al‑Qaeda and Taliban. The LeT operates freely in the area as Jamaat ud-Dawa (JuD). People in POK have faced neglect from the Pakistan government for decades and they look up to these groups for help. JuD played a significant role in the relief and rehabilitation work after the October 2005 earthquake when the state machinery expressed inability in carrying out the same. The increasing number of these training camps could be attributed to foreign mercenaries present in Pakistan.
Due to the US-led War on Terror, the Afghan youth were pushed into these camps by the ISI, which was facing dearth of mercenaries after American pressure compelled men from Sudan, Kuwait and Lebanon to leave Pakistan. A report by India’s Home Ministry in 2004, prepared on the basis of interrogation of militants and interception of wireless messages, came to this conclusion. In March 2008, a status report on India’s internal security by the Home Ministry reiterated that the operation of militant camps in POK was unabated.
Sectarian Divide
The demography in Gilgit Baltistan in POK has changed so much that the Shia, the original inhabitants of the land, have become a minority. Sunnis from Pakistan were given lucrative job offers and other incentives to settle in POK. President Zia intended to shift the demographic balance of POK in favour of Pakistan, primarily a Sunni state, and the orders to this effect were carried out by Pervez Musharraf in the late 1980s.
The Chinese interest in POK dates back to the construction of Karakoram Highway…
Similarly, the Northern Light Infantry, which mainly comprised men from POK (it was deployed in the Kargil War) is increasingly manned by non-locals as the local people are no longer trusted. The ICG report on the State of Sectarianism states, “Since 2001, Shia resentment over the inclusion of Sunni religious rituals and a perceived anti-Shia bias in textbooks for public schools has resulted in school boycotts and occasional clashes and curfews.”
China’s Growing Influence
The Chinese interest in POK dates back to the construction of Karakoram Highway, the highest road in the world, built at a height of 4665 metres (15,397 feet). The highway has yielded tremendous trading opportunities for both countries. It has also been used extensively to transfer arms and ammunition from China to Pakistan, and fissile nuclear and missile material from China. The highway was opened to the public only in 1986 even though it was completed in 1978 and was inaugurated in 1982.
Pakistan and China have also signed several agreements for building dams in POK, the latest being the MoU for building a dam in Bunji in Astore district.
In November 2003, former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf signed a Border Trade Agreement with the Chinese government to “strengthen transport cooperation and promote interflow of personnel and commodities through the Karakoram Highway”. The two countries signed an MoU on 30 June 2006 to widen the highway from 10 metres to 30 metres; the upgradation process was formally inaugurated in February 2008.
China has made substantial investments in POK especially after the earthquake of 2005. Early in 2009, it proffered $300 million for development projects in Muzaffarabad, Rawalkot and Bagh. The agreement to this effect was signed in Islamabad between the Earthquake Reconstruction Rehabilitation Authority (ERRA) of Pakistan and the Chinese Ambassador Luo Zhaohui.
Pakistan and China have also signed several agreements for building dams in POK, the latest being the MoU for building a dam in Bunji in Astore district. India, which views such agreements between China and Pakistan as adverse to India–China relations, has sharply criticized this move.
Water Resources
POK is rich in water resources. The Indus and its tributaries render bright opportunities for hydropower generation.
Recently, however, in the overall context of water scarcity in Pakistan, President AJK, Raja Zulqarnain Khan, stressed the need for water conservation. Speaking in Muzaffarabad, Khan “urged people to store rainwater and protect existing sources of water in AJK”. He acknowledged that “roughly half the population of AJK still did not have access to potable water, adding that water sources have all but dried up in some areas”.
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A highly controversial hydropower project in POK, because of its ecological implications, is the Diamer Bhasha Dam. It will inundate large tracts of land in the vicinity, rendering thousands of people homeless. According to a report, at least “31 villages will be flooded, 3,115 houses destroyed and 1,500 acres of agricultural land inundated by the reservoir”.
The area has very little in terms of fertile agricultural land, which if absorbed by the construction of the dam could result in serious food deficit in the region. POK has been facing food shortage in the past; only when the federal government issues directives the other provinces supply the required food material. Also, the dam is located in a seismically sensitive zone.
