History Of POK
POK means Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. That means Pakistan occupied some part of Kashmir. How did Pakistan capture half of Kashmir? Why even today Kashmir does not completely belong to India? How can India do? Recapture Kashmir. Friends, POK means Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. Which Pakistan calls Azad Kashmir. Even today it is a cause of disputes between India and Pakistan. These. In today’s Blog I am going to tell you about the entire history of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. So definitely watch the Blog till the end. Friends, Kashmir has always been a cause of war between India and Pakistan.
But on August 5, 2019, the Indian Government removed Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir. After this, it has started bothering Pakistan even more. Actually, through Article 370, special status or limited autonomy was given to Jammu and Kashmir that they can run their own government. In 1947, Pakistan attacked and captured a part of Kashmir. After which India knows this part of Kashmir as POK i.e. Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. And on the other hand, Pakistan calls this part Azad Kashmir and has divided it into two parts, Jammu Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan.
PoK also has its own Supreme Court and High Court. Also, Azad Kashmir is governed here under the Interim Constitution Act 1974. Here a separate Prime Minister, President and Council of Kashmir are formed, but they are completely powerless and work under the Pakistani government. Afternoon: 30% of Jammu and Kashmir spread over 2 lakh square kilometers is with Pakistan, 10% of it is under illegal occupation of China and 60% comes under India. Talking about Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, if Gilgit Baltistan is removed then it is spread over 13 thousand 300 square kilometers and its population is around 40 lakhs.
The capital of PoK is Muzaffarabad and it consists of eight districts, 19 tehsils and 182 union councils. When India got independence from the British in 1947, the British gave the state the option to join India or Pakistan or remain independent and at that time Hari Singh used to be the king of Jammu and Kashmir. Raja Hari Singh did not choose between India and Pakistan and decided to remain independent. Subsequently, in the same year, there was a rebellion against Raja Hari Singh in the Poonch district of Jammu and Kashmir, due to the imposition of punitive taxes on farmers in the region.
Pakistan took advantage of this opportunity and the Pashtun tribals living in Poonch, who were already supported by the Pakistani Army, rebelled and attacked Maharaja Hari Singh on 21 October 1947 to liberate the area. Maharaja Hari Singh’s soldiers tried hard to stop this attack but were unable and the Pakistani army captured the entire Poonch district. After which they also captured Muzaffarabad and Baramulla. And let us tell you that Baramulla was only 35 miles away from Srinagar and these invaders had reached 20 miles northwest of Srinagar.
Seeing this worsening situation, Maharaja Hari Singh sought military help from India’s Home Minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on 24 October. In response to which Patel said that India cannot help him unless he joins India. After which Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Association on 26 October and officially included Jammu and Kashmir in India. And under this agreement India was now responsible for the defence, foreign affairs and communications of Jammu and Kashmir. After which India immediately sent its army to Srinagar and then war broke out between India and Pakistan. The Indian Army put the Pakistani Army on the backfoot.
Then on January 1, 1948, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru raised the issue of Jammu and Kashmir with the United States. After this, in April 1948, the United States passed a resolution, through which the Pakistani Army was ordered to leave Jammu and Kashmir and then India was also asked to reduce its army from there. After the rebellion, a referendum was asked so that the people could vote themselves and reach a conclusion. But due to Pakistan’s non-withdrawal the referendum never took place.
Finally, in 1949, a ceasefire line was established between the two countries through the Karachi Agreement. But the districts which were captured by Pakistan remained with it. A few years later, in 1963, under the Sino-Pakistan Agreement, the 5000 square kilometer Trans Karakoram Tract or Shaksgam Tract was given to China. Shaksgam Tract, located in the North West of Gilgit Baltistan, has now become a part of Xinjiang of China and then in 1972, by Shimla Agreement, the Ceasefire Line was declared as the official Line of Control and it was decided to resolve the Kashmir dispute bilaterally between the two countries.
On 22 February 1994, the Indian Parliament passed a resolution stating that Jammu and Kashmir was and will always be an integral part of India. Along with this, India demanded that Pakistan leave illegally occupied Kashmir. India again took the same stand in the UN General Assembly on 26 September 2020. But recently Pakistan declared Gilgit Baltistan as Provisional Fifth Province. Which violates UN Resolution, Karachi Agreement and Shimla Agreement. Now let’s talk about how important PoK is for India. If we look at strategy, POK shares borders with many countries.
Like Pakistan in the West, Wakhan Corridor in the North West, Afghanistan And there is Xinjiang, China in the North as well as Kashmir in the East. And from geographical point of view, PoK. Rich in fresh water and natural resources, minerals like gold, coal, chalk, graphite and bauxite are found in Mirpur and Muzaffarabad along with hydroelectric potential. Talking about geopolitical importance, China has invested 20 billion dollars to build the China Pakistan Corridor which passes through PoK and Gilgit Baltistan can become the gateway to Central Asia for India through Afghanistan and also an important part of the International North South Corridor.
A link can also be made to India. Despite many efforts of India, India has not been able to regain PoK, there are many reasons for this. First of all, it is difficult to reach due to the hilly area of PoK, but due to Pakistani terrorism being at a low altitude, they can reach here easily. India has always been following the no first attack policy and every government has stuck to it. But if Pakistan attacks first and starts the war then India will have a good chance to get Kashmir back.
Almost all Jihadi and terrorist groups in PoK support anti-India and pro-Pakistan sentiments and the ethnically non-Kashmiri population here does not connect itself with Kashmir. Another reason is China’s One Belt One Road Initiative and also CPEC. That means there is also China Pakistan Economic Corridor Initiative due to which India may have to face Chinese aggression. And finally, India, Pakistan and China, all three are equipped with nuclear power. According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative i.e.
Anti Security Index report, Pakistan has a weapon grade plutonium stock file of about 280 kg. If there is a war here, nuclear reaction can become a problem for the whole world and that is why acquiring PoK through military force has been a big challenge. India can take several steps to strengthen its stand. First of all, India can setup a PoK Administration in Exercise, which PoK refugees can support. Through this, POK refugees will get a perfect platform through which they can voice their complaints and reach out to the government and can even become a part of the administration.
The people of PoK have many times raised their voice about Pakistan’s oppression or pressure and India can get the support of these people as refugees and this support can strengthen India’s stand internationally. Let us tell you that 24 seats have been reserved for POK in the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, which are currently vacant and under the Jammu and Kashmir Recognize Act 2019, until elected representatives are appointed in POK, these seats will remain like this. Will remain empty. By negotiating this Act, the seeds can be filled and there can be democratic participation of PoK.
And on the other hand, the people of Gilgit Baltistan are also extremely ignored and feel neglected. They have not yet been fully included in Pakistan, due to which they have to face a lot of miscommunications and also due to the increasing interference of China, the locals always fear that their territory might be handed over to China. Because of all this India will be in an advantageous position. If Gilgit Baltistan representatives and pro-India activists are invited to live in India. Along with this, India should start an open dialogue with China so that India can discuss CPEC investment in Gilgit.
But it is difficult to say how profitable it will be because Pakistan has always supported anti-India issues. Apart from this, Afghanistan is not politically stable due to Taliban insurgency. After US withdrawal, if a pro-India government comes to power in Afghanistan, then India can get a lot of benefits from it. If India provides military support to Afghanistan, it will become easier for it to recapture PoK. And finally global support is necessary for all the motives of India. If India helps US in Afghanistan then US can easily withdraw from Afghanistan. In return, US can help India in getting global support on PoK issue.
India is