The Fall of Gilgit, the Northernmost Outpost of the Indian Subcontinent, in November 1947
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THE FALL OF GlLGlT THE UNTOLD STORY OF INDO-PAK AFFAIRS FROM JINNAH TO BHUTTO (1947 to July 1977) B. L. Kak LIGHT & LIFE PUBLISHERS NEW DELHl JAMMU ROHTAK Copyright @ B. L.Kak All Rights Reserved First Edition 1977 LIGHT & LIFE PUBLISHERS 2428, Tilak Street, Paharganj, New Delhi-110055 Residency Road, Jammu Tawi-180001 (J &K) Delhi Road, Rohtak-124001 (Haryana) Published by N. Gopinath for Light & Life Publishers and Printed at Printco (India), A18 Community Centre, D.D.A., Naraina, New Delhi-110028. Preface Difficult, indeed, has been the process of bringing Pakistan and India closer to each other after the fall of Gilgit, the northernmost outpost of the Indian subcontinent, in November 1947. Notwithstanding the oft-repeated statement of the Indian leaders that New Delhi has been anxious for bringing about an improvement in its relations with the neighbouring countries, the realities of the dispute between India and Pakistan cannot be concealed inasmuch as many Pakistanis, especially in Sind and Panjab, are ostensibly in favour of the existence of the rift between the two countries. Being a keen analyst of Indo-Pak affairs, I have given an interesting account of the developments which culminated in the occupation of the Gilgit Agency by Pakistan, of political events before and after Jinnah's death, of bitter controversies between India and Pakistan from time to time since 1947, of Pakistan's emphasis on the military build-up after the 1965 Indo-Pak conflict, of China's involvement in the northern territory, and of Pakistan's efforts to cultivate different foreign sources. The book provides a significant study of Peking's intentions after China occupied Tibet and Sinkiang, of the Dalai Lama's abated anger against China, of China's strategic aims in the region, including Pakistan, Nepal, Bhutan and Burma, with a view to isolating India in order to make it difficult for her to assume leadership of South-East Asia, of Pakistan's desire to produce nuclear arms, and of New Delhi's unabated interest in watching the developments across the borders. The 13-chapter book also brings to the fore several untold stories regarding Indo-Pak affairs from 1947 to the month of July 1977, when the Pakistan Prime Minister, Z.A. Bhutto, was deposed and the army took over the civil administration in the country. It traces the first signs of the formation of a strong body of opinion in Pakistan against Bhutto and goes on to give the inside story of the army take over and of the desire of some foreign missions, based in Pakistan, to enable Bhutto to play another round. August, 1977 Author Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 1 1 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter Backward ! Only eight letters. ...six consonants and two vowels ...put together, liave produced this word. How and when it came into being, has no interest for them. In reality, all those persons, who continue to be backward, are not interest- ed in knowing the number of vowels and consonants or accent and pronunciation or etymology and phonetic scheme for the word. Reason : height of backward economic and social con- ditions in the mountain-girt valleys, across the 13,500-feet-high Burzil Pass, appears to the majority of the population there almost equal to a group of majestic peaks, including K 2 or Mount Godwin Austen, Gasherbrum and Masherbrum, which tower over and feed the vast Boltoro glacier. Tlie Boltoro and some other glaciers, and streams and rivers meandering down the mountains, are always fed easily. But uneasy are the people who liave yet to be provided with what the economists have described as "a satisfactory economic situation". Economists discussing anti-scarcity strategy have rarely been so modest and tentative; several seem confident only in proclaiming that their colleagues' ideas will not work. Mcdesty is advisable : inflat'on and scarcity of esyential items of daily use are, in fact, the most torturingly complex problems. 2 Tlze Fall of Gilgit Most of the people feel that the economy is cheating them of the rewards of hard work and thrift. These people inhabit the backward areas in the Gilgit Agency and Baltistan. In the fastnesses; scattered throughout the length and breadth of the rugged hills, almost lost to the sight, are many small valleys and sparsely-populated villages with moribund economy and indus- trial black-out. Of the five caste divisions-Yashkun, Shein, Ronu, Kremin and Durn-in the Gilgit Agency and B~ltistan, the people be- longing to the Yashkun caste form an over~vhelmingmajority, followed by the Sheins. Unlike the proud freedom loving pathans of the tribal belt of Pakistan, the people of Baltistan are meek and submissive. Tliey