After months of fighting in the brutally cold mountains and difficult terrain, Nehru finally went to the UN in January 1948. He had a fairly strong case there and the then government too thought so. The UN then took its own sweet time, eight months and then passed a resolution in August 1948. The war was not over by then. India and Pakistan didn't immediately agree to the UN resolution and kept on fighting. By November the troops were already in a war for more than a year and the second winter was already there......
These days I have been reading often and heard many
people accuse Jawaharlal Nehru for the Kashmir issue remaining unsolved. Why
did, Nehru take the Kashmir issue to the UN when Sardar Patel could have solved
it in matter of days, they all say. It is not as simple as that. And it is
factually not correct. And these statements are made to score some brownie
points. Remember in 1947 India had just gained independence, was divided into two
nations, India and Pakistan; besides the new government had to face the
aftermath of partition and rehabilitation of refugees and lacs of people escaping
and coming across the border from the newly created nation of Pakistan to seek
shelter and safety of their families.
Many factors came into play for such a decision. It
was never a matter of days. The timeline is off big time. There are four big
omissions in our common narrative of how India took over Kashmir - a) Timeline
-the war went on for a long time, almost two bitter winters. b) Geography -
Islamabad is close to the Kashmir border.
c) Internal politics - Patel and others didn't support the war and, d)
other issues the country was facing and conflicts India was fighting, such as
military action in Hyderabad.
The Timeline - Pakistan attacked Kashmir on October
1947. The Maharajah signed the instrument of Accession on October 27 and the
war began immediately. India sent its forces after the signing of the
Instrument of Accession. By then the Pakistani army dressed as tribesmen and
raiders infiltrated Kashmir, attacked, looted and took control of a large area
of land in Kashmir. After the Indian forces landed in Kashmir, the Indian army
was able to push back the Pakistani army from most of those occupied areas up
to the present Line of Control in Kashmir. And the area held by Pakistan is
called POK (Pakistan Occupied Kashmir). And Pakistan calls it Azad Kashmir,
which is a mockery of the Kashmiris living there.
After months of fighting in the brutally cold
mountains and difficult terrain, Nehru finally went to the UN in January 1948.
He had a fairly strong case there and the then government too thought so. The UN
then took its own sweet time, eight months and then passed a resolution in
August 1948. The war was not over by then. India and Pakistan didn't
immediately agree to the UN resolution and kept on fighting. By November the
troops were already in a war for more than a year and the second winter was
already there. And the Indian forces were successful in repulsing the attack
and pushing the Pakistani forces. India had an upper hand in the ongoing
conflict but there were other matters that needed urgent attention to hold the new
nation together.
Apart from this, India faced other problems too. India
was running out of ammunition as it had to fight a parallel war to take control
of Hyderabad state [much bigger than the size of Austria] from the Nizam
[possibly the richest person in the world at that time] who was trying to
assert himself to be a independent entity. And in the northeast, Manipur and
other parts still had not joined the India union and the leaders were busy
making sure that they don't go independent. There was the resettlement from the
partition and dealing with the aftermath of Mahatma's assassination, a very
sensitive issue which could easily have been exploited by vested interests. And
the Indian Constitution was being worked simultaneously. It was a mammoth job
of writing the constitution taking all factors into account. In hindsight it’s
easy to say that the then government could have done this or done that. But the
government had its hands full of issues which needed urgent attention. And the
able leaders then were able to manage and tackle problems on all fronts.
India had just gained independence from British
rule. And the country was divided into two nations. How many issues can the new
government, and Nehru and Patel focus and tackle at one time? It was a total
chaos they had to deal on many fronts. And in the history of the world, hardly one
had the responsibility to patch so many territories [with a seventh of world
population] in so short a time. A couple of mountain areas were not their top
priority, especially since a sizable chunk of the valley was already secured.
It really needed experienced leaders like Nehru, Sardar Patel and others to
hold India together at the most difficult times in the history of India. It’s
easy for present politicians to blame the then leaders and government.