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In 1948 the legal advisor to the British Foreign Office, Sir Gerald Fitzmaurice member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration between 1964 and 1973 and a Senior Judge of the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights at Strasbourg in 1974 stated that the Maharaja was not a free agent at the time of the accession to India because he had signed the Standstill Agreement with Pakistan and he was not in control of the state as there were uprisings against him and the acceptance of the accession by Mountbatton was conditional on a decision of the people via Mountbattens letter dated 27 October, 1947. Narendra Modi then removed Article 370 from the Indian constitution that gave the Kashmiris autonomy. But that broke all the agreements that India allegedly had with Kashmir. So the Chinese complained and took the issue to the UN. After Article 370, to reassure his population Narendra Modi said “Chinese have not intruded into our border” because since the referendum was never held, under international law UN maps and UN resolutions 91, 98, 96, 80, 47, 38, 39, 51, 122, 123, 126, 307 Jammu and Kashmir remained independent. Therefore Narendra Modi could not approach the UN. The Indian occupation is totally illegal because Maharaja Harri Singhs great grandfather Gulab Singh (a Dogra) betrayed the Sikhs (whom he worked for) in the Anglo-Sikh war (1845 & 1846). Therefore the 7 year old Maharaja Duleep Singh (Sikh) was kidnapped and forced to sign The Treaty of Lahore on 9 March 1846. ICJ has stated that there “can be little doubt as is implied in the Charter of the United Nations and recognized in Article 52 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties that under contemporary international law an agreement concluded under the threat or use of force is void. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sgi2PMGgZM The Treaty of Amritsar (1846) and the treaty of Lahore violated the Slavery Abolition Act 1833 that abolished slavery in the British Empire.
Article 7 of the Indian Independence Act 1947 provides that with the lapse of His Majestys suzerainty over the Indian states, all treaties, agreements, obligations, grants, usages and sufferances will lapse. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1947/30/pdfs/ukpga_19470030_en.pdf So India should be returned to the Mughal Empire. Independence Act 1947 was passed by the British Parliament to assent to the creation of the dominions of India and Pakistan. The aforementioned Article 7 of this Act provides that, with the lapse of His Majesty’s suzerainty over the Indian states, all treaties, agreements, obligations, grants, usages and sufferance’s will lapse. (The logic is that why keep the liabilities, if you are giving away the assets).
In 1815, Nepal was forced to give away much of its land to the East India Company, after the Anglo-Nepalese Wars of 1814-16, as part of the Treaty of Sugauli signed on 2 December 1815 (and ratified on 4 March 1816) between the East India Company and King of Nepal. Nepal was forced to give up all the territories west and east of its present-day borders including Sirmu, Garhwal, Kumaon, Morung and Sikkim and surrender the entire Tarai and to accept a permanent British representative (or ‘resident’) in Kathmandu.
http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1947/30/pdfs/ukpga_19470030_en.pdf
Which means that under international law, The Treaty of Sugauli was now void and Nepal should have got its territories back. Which never happened.
Additionally Nepal was forced to give away parts of its country under duress, which is not valid. (The International Court of Justice has stated that there “can be little doubt, as is implied in the Charter of the United Nations and recognized in Article 52 of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, that under contemporary international law an agreement concluded under the threat or use of force is void.)
This also meant that all the other states in India could also ask for independenc.
India invaded Jammu and Kashmir including Ladakh. The UN resolutions asked the Indian army to leave. Jammu and Kashmir remained an independent country under international law and on the UN Maps: https://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/kashmir.pdf https://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/SouthAsia.pdf https://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/profile/world.pdf https://www.un.org/Depts/Cartographic/map/dpko/UNMOGIP.pdf As you could see India is outside Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian occupation is totally illegal under international law. Since August 2019 the people of Jammu and Kashmir have been under house arrest and the media was expelled and the internet cut off so China approached the UN. Article 7 of the Indian Independence Act 1947 provides that with the lapse of His Majestys suzerainty over the Indian states, all treaties, agreements, obligations, grants, usages and sufferances will lapse. http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1947/30/pdfs/ukpga_19470030_en.pdf Hence Harri Singhs powers totally lapsed after the Treaty of Amritsar (which Gulab Singh signed with the British) lapsed under Article 7 of the Indian Independence Act 1947, before the fake instrument of accession (https://kashmirinstrumentofaccession.blogspot.com/2020/06/jammu-and-kashmir-instrument-of.html). All powers reverted to the sovereign authority the people of Jammu and Kashmir hence the call for the plebiscite under the UN security council resolutions 91, 98, 96, 80, 47, 38, 39, 51, 122, 123, 126, 307 http://unscr.com/en/resolutions/doc/98 as only the people of Jammu and Kashmir could decide their own future under international law. By not joining the dominions of India or Pakistan by August 15 1947 Jammu and Kashmir was totally independent. The people of Kashmir acceded to Pakistan. While India became a dominion of the British Empire not independent on August 15 1947.