are peace-loving people and lack in that impetuosity of character which invariably stimulat- es violent reaction to the slightest provocation in an inhabitant of the rugged land of the North-West. Their culture repre- sents a mixture of thrzc: civiliz~tions-Iranian, Chinese and Buddhist. Bat their architecture is distinctly Chin~sein design and conception. Domes and minarets do not adorn many a iilosque in Baltistan and Gilgit Agency. It is somewhat difficult to distin- guish a place of worship from an ordinary dwelling. People of the Gilgit Agency are renowned for their hardihood. They are bodily tough, but they are temperamentally gentle. Many north-west Pakistanis have fair complexion but the Gilgitis, by and large, are like north Europeans-robust and red and hand- some. They were far behind. Their economic condition, until, 1952, was indisputably worse. Those were the days when the grim spectre of appaling poverty stalked every home and hearth. The three-lakh inhabitants, then, frequently verged on destitu- tion. During winter, the whole population remained indoors herded up in their comfortless tiny huts built of mud and stones. Generally a whole family, as revealed by a Pakistani newsman in the Pakistan Times in 1949, shared "a single blanket-men, women and children creeping close to one ano- ther in order to keep warm". Untold Story of Indo-Pak Afairs 3 True, the people-not all of them-are now what they were not two and a half decades ago when the majority of them, -under the stress of want, changed their faith every six months. An American mission yearly bringing them tinned food-sluffs and other necessaries found them all Christians during summer which faith they renounced as soon as the mission quitted that .area at the approach of winter. The Gilgit Agency and Baltistan have undergone a change since 1952-that is about five years after Pakistan established itself in the strategically important territories. But the winds of change have yet to blow across the mountain-locked country as swiftly as those that lash it physically every afternoon. While the steep and stark rocks present a forbidding sight, the brooding, inert mountains are silent witnesses to ravages wrought by crazily fluctuating temperatures. The Gilgit Agency and Baltistan lack vital resources like coal, dependable irrigation and manpower. Although laced with rushing rivers and streams and a super abundance of mountains, many parts are strikingly bare of vegetation. True, in some parts of the Gilgit valley, the streams are harnessed into numerous irri- gation channels through fields and gardens. But the difficulty C persists in the rest of the territory simply because of the absence of ~vindmills to lift water to irrigate vast areas. Power-driven vehicles on a few routes do not intrigue the Gilgitis and Baltis inasmuch as ponies are still the only trans- port they know and use. In 1974 and, later, in 1976, I was told by three Pakistani officials at Srinagar that the perennials lack of reliable communicztions, shortage of trained personnel, meagre irrigation facilities, soil erosion and limited arable area in Gilgit and Baltistan territories-had been high on Islamabad's list. The officials, who did not want to be identified in spite of the fact that they visited Kashmir on valid travel documents, had no reservations when they commented on the difficult -economic situation in the land of the Yashkuns and Sheins. Educationally and politically, the land of the Yashkuns and Sheins is still backward. Its geographical position and physical features have deprived it from contact with world forces making 4 The Fall of Gilgit for advancement and progress. The century-old Dogra raj had to its credit in the field of educational advancement only the opening of a few primary schools. The overall British political sovereignty also did little to help the common man. The total number of primary schools in the whole of Gilgit Agency until August 1949 was sixty; besides there was two middle schools and a lower-high school. The only girls' primary school was in Gilgit proper. A spectacular rise in the number of educational institutions during the last two and a half decades can hardly answer people's hopes. The mountain-locked country has not much to show by way of development. A sizable chunk of allocs- tions for the Gilgit Agency and Baltistan is disbursed as salaries among officials, most of whom are from Pakistan. Funds earmarked for development often lapse. One of the reasons for the non-utilization or under-utilization of grants is the fact that information regarding their sanction reaches Gilgit and Skardu only in late July. As winter season usually commences towards end of October, the Gilgitis and Baltis do nct get the required time to go like clockwork. The elevated vi!lages remain cut off for at least six months a year.