Why Jammu-Kashmir matters

Amongst the flurry and slew of information that had come regarding the recent terror attack in Pahalgam in April 2025, some skewed, some painfully true, the objective facts about why Jammu and Kashmir matters are easily manipulated.

As one nation’s people understandably grieve the loss of their countrymen, reminding ourselves of the cultural and, therefore, territorial integrity of this land becomes ever more pertinent as well as significant. And as the etymology suggests, The name “Kashmir” is derived from the Sanskrit word “Kashyapa-mira,” which means “Land of Kashyapa”. Kashyapa is the revered ancient sage who is of great significance in Indian heritage and history.

Investigating the political realities currently , the history and socio-cultural construction of the modern state of Jammu and Kashmir are just as integral to understanding why Pakistan continues to antagonise and attack India after four consecutive defeats in warfare. Also the background to the sovereignty of this perennial Indian province makes such attacks even more repulsive. In essence, exploring these facets reminds one of why Jammu and Kashmir matters and is crucial if we are to stand up to terror, not just in Bhārat (India), but for the entire world.

The bulk of the dispute, based as it is on Pakistan’s “Two Nation Theory” (postulated by Sir Syed Ahmed Khan), is that since the state is Muslim majority, upon the eve of Independence, it should have acceded to Pakistan, a nation carved out as an Islamic Republic for the Muslim population. This argument did not take into account that the Princely state was under a benevolent, just, and progressive ruler Maharaja Hari Singh, the then King of Jammu-Kashmir and accession, was solely his decision, as was for all other Princely states. The Princely states then had a choice to remain independent or join either Pakistan or India. Maharaja Hari Singh, a Hindu Ruler frustrated the Pakistanis as he took time to deliberate the fate of his diverse and large Kingdom. The size of modern Princely state of Jammu and Kashmir under the Dogra Jamwal Dynasty, was bigger than England and almost the size of United Kingdom, with a total area of 84,000 sq miles. 

Jammu and Kashmir shared its boundaries with Afghanistan, China and was a stone’s throw from Russia. Maharaja Hari Singh was conscious of the natural civilizational connect of Jammu and Kashmir to Bharat (India). He had argued for India’s independence in the Round Table Conference in London in 1931. Jammu and Kashmir also had a rich religious, ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity. Maharaja worried that the religious and non-inclusive character of a Sunni majority Pakistan did not bode well for the Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and even for the 10 percent of the Muslim population of the state who were Shias and non Sunni. The dismal condition of minorities in Pakistan and their dwindling numbers today have proven the Maharaja’s concerns right. All of the above factors lead to the Maharaja sending his Deputy PM RL Batra and later his PM Mehr Chand Mahajan to Delhi multiple times between August and October 1947 to negotiate the accession of Jammu and Kashmir to India. A stand still agreement was signed between the Princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and India, upon the request of the Maharaja, as deliberations over accession proceeded. 

Impatient and worried that the Maharaja would accede to India, Pakistan attacked the Princely state of Jammu and Kashmir on 22nd October 1947. The Maharaja wrote bluntly to Lord Mountbatten of Pakistan’s will to take the state by any means necessary- “The mass infiltration (of Kashmir) of tribesmen drawn from distant areas of the North-West Frontier” could not have been done without the newly ushered in Muslim League-run Pakistani government. 

In fact, Pakistan’s Operation Gulmarg to annexe Jammu and Kashmir regions by force was finalised and the operational directive was signed by Pakistan’s Commander in Chief, General Frank Messervy, on 18 August 1947, merely 4 days after Pakistan came into being. There is no doubt that Operation Gulmarg was finally executed by the Pakistani Army under the direct supervision of the British Army to forcibly annexe the territory of J&K State between the Chenab River and Kishenganga River. 

The result was the deaths of over  20,000 people, in villages and towns like Mirpur, Bhimber, Kotli etc with large Hindu and Sikh population. Hindus and Sikhs were looted, killed and their women abducted. This entire belt of mainland Jammu came under the illegal occupation of Pakistan and today there are no Hindus and Muslims in POJK.  Baramulla in Kashmir, saw the slaughter of patients and nurses at a Catholic mission hospital at the hands of Pathan invaders. Many of the Catholic nuns were killed and raped by the Pakistani invaders. 

After the fall of his forward garrison of Skardu (in today’s Gilgit Baltistan) by a slaughter of his Dogra and Gurkha troop by the Pakistani Army and Pakistani tribal invaders (Pathan and Afridi tribesmen), the Maharaja could read the writing on the wall. Though the Dogra State forces fought valiantly they were outnumbered. In Battle of Garhi, under the command of Brigadier Rajinder Singh Jamwal, a 100 Dogra men fought against 6000 Pakistanis. They held the Pakistani forces long enough to prevent the fall of Srinagar and allowed the Indian Army reinforcements to arrive. The fall of the Dogra State forces was aided in no small measure by the desertions and betrayals of the Maharaj’s Muslim troops. 

