Open Letter to His Excellency the President of Islamic Republic of Pakistan

Your Excellency, your government has recently revealed their plan to execute constitutional changes vis-a-vis the status of Gilgit and Baltistan. This measure on part of your government is likely to produce disastrous consequences for the people of former Princely State of Kashmir especially for the people of Kashmir Valley because Baltistan and Gilgit are part of the internationally disputed territory and need to be settled in accordance with the resolutions and recommendations put forth by UN mediators on Kashmir dispute from time to time. Gilgit and Baltistan were historically parts of Kashmir State cobbled together in 1846 by British intrigue and Dogra perfidy against erstwhile Lahore Sikh State.

Gilgit

Gilgit became part of Kashmir Province of Lahore Sikh State in late 1843 when Governor Sheikh Gulam Mohiuddin sent a large body of Lahore troops under Nathu Shah of Gujranwala at the invitation of Karim Khan, the brother of the ruler of Gilgit whom Gaur Abdur Rehman, Raja of Yasin, had displaced. Nathu Shah ousted Gaur Rehman from Gilgit and set up a Sikh garrison there. Gilgit became part of Kashmir State towards the end of 1846 when Nathu Shah changed allegiance from Lahore to Srinagar although the trans-Indus region of Gilgit was not included in the Kashmir territories fraudulently snatched by the British from Lahore Sikh State and transferred to Dogra Gulab Singh through March 16 Treaty of Amritsar which laid down the limit of these territories as being “situated to the eastward of river Indus and westward of river Ravee (p.414 History of the Sikhs J.D. Cunningham)”.

In 1852 Gaur Rehman of Yasin once again descended down upon Gilgit, annihilated Gulab Singh’s army to a man, and forced the latter to the cis-Indus region where Bunji became the chief Dogra garrison in the area.

Maharaja Ranbir Singh brought the trans-Indus Gilgit, as also other mountain principalities of the region, under his sway during 1860s.

Baltistan

Gulab Singh, Raja of Jammu since 1822, expanded his State to Ladakh in 1834 when his commander, Zorawar Singh, invaded the region using Kishtwar-Paddar-Zanskar route. Zorawar brought Baltistan under Dogra sway in 1839-40 taking advantage of a quarrel over the issue of succession between its ruler, Raja Ahmad Shah and his youngest son, Mohammad Ali, on one side and his eldest son, Prince Mohammad Shah, on the other. Zorawar took Ahmad Shah prisnor and installed Mohammad Shah on the throne of Baltistan as a tributary to Jammu.

In May 1841 Zorawar embarked upon Tibet campaign. Meanwhile Raja Gulab Singh projected Zorawar’s imperial adventures north and northeast of Kashmir Valley as being carried out to expand Lahore Sikh empire. However, Tibet campaign proved to be a disaster. Tibetans cooly waited for winter and then acted when Zorawar was at his weakest. They routed Dogra troops. They killed Zorawar on December 14, 1841 and then headed towards Ladakh. Soon entire Ladakh, including Baltistan, was up in arms against Dogras. At this time Gulab Singh was busy in Peshawar rendering aid, on behalf of Lahore State, to the British against Prince Akbar Khan of Afghanistan during the course of First Anglo-Afghan War.

Back at Jammu, his brother Raja Dhian Singh, mustered 6000 Dogra troops and dispatched them to Srinagar. The tyrant Governor Sheikh Mohiuddin put all the resources of Lahore State at the disposal of Dogra troops. Also he conscripted 10,000 Kashmiris on forced labour to carry food and ammunition for Dogra troops across Zijila.

In summer 1842 Raja Gulab Singh arrived at Srinagar with 4000 more troops. He stayed at Naseem Bagh. Again Governor Mohiuddin levied about 6000 Kashmiris on begaar to work as beasts of burden for Dogra troops.

Dogras forced Tibetans to accept annexation of Ladakh to Jammu on September 15, 1842. They also annexed Baltistan (p.352 Ladak A. Cunningham; p.220 A Short History of Jammu Raj S.S. Charak). So when Maharaja Gulab Singh entered into Treaty of Amritsar with the British, he was already practically master of Jammu, Kishtwar, Ladakh, and Baltistan.

