By Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan

Eyewitness accounts matter and  talk better. One borrows with alacrity, aplomb and ease as it fits with our focus on the nuggets at play. A local villager, Mohammad Hasan Qureshi, 86, clearly remembers those stormy days. A week before the Pathans came, there were rumours that Kashmiri Sikhs [who had a significant population in this area] were planning to attack Muzaffarabad,” he says.

“A couple of days later, we heard that Pathans were coming”. Such rumours were natural, coming as they did amid a series of upheavals that shook the princely state of Kashmir when the so-called 3 June Plan was announced.Under the plan, British India, a Hindu-majority colony, was to be partitioned to create the Muslim state of Pakistan.The fate of Kashmir, a princely state with a Muslim majority but a Hindu ruler, hung in the balance.

Muslims in the western districts of the state revolted against the ruling maharaja in June and there were anti-Muslim riots in southern Kashmir in September. There were also reports of a leaked Pakistani plan for raising a tribal column of 20,000 fighters to attack and annex Kashmir.

Mr Qureshi remembers the evening of 21 October, when he and some friends climbed a ridge to have a view of the western valley. They saw trucks carrying Pathans drive down the Batrasi hills into Garhi Habibullah.

“We stayed up all night, waiting. They came in the morning – just before daybreak. There were hundreds of them. Most of them carried axes and swords. Some had muskets, others just sticks. The Maharaja’s guards at the barrier had vanished.”

First clashes took place on their way down to Muzaffarabad, some 8km (5 miles) of steep descent.

Gohar Rahman, a World War Two veteran from Battagram, 80km north-west of Garhi Habibullah, was in the column that crossed from Dub Gali. “We knew the area so we led one group through this shorter route, on foot,” he says. “The bulk of the Frontier tribesmen – Wazir, Mahsud, Turi, Afridi, Mohmand, the Malakand Yusufzais – went via the longer but easier Lohar Gali route in lorries and trucks.”

Around 2,000 tribesmen stormed Muzaffarabad that morning and easily scattered the Kashmir state army deployed there. Military historians estimate it was just 500-strong at the time and had also suffered defections by Muslim soldiers.

Flushed with victory, the tribesmen got down to wanton looting and arson.

“They plundered the state armoury, set entire markets on fire and looted their goods,” Mr Rahman says.

“They shot everyone who couldn’t recite the kalima – the Arabic-language Muslim declaration of faith. Many non-Muslim women were enslaved, while many others jumped in the river to escape capture.”

The streets were littered with signs of mayhem – broken buildings, broken shop furniture, the ashes of burnt goods and dead bodies, including those of tribal fighters, state soldiers and local men and women. There were also bodies floating in the river.

The raiders spent about three days in Muzaffarabad before sense prevailed and the leaders urged them to move on towards Srinagar, the state capital some 170km to the east. From here, one column drove in trucks down the Jhelum river, breezing past Uri and reaching Baramulla where another round of looting and arson ensued.

We can capture the timeline as follows:

3 June 1947: The June Plan, also called the Mountbatten Plan, is approved in a meeting. It culminates in the Independence of India Act 1947 which partitions British India into independent states of India and Pakistan. The Act receives royal assent in July.

15 June: Agitation in the form of a No-Tax campaign starts in Poonch, an internal principality of Kashmir state.

15 August: Killings are reported from Bagh in Poonch principality when pro-Pakistan groups try to hoist a Pakistani flag to mark independence and clash with the state police.

12 September: Prime Minister of Pakistan Liaquat Ali Khan holds a meeting with military and civilian officials where a go-ahead is reportedly given to two plans: raise a tribal force to attack Kashmir from the north and arm the rebels in Poonch.

4 October: Rebels clash with state forces at a place called Thorar, and go on to besiege state forces in Poonch.

22 October: Tribal bands attack Muzaffarabad, then move eastwards to capture Baramulla. Some of the fighters reach the outskirts of Srinagar.

24 October: Sardar Ibrahim, a pro-Pakistan landlord from Poonch principality, announces the founding of the government of Azad (free) Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) at a place called Palandri, and appoints himself as its head.

26 October: The Maharaja of Kashmir, earlier inclined to stay independent due to the demographic composition of his state, accedes to India, presumably under duress.

27 October: Indian air and ground troops start landing at Srinagar, tilting the balance against tribal invaders and leading to the partition of Kashmir along the line that more or less exists today.

We would be  failing  in our duty if we did not recall the bravery and brauvara of our patriotic soldiers. We shall promptly go there. Even as the proceedings before constitution bench goes on, we must not forget that but for the valor and sacrifice  of our armed forces , there may have been no Art.370 to debate over. Dreadful and mind boggling construct to even contemplate.

(Author of Constitution. & its Making/Working, OakBridge is practicing advocate in the Madras High Court)

By Narasimhan Vijayaraghavan

Jagmohan Malhotra, popularly known by the mononym ‘Jagmohan’ was born on 25 September 1927 in Hafizabad (present-day Pakistan) to Amir Chand and Dropadi Devi.

He was a former Indian civil servant and politician close to Sanjay Gandhi and Indira Gandhi and notoriously famous for his conduct during the Internal Emergency (1975-77). He served as the Lt. Governor of Delhi and Goa and the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. He also served as the Union Minister for Urban Development and Tourism after getting elected to Lok Sabha.

“ Frozen: A Sketch of Life in the Valley of Kashmir” is a book written by Jagmohan, who served as the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir at two different periods (1984-89 and 1990-90). The book provides a personal and insightful account of the situation in Kashmir during his tenure.

In “Frozen,” Jagmohan discusses the complex political and social issues faced by the region. He reflects on the challenges of governance, the rise of militancy, and the circumstances that led to the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Kashmir Valley in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

The book delves into the historical context and provides a detailed analysis of the events that unfolded during Jagmohan’s tenure as the Governor. It offers his perspective on the measures taken by the government to tackle the rising insurgency and restore stability in the region.

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Overall, “Frozen” presents a first-hand account of the turbulent period in the history of Jammu and Kashmir and provides readers with insights into the complexities and intricacies of the region’s political and social dynamics. It is a valuable resource for those interested in understanding the Kashmir conflict from a policymaker’s viewpoint.

Chapter 6 of the book “My Frozen Turbulence in Kashmir” by Jagmohan provides a detailed history of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. The chapter begins by tracing the origins of Article 370 to the Instrument of Accession that was signed by Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947. The Instrument of Accession gave India control over the defense, foreign affairs, and communications of Jammu and Kashmir, but it allowed the state to retain its own constitution and a special status within the Indian Union.

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Article 370 was incorporated into the Indian Constitution in 1950 to give legal effect to the provisions of the Instrument of Accession. The article granted Jammu and Kashmir a number of special privileges, including the right to have its own constitution, flag, and citizenship laws. It also prohibited the central government from applying certain laws of the Indian Union to Jammu and Kashmir without the consent of the state government.

Jagmohan argues in the chapter that Article 370 was a necessary compromise to ensure the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India. He also argues that the article has been misinterpreted and misused by Kashmiri separatists to promote their own agenda.

The chapter concludes with a discussion of the future of Article 370. Jagmohan argues that the article should be reviewed and amended to ensure that it does not undermine the unity and integrity of India. He also argues that the state of Jammu and Kashmir should be brought fully into the mainstream of Indian life.

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The key points made in the chapter can be captured in these words:

A. Article 370 was a necessary compromise to ensure the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India.

B. The article has been misinterpreted and misused by Kashmiri separatists to promote their own agenda.

C. The article should be reviewed and amended to ensure that it does not undermine the unity and integrity of India.

D. The state of Jammu and Kashmir should be brought fully into the mainstream of Indian life.

( Writer of multiple books – is practicing advocate in the Madras High Court)