It’s totally wrong information provided by you. Bcz their no Shia suni problem and gilgat baltitan is happy to join Pakistan either India. Azad jammu and Kashmir is part of Pakistan bcz people want to join Pakistan as you better know. 3rd you know that Pakistan Kashmiri didn’t protest for free as compared to India occupied Kashmir everyday protest for freedom. Now shut you mouth and don’t bark again
an idiotic, uneducated moron with the English skills of a two-year-old believes that Kashmir will join Pakistan? You keep smoking those drugs buddy. Why isn’t Pakistan helping the Muslims in China? Maybe because China has made you their bitch. That’s why you think highly educated women “bark” because being a dog…that’s the only language you know.
Without the shadow of doubt India is a terrorist and usurper state and illegally occupied Kashmir valley
Sir you do not have the right to say so as you come the nation which attacked unarmmed soldier. so please just fuck off!!!!!
@Dr. Priyanka Singh
I went through all your articles mentioned above and found them extremely useful in understanding the various issues involved.
Thanks
Kannan Ramasamy
kannanfresco@gmail.com
Biased not at all true
Sooner or later all kashmir will take freedom from India. Kashmir with 99% muslim population was sold to India by a hindu ruler in 1947. While Lord Mountbatton rule in 19474 was that which areas have more than 50% muslim population will go to Pakista. By that rule Kashmor was given to Pakistan. But typical Hindu Banyaa grab it from Pakistan. One day all occupied Kashmir by India will join to Pakistan.
IN YOUR DREEAMS. BUD. KASHMIR BANEGA HIND.
FROM AN EX GILGIT BALTISTAN RESIDENT WHO IS PROUD HINDUSTANI
KASHMIR ME TM LOG APNA QABZA JAMA KR APNE AP KO BARA MAT SMJHO! U ALL R WORST!!!!!!!!!
ZULM TO TUM KARTE HO JHOOTON!! YAD HAI WO ABHINANDHAN! CHAI ACHI HAI ETC😂 THOOOOOOO THOOO TUM LOGON PAR! LOOSERS!
India should recapture the Pak Occupied Kashmir Area along with Gilgit Baltistan. China should not intervene the internal matter of India (as per the treaty signed between Raja of Kashmir and Indian Union in 1949 this area is a part of Indian Union) by investing in Projects in this area .
Internal Matter of Indian = My Foot
INTERNAL MATTER OF INDIA FROM HEAD TO FOOT
whay india is not recaptured the pok
Nice article.
I am an optimist.
We must restore this land to our nation ans take a word of peace across
A very nice situation analysis. But, how can India play an increasing role? On 26th September 2015, while China, the US and Afghanistan worked out Afghanistan’s stability and future, India was clamouring for a permanent membership of a UNSC that crossed its “use by” date when Clinton bombed Belgrade to throw Bosnia and Kosovo into the maws of Islam. The Tweedle Bush and Tweedle Blair deflection of anger over 9/11 to Iraq from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia turned the UNSC into a hoarse talking shop in a uni polar world that is as obsolete as INS Vikramaditya and as unfit for purpose as the Tejas, the INSAS, or India’s courts. It is pretty obvious that India is not really being taken seriously in International affairs. To be taken seriously, India needs a century freed from the ballast of the reservations-corruption Constitution and Kleptocracy, a serious, professional and adequately armed and equipped armed forces with appropriate structural locus in strategic affairs, and diplomacy capable of more than “Adarsh” Land Grabs or getting into hot water abroad with an economy that has other achievements besides an inflation that drifts from canter to trot fully reflective of government profligacy and corruption . The “Reservations-Corruption Raj” India, has been condemned by its “Animal Farm” Constitution to a perpetual state of low intensity civil war since 1949 and has fallen to 143 out of 172 countries in internal Peace and Stability and 135 out of 172 countries in Human and Social Development with a military that has been ground down by 69 years of subservience to a Neta-Babu-Cop-Milard-Crony-Preferred Caste/Tribe/Religion Kleptocracy that thinks the correct task for the Armed forces is to show case companies of women soldiers marching up and down Raisina Hill or obsolete, carcinogenic and entirely unnecessary Aircraft Carriers demonstrate a hole in the exchequer as big as Air India at fleet reviews, is simply unfit for purpose. Lacking in integrity like a broken pot.
