The Kashmir Tangle by Rajesh Kadian

Author:Rajesh Kadian [Kadian, Rajesh]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789698133085
Google: F1tNHgAACAAJ
Publisher: Westview Press
Published: 1993-01-15T04:56:23+00:00

But over the next one year Abdullah's position steadily deteriorated; his colleagues began to distance themselves from him because of his bellicosity and brinkmanship. His most powerful backer, Prime Minister Nehru, too, became less supportive. The impending break was hastened when a powerful Hindu politician, Dr. Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, died of a heart attack in a Srinagar jail in June 1953. Dr Mookerjee had championed for closer integration of the state with India; his agitation had landed him in jail. Meanwhile the Sheikh met with leading American politicians, diplomats and a particular school teacher, whispered to be a CIA agent. Newly independent India, suspicious of foreigners in general and of the increasingly pro-Pakistan Americans in particular, was further alarmed. Finally the Sheikh's Deputy Prime Minister, Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed, led a cabinet revolt. In early August 1953 the Sheikh was quietly arrested and replaced by Bakshi.

Similar machinations also went on in Azad (Independent) Kashmir. This government was nominally set up in early October 1947 while the Poonch revolt was in progress and the leaders of the Muslim Conference were in jail. In their absence, Mohammed Ibrahim took over as the head of both the party and of the Azad Kashmir Government. Later Ghulam Abbas, after his release in March 1948, resumed the leadership of the party while Ibrahim continued to control the Government of Azad Kashmir.

This arrangement did not last for long; in 1950 Ibrahim, under pressure, finally resigned. Abbas then took over the government while Colonel Ali Ahmed Shah of Mirpur became the President. In December 1951 it was Abbas' turn to go; in stepped the Mirwaiz (Head Priest) of Srinagar, Mohammed Yusuf Shah. The Mirwaiz who had long professed a disinterest in politics nevertheless continued to dabble in it. His hamhanded meddling had earned him the sobriquet of Baba (goat) from the disdainful Sheikh Abdullah. So when the Sheikh's star seemed to wane the Mirwaiz left Azad Kashmir and returned to Srinagar to continue his ham-handed politics.

The Government of Pakistan's control over the Azad Kashmir Government was far more complete than the Indian grip over Sheikh Abdullah's Government. In fact the Azad Kashmir Government was allowed to control only a thin inverted 'L' shaped sliver of land because the Northern Territories (including Gilgit) were directly administered by Karachi. Despite its powerful hold over the Muzaffarabad Government, Pakistan did not fully trust the Kashmiris and was tardy about even formally recognising the Azad Kashmir Government, finally doing so in 1950.

Other organisations like the Moslem Conference Plebiscite Board (MCPB) and the Kashmir Moslem Conference were less firmly controlled by the Pakistan government. Since these organisations developed close ties with various Pan-Islamic organisations, particularly of the conservative and orthodox variety, the Pakistan government trod warily, not knowing whether to trust them or to ignore them.

So both the Indian and Pakistan governments were not entirely free to pursue a settlement on Kashmir because both countries had to take into account the wishes of their own Kashmiri supporters.

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