Finally the ceasefire came into effect on January
1949 - about 60 weeks after the war began. It was the brutal chill in the
mountains and tough terrains. And India had way bigger headaches than moving a
couple of military posts in the Karakoram range. An endless war there could
have exhausted the finances of this budding nation and there could have been a possibility
of a massive reaction from the public, possibly a rebellion or even civil war
and opposition to the policy of continuing the conflict.
Geography - Pakistan's cities are right on the edge
of the border and many are quite close to the Kashmir valley. It takes just
about one hour to drive from Islamabad, Rawalpindi or Sialkot to the borders of
Kashmir. From Lahore or Gujranwala it is about a two hours drive. Muzaffarabad,
capital of Pakistan administered Kashmir, is minutes away from the Pakistan's
border. For India, logistics and transporting troops, ammunition and weapons
were a nightmare with barely any proper roads in such high and difficult terrain.
One has to take all these factors into
account. The leaders and the army were aware of this fact.
And the terrain is mostly flat on the other sid,.
Pakistan's generals could get to PoK even in their lunch break from their
Rawalpindi headquarters. It is that close. Indian cities, on the other hand,
are quite far from the valley. It takes than more eighteen hours of drive to
reach the Kashmir valley from New Delhi. And this is over huge mountains and
difficult terrain. Compare one hour drive over flat land against eighteen hour
drive through mountain passes that too immediately after independence when
there were no proper roads or infrastructure and communication.
Thus, India was fighting a far tougher battle than
Pakistan. And Pakistan also was quite desperate to protect its major cities
whose security would be compromised if India took all of Kashmir. India's
security risk from losing Kashmir was a lot less. Unlike India, Pakistan could
afford to put all their military energies on Kashmir as it was the only war it
was fighting and with supply logistics all around the valley. India had to
protect a large territory stretching all the way to Burma and had multiple
conflicts such as Hyderabad, Junagadh and confusion in the northeast.
The scenario was very complicated and tricky as the
first priority of the government was to hold India together with the peculiar
problems in Hyderabad, and some other princely states trying to stall and the
sensitive north eastern states. Thus, the then government’s decision and Nehru's
move of approaching the UNO was fairly
prudent even though some people feel and see it as sacrificing of India's
interests. Given the circumstances the new nation was facing, with shortage of
weapons, food and limited finances, the government decided to approach the UNO.
Today the whole of Jammu and Kashmir is looking ahead with numerous infra structure and other projects for the benefit of the people of Kashmir. Jobs will be created and the locals will get their due. And Pakistan has to vacate the POK, illegally occupied in 1948 and merge it with the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Most Hindus are aware about their Gotra, but many
among the modern generation are not aware about it. Among Hindus Gotra plays an
important part while performing rituals, religious ceremonies, pujas and even
marriage. The priest performing the rituals will normally ask you for the
Gotra. In Hinduism, the term Gotra is considered to be similar to lineage. It
simply refers to people who are descendants in an unbroken male lineage from a
common male ancestor. Isn’t it interesting?
Gotra originally referred to the seven lineage
segments of the sages (priests), who trace their origin from seven ancient
seers: Atri, Bharadvaja, Bhrigu, Gotama, Kashyapa, Vasishtha, and
Vishvamitra. To this list, Agastya is also sometimes added. These eight sages
are called Gotrakarins, from whom all 8 Gotras have evolved. The gotras thus
derived are - (1) Shandilya, (2) Gautama Maharishi, (3) Bharadwaja, (4)
Vishvamitra, (5) Jamadagni, (6) Vashista, (7) Kashyapa and (8) Atri.
Hindus are supposed to belong to one of the above Gothras
and it continues from generation to generation. And the Gothra plays an important
role in a person’s life. Be it rituals, religious ceremonies and even marriage.
If you are not aware, check with your parents or family elders, it may be useful
in the future.
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