INDIAS STRATEGIC VISION LED BY BLIND POLITCANS , CLUELESS BABUS OF FOREIGN SERVICE , MOD AND FINANCE , SPRINKLED WITH PMOS AND CABINET SECRTARIAT FILES , LED BY POLICE AND FOREIGN SERVICE PANDUS LACKS COURAGE , VISION AND SEIZURE OF OPPURTUNITY . THE ARMED FORCES ARE HANDICAPPED . A VISIONARY GOVT BY NOW SHOULD HAVE PLACED MASSIVE MILTARY, AIRFORCE , MEDICAL ,INTELLIGENCE ASSETS WITH POLICE AND PARA FORCES IN THE EX SOVIT REPUBLICS OF SOVIET UNION , TRAINED EQUIPPED AND SUPPLIED THE UZBEK , MILITIA AND KEPT A INTEGRATED RAPID REACTION CORPS OF ARMY INTO WAKHAN COORIDOR . EX SPECIAL FORCES OFFICERS AND MEN COMBINED INTO COMPANIES WORKING IN AFGHANISTAN . THE COUNTRY LACKS VISION TO PROTECTS ITS INTERSTS IN THE 2BILLION OF INVESTMENTS AND SEEMS PREPARED TO LET AFGHNISTAN INTO ISI AND PAK ARMY HANDS , THA ASSASINATION OF THE ARMY BRIG IN KABUL AND THE ATTACK ON INDIAN CONSULATE IN HERAT SHOULD HAVE MOBILISED THE GOVT TO DESTROY PAK ARMY AND ISI ASSETS IN KABUL AND AFGHANISTAN .
No new insight in this paper.
If the leaders of India and Pakistan resolve to have a friendly-neighborly relation for no other reason than self improvement, the Kashmir issue must be put to rest. What is the next step? Shooting wars have already been tried out repeatedly to change the geography and Pakistan has lost each time. Terrorism from Pakistan has run it’s course. The more confident Modi will hold the Pakistani government responsible for any act of terrorism whether they are state or stateless actors. Their military will be made to pay a price for another Kargil or Mumbai massacre. Pakistan’s Nuclear threats are phony and a non-starter because India is fully capable of retaliating with a larger force and expansive dimensions given it’s triad system. The conventional military response is the only way to register disgust and India has the upper hand. Transforming the current borders into international borders is therefore the best option. The extremists on both sides have vested interests in the status quo but the leaders must rise above and call an end to the last sixty years of madness so that the more important work of building the nation begins.
We want pok back at any coast.
What about the rights of the common people in pok?
What about the rights of hindus and the common people in pok?
Since the very basis of the partition of the sub-continent was religion, Kashmir should have gone to Pakistan. After all, the Pakistani actions of attempting to take Kashmir by force were no different from India’s forceful takeover of Hyderabad. However, since Kashmir has been part of India for several decades, handing over Kashmir to Pakistan us unthinkable as no Indian government would agree to such a handover. The best practical solution is that both Pakistan and India should treat the LoC as the international border and accept the division of Kashmir just as the division of Punjab and Bengal was accepted. Also, the idea that Pakistan will provide greater freedoms and opportunities to Kashmiris is ridiculous as Pakistanis themselves live under the fear of fundamentalist groups like the Taliban.
First of all Hyderabad is inside India u cannot declare a country inside a country.
East and west pakistan is made by division of punjab and bengal by british which is accepted by both side.
tis info is not soooo goood u can give sum more clear info
Dear madam,
Your abstract is very encouraginf for the future of INDIA.
Thanks for providing such wonderful insights.
Why dont we india fight back for our own land which pakistan has accquire?
Cant we fight for POK? What is the reason that we just have half kashmir?
The reason is quite obvious. Indian and Pakistan are both poor countries that lack the monetary resources to sustain a long military campaign. It is for this reason that all the wars that have taken place over Kashmir have been over in weeks not months. Thanks to military assistance of countries like China and the US, Pakistan is capable of defending any Indian aggression and there is a balance of military power in the region. Let’s not forget that although in absolute terms, Indian defence forces would easily outnumber the Pakistani defence forces, India has to distribute its forces to defend itself not only from Pakistan but also from China. That geo-political reality ensures a balance of military power in the region. Besides, both India and Pakistan have nuclear weapons which fact makes any serious military campaign unlikely.
Although written with a lot of details, this article seems biased towards India with the inclusion of POK into India seen as the best alternative. India’s record wrt Human Right violations in J&K have not been mentioned which is glaring.
It is human nature that when you post a large number of soldiers in a war-like zone for months on end, they lose control over their passions. That is when you hear of civilian killings and rapes. The American Army did it in Vietnam. The Indian Army is no different. However, when it comes to personal freedoms, social justice and religious intolerance, Pakistan is probably the worst country in the world. Further, Pakistani society is getting more and more conservative with every passing day, due to the domination of Pakistani society by fundamentalist groups. So given a choice between India and Pakistan, I would definitely prefer Kashmir to be part of India. The real solution to this problem is for both countries to accept the LoC as the international border and for both countries to withdraw atleast half of their troops from Kashmir. With fewer soldiers present in Kashmir, human rights violations would automatically reduce.
Very Informative.
Thanks.