For Mohammed Ali Jinnah and his newly created Pakistan, it would have completely negated his two-nation theory had the princely state of Jammu & Kashmir (J&K) decided to opt for India. When J&K showed reluctance to go with Pakistan, ‘Operation Gulmarg’ was initiated. The Pakistan government decided to attack J&K militarily, the attack commencing on October 22, 1947. Operation Gulmarg had taken months to plan. Pakistan’s prime minister was involved in the planning and so was the chief minister of North-West Frontier Province, Pakistan’s finance minister, prominent leaders of Muslim League and members of the Pakistan army. Jinnah himself greenlighted the 'operation’.
Major Khurshid Anwar, the 42-year-old Naib-Salar-e-Aala of the Muslim League National Guard, led the North-West Frontier tribesmen in the attack on Srinagar. His main column could make considerable progress on the Kohala-Baramulla road, fanning out and devastating villages and towns on either side. Uri fell to the raiders. On October 26, they captured Baramulla and indulged in an orgy of rape, arson and looting. Women were abducted, and a large number were held in a camp at Alibeg in terrible conditions. Alibeg was run by the 'Azad Kashmir Government'. Originally, it had over a thousand Kashmiri women of all religions. Of these, only a couple hundred survived.
Faced with this threat, the Maharaja of Kashmir approached the Government of India for assistance on October 24. On the day after, the state formally acceded to India. On October 27, the first contingent of Indian airborne troops landed in Srinagar in the morning. However, it was not until reinforcements arrived that Indian troops could go on an offensive. On November 8, Indian troops recaptured Baramulla. They found the town completely ruined. Indian troops captured Uri on November 15 and removed any serious threat to Srinagar and the surrounding Valley. This concluded the first stage of the Kashmir operation.
The invading Pakistan militia force (tribesmen) were mainly recruited by officials of the North-West Frontier Province Government and incited to 'jehad' by the premier of the province, ably assisted by the Pirs of Manki Sharif, Wana, and other Maliks. The Pir of Wana was one of the most successful recruiting agents. He would host the militia and then arrange for them to meet the deputy commissioner of Dera Ismail Khan. The tribesmen would then visit the superintendent of police, Dera Ismail Khan and pick up rifles and ammunitions. Thus armed, they returned to the Pir who would again speak to them. Thereafter, incited to war and tempted by the promise of loot in Kashmir, they left in lorries for their destination.
Operation Gulmarg was launched from bases in Pakistan. Rawalpindi was one of the main centres. The raiders were concentrated in towns like Sargodha, Abbottabad, Wazirabad and Jhelum. These towns served as supply depots and training centres. Here, the raiders rested and recuperated, replenished supplies, sold women and consolidated loot collected during raids. Wounded raiders were also treated in hospitals and dispensaries in these towns. It was not without significance that many of these towns were important cantonments of the Pakistani army.
The raiders were properly assisted with supplies of transport and petrol. Lorries and fuel were made available through active assistance of Pakistani officials. Petrol was a rationed commodity, to be supplied against coupons issued by district officials. While civilians in Pakistan found it impossible to obtain petrol, it was easily made available to the tribesmen. In the North-West Frontier Province, the movement of motor vehicles was regulated. Transportation of motor vehicles, other than military, was not allowed, except on permits. Vehicles carrying raiders were exempt. Their lorries had Pakistan number plates; those damaged in action were repaired in the workshops of Rawalpindi.
Much of the modern equipment used by the raiders came from military stores of the Pakistan government. The raiders' armoury included light machine-guns, mortars, mines, signal equipment and wireless sets with batteries. These were used in quantities far exceeding those lost by the Indian and Kashmir State Forces. As the fighting in Kashmir progressed, the number of raiders increased and the quality of their equipment improved. Radio messages from the raiders were regularly intercepted. The codes employed in these messages were among those used by the Indian Army before Partition. Pakistan Army personnel, ostensibly on leave, were fighting with the raiders.
After August 15, 1947, the supplies of essential items from Pakistan to Jammu & Kashmir had begun to decrease, leading eventually to their discontinuance. Supplies of oil, food, salt, sugar and cloth from west Punjab ceased. The working of the postal system became impossible. Bank accounts were inoperable. Postal certificates were not cashed, cheques of West Punjab Banks were not honoured. Even the branches of the Imperial Bank were hard put to meet their obligations.
The civilian administration of Pakistan had worked in tandem with the Muslim League. Jinnah was the head of the Muslim League, as well as head of the state. Many officials down the line were trusted members of the League. A junior government official could be quite high in the Muslim League command. The show was run by the Muslim League high command, working through its trusted officers. A fair number of them held positions in the government.
The writer is Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Government of India.