Maharaja Hari Singh saw his state mercilessly yet steadily eaten up by Pakistani military-backed tribes and clansmen (arguably Pakistan’s beginning stint of continued state-sponsored violence), it became clear that what had been re-colonised as Pakistan Occupied Jammu-Kashmir (POJK) would only continue in its illegality to engulf a geo-strategic state with a depleted army, and hostile neighbouring nations.

And with that Hari Singh’s plight was clear- “With the conditions obtaining at present in my State and the great emergency of the situation as it exists, I have no option but to ask for help from the Indian Dominion”, he wrote to Mountbatten- bringing in the Instrument of Accession granting Kashmir temporary semi autonomous special status, with a transitory period followed by an inevitable full integration into the Indian Union. 

As expected and explained clearly in the Article, the President had every right, by any means, to evolve Kashmir into a full fledged state of the Indian Union as Maharaja Hari Singh decided it to be. This is especially pertinent in its description in the constitution- “Temporary, Transitional”. And so expectantly Article 370 made way for the new States of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. 

Reminding ourselves of Jammu Kashmir’s history, diversity and events leading up to to its full and final accession with India, reiterates our understanding of Jammu and Kashmir’s importance and civilisational connection to India. A study of the Great Games throws light on the importance of the geo strategic location Jammu and Kashmir and hence the consequent British, Russian and American interest in the region. 

Over and above Jinnah’s dream to have a cottage in Kashmir, Pakistan’s water and security needs make the region its jugular vein. Pakistan continues to illegally occupy parts of mainland Jammu and parts of Kashmir (POJK). It also never stopped the proxy war, indulging in cross-border terrorism and full-scale wars. 

Cries of a plebiscite on the future of Jammu and Kashmir are frankly hypocritical, as Pakistan continues to occupy Jammu Kashmir’s territory including Gilgit and Baltistan. It has also purposefully changed the demography of the region and oppressed the population local to the region. UN’s recommendation of a go ahead of such a vote depended upon the ejection of Pakistan’s army and  all unstable, terror actors in the region- as this never happened, and in contrary the occupied land is being used for terror launch pads the discussion about Plebiscite is pointless. It also doesn’t help matters for Pakistan that the UN never ruled on or criticised Article 370 and its accommodations for editorship. 

It therefore becomes clear that all potential resolutions to the so-called Jammu and Kashmir problem were doomed from the start. The illegal occupation leading to the first war between the two nations and Pakistan’s consecutive failures, and relentless sponsoring of terrorists, as seen recently, leads one to believe that this is no longer about winning, but about inflicting as much damage on Bhārat (India) as possible.

Looking at things more hypothetically, should Pakistan have absorbed Kashmir fully into its own (something not actually official yet with POJK), the treatment of minorities as seen in the rest of the Islamic state would have been dire. Already the human rights violations being committed by Pakistan in POJK and Gilgit-Baltistan are grave. Pakistan’s track record in Balochistan is dismal too leading to a growing independence movement there. POJK as it exists today under Pakistani occupation acts as an unstable, antagonising buffer between India and Pakistan. Pakistan sponsored terrorism and conflict in Jammu and Kashmir leads one to justifiably yearn for peace and stability for the region. 

The nature of the terror attack in Pahalgam, where the victims were asked their faith and killed for being Hindus and Christian only proves that the international rules-based order, of instruments of Accession, UN resolutions and laws against the crimes against humanity, are not enough to avert Pakistan’s blatant and persistent export of terror and anti- India and anti-Hindu hate. 

A snapshot of the key events below in the history of Kashmir would serve the reader well on the agony caused to India.

Reminding ourselves of the cold facts of what the Article proposed, the wars waged, and the illegal occupation of POJK, allows us to appreciate how Jammu and Kashmir exists today, despite these bloody setbacks. And so the story of Jammu and Kashmir is also important for a fresh take on the global war on terror.

References

1. “India’s Struggle for Independence” by Bipan Chandra
2. “White Paper on Jammu and Kashmir (1948)“, Official Indian Government publication
3. Constituent Assembly Debates, N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, 17 October 1949
4. Constituent Assembly Debates (India), Volume X, 17 October 1949
5. “Forgotten Kashmir – The Other side of the Line of Control” by Dinkar Shrivastava
6. “The Shadow of the Great Game/ the untold story of India’s Partition” (Harper Collins publishing) by Narendra Singh Sarila