The story of the other Kashmir

While parts of Indian Kashmir is on the boil again, with national media focused on giving us an unbiased view, I paused to understand how different life was on the other side of the border, in what is euphemistically called “Azad” Jammu & Kashmir – an Azad J&K that some Kashmiris on the Indian side desire to be part of, through what Pakistan terms as a ‘UN plebiscite’. By the way, I learnt that the plebiscite, that has since been superseded by the post-war 1972 Gandhi-Bhutto Simla Accord which requires India and Pakistan to resolve the Kashmir issue peacefully and bilaterally, states unequivocally that Pakistan must completely demilitarize its side of the border, which obviously, it cannot, and will not let happen in the foreseeable future.

Back anyway to what I gleaned about Azad Kashmir. Azad Kashmir is lead by the President of Azad J&K, who takes oath of office, swearing that his office is lower to the country and to the cause of accession to the State of Pakistan. Wow! Some azadi this!

And in order to run for office in AJ&K, every candidate has to provide a written declaration that AJ&K will be an integral part of Pakistan. The first AJ&K election happened in 1970, a full twenty-three years after the new nation of Pakistan declared Kashmir to be an independent country, with its right to self-determination. During those interim twenty-three years, a team ‘selected’ by Rawalpindi ran the AJ&K administration. Some azadi this!

And since candidates require signing the pledge of allegiance, local parties that want true independence, from both Pakistan & India, never participate in these elections. So it is back to members of the same old Pakistan Peoples Party, and Pakistan Union Muslim League, that run & get elected in AJ&K. Some azadi, this.

In 1963, when there was no elected government in place, Pakistan quietly ceded a part of AJ&K, called the Shaksgam tract to China! And it is now part of the Uyghur autonomous region of China. Azadi to sell some else’s property, without their permission? Man, oh man.

AJ&K is actually controlled by the AJ&K Council, made up of the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the President and Prime Minister of AJ&K (PPP members currently), and five AJ&K legislative assembly members (guess which parties they belong to?). If these were not enough, the administrative team is comprised of a Chief Secretary, Finance Secretary, Accountant General, and IG Police, all appointed by Islamabad, who sit in Islamabad, and are necessarily, hold your breath, non-Kashmiris. Really? This is azadi?

AJ&K, for all its azadi, neither has the power to issue its own currency, raise its own army, collect its own taxes, issue its own passport, or have UN representation. Azadi to do what, then?

What kind of azadi is this? And what kind of an ‘azad’ state do these secessionists in the Indian part of J&K want to belong to? Surely, they can aspire for a better system, cant they? 

Now, do we in India - media, administration, political parties, and the common man, make an effort to explain patiently, this reality to these growing number of misguided youths on our side of Kashmir? Or do we see it as a waste of time and effort, and only see a military end to this problem?

PS: Azadi=freedom :)