Gilgit Lease

In 1935 the British took on March 26 the entire Gilgit region on 60 years’ lease from Maharaja Hari Singh. Till then a Waziri-Wazarat (a sort of Lt. Governor) governed Gilgit but the British Agent exercised greater control there. Now the position of Waziri-Wazarat was altogether abolished and Gilgit came under direct British control. The State was till then divided into Gilgit Wazarat; Ladakh Wazarat (consisting Ladakh and Baltistan and headed likewise by Waziri-Wazarat); Kashmir Province (comprising of the Valley and Muzaffarabad and headed by Hakimi-Aala, Governor); and Jammu Province (consisting of the rest of territories down to Mirpur and again head by Hakimi-Aala).

Gilgit being closest to dominions of the Tsarist empire (and later Soviet Union), the British had always felt the need for increased surveillance of the area ever since Russia’s annexation of Western Turkistan around 1870. For this reason they set up Agency in Gilgit in 1881; and extended road connectivity with the region through Kashmir Valley starting with Rawalpindi- Srinagar road and then extending it to Gilgit (and also to Ladakh). Then in 1913 they raised a militia of local men, about 500 personnel at a time, called Corps of Gilgit Scouts. In 1929 they built an aerodrome in Gilgit for aerial movement of troops. And in 1935, as recounted earlier, they took entire Gilgit region under their direct control.

Then, Great Britian was a super power. However, Adolph Hitler, dealt them such a great blow during the second Great War (which they fairly deserved) that in 1945 Great Britain was great only in name. British were no longer in a position to rule India. Hence they gathered their baggage and left the subcontinent for good, leaving British India divided; and Princely States like Kashmir in the lurch.

The Gilgit lease would automatically lapse on August 15, 1947, the day of Transfer of Power in India as would the 1846 Treaty of Amritsar under the provisions of May 12, 1946 Memorandum on States Treaties and Lapse of British Paramountcy. (Whether Maharaja had any locus standii to rule Kashmir post-August 15 is debatable.) Viceroy Mountbatten appointed August 15 as the day for TOP on June 3, 1947 when he announced the Partition Plan. Subsequently Maharaja Hari Singh appointed Brigadier Ghansara Singh as Waziri-Wazarat for Gilgit who arrived there on July 30, 1947(p.118 Disputed Legacy A. Lamb). To his dismay, Ghansara found that there existed no Dogra authority in Gilgit and that the only power that the people of Gilgit recognized was the Corps of Gilgit Scouts; and that the Scouts and the population wanted to join Pakistan.

When Indian army officially entered Kashmir on October 27, 1947, the Scouts felt restless and, therefore, they decided to act. On November 01 they took Ghansara into custody. Openly supported by their English officers, Major Brown, and Captain Mathieson, they hoisted Pakistan flag on November 4. They sent envoys to Lahore inviting Pakistan to take over. Two weeks later Pakistani Agent arrived.

Next, the Scouts headed for Baltistan up the Indus and laid a siege on the Skardu Dogra garrison. In August 1948 Colonel Sher Jung Thapa (a Gurkha) surrendered Baltistan into their hands. Meanwhile they captured Kargil. But they could not hold it in the face of opposition by Indian tanks.

Thus did Baltistan and Gilgit come under Pakistani administration as had Muzaffarabad-Mirpur belt. The Ceasefire of 1949 resulted in the drawing of a temporary frontier called Ceasefire Line which cut through the former Princely State of Kashmir. While as India administered the territory under their control as one unit (called “Jammu and Kashmir”), Pakistan further divided the territory under their control into two units, one called “Azad Kashmir” (Muzaffarabad-Mirpur belt); and the other called Northern Areas (Gilgit-Baltistan).

Pakistan ruled Gilgit-Baltistan directly from Lahore, Karachi, and later Islamabad. The previous Pakistan government (2008-13) led by Yusuf Raza Gilani and Asif Ali Zardari allowed the people of Gilgit-Baltistan to elect their own local government. The present government (your government Your Excellency) recently entered into an agreement with neighbouring China whereby the latter agreed to invest billions of dollars on the construction of trade corridor through Gilgit to link Kashgar with Gwadar Port. Reportedly China seems to have developed second thoughts on the project because Gilgit happens to be part of internationally disputed Kashmir State territory.

Your Excellency, it is in this backdrop, that your government seems to be up to enacting some sort of political and constitutional jugglery to change the status of Gilgit-Baltistan and annex it as a Province of the Federation at par with other 4 Provinces. Remember when in 1964-65 India changed the constitutional position of Jammu and Kashmir, Pakistan invaded India. But as of now your government seems to be oblivious of the repercussions that this measure on their part would have on the future of Kashmir State. This measure will create a precedent for India to try to finally merge Kashmir and bury Kashmir dispute.

And Kashmiris would not accept India’s overtures hands down. They have been resisting, they will continue to resist. Then India would be left with only two alternatives: either to do with them what Sri Lank did with Tamils; or to kick pro-self-determination elements across LOC (former CFL) towards Pakistan. Only Pakistan would be to blame in that case.

Instead of accepting LOC now as international boundary, and be satisfied with "Azad Kashmir" and Gilgit Baltistan, government of Pakistan should have done so in 1949. In that case there would have been no wars between Pakistan and India; and Kashmir’s history would have been different and perhaps better. Either Kashmiris would have perished fighting Indian occupation or they would have reconciled to their fate to be part of India. But all the governments of Pakistan kept the pot boiling within and outside Kashmir. Consequently Kashmir remained enveloped in political uncertainty and the right to self-determination became part of Kashmiris’ imagination.

As of now, after having suffered for 70 long years because of the dispute of Pakistan’s (and India’s) creation, your government has decided to ditch Kashmiris. Your Excellency, no Kashmiri will accept your governments political and constitutional jugglery on Gilgit-Baltistan as genuine. Kashmiris are not (and cannot be) averse to economic prosperity of Pakistan and India, but things need to be done according to a procedure that does not harm the interests of others.

The Way Out

In January 1949 the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan (UNCIP) passed their second resolution on Kashmir calling for a plebiscite to decide the future disposition of Kashmir State. The resolution, among other things, laid down that the Secretary General of the UN would nominate a Plebiscite Administrator and subsequently the Maharaja of Kashmir would formally appoint him as PA with full powers. The term “with full powers” signified that the Maharaja was first required to dismiss Prime Minister Sheikh Abdullah, appoint PA and himself step aside. If PA had been appointed , Pakistan would be required to withdraw all its forces from Kashmir State territories and India would be required to withdraw bulk of its forces. The remaining Indian Army personnel would come under PA’s authority as would the civilian bureaucracy. Also the PA would appoint assistants as he thought fit. In short PA would enjoy sovereign authority for the time being with India and Pakistan out of the picture in so far as exercising authority in Kashmir were concerned. But when Secretary General nominated in March 1949 Chester Nimitz for the post of PA, the government of India did not allow Maharaja to formally appoint Mr. Nimitz. Instead they forced him into exile in June.

After UNCIP left the subcontinent in December 1949, UN appointed General McNaughten as Mediator. By now India was only interested in getting Kashmir declared as part of India by its Constituent Assembly. Then in March 1950 UN appointed Sir Owen Dixon as Mediator. Sir Dixon recommended regional plebiscites instead of one unitary plebiscite for obvious reasons (p.171 Disputed Legacy A. Lamb). Again Kashmir State was required to be handed over to a PA. That wasn’t done.

Your Excellency, regional plebiscites may be a remedy even now. Let Pakistan request UN to nominate a PA for holding regional plebiscites in “Azad Kashmir” and “Gilgit-Baltistan”, according to Dixon Plan. If the UN responds positively, let Pakistan formally appoint the nominated PA. There would be no need for demilitarization. Pakistan army, local police, and civil bureaucracy be placed under PA’s authority, who would then hold two plebiscites. I think Pakistan should have no objection to plebiscites in “Azad” Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan given the fact that governments of Pakistan have always maintained that people in these regions support Pakistan. After the plebiscites are over, UN would declare the final disposition of both regions. This would have a positive effect on the rest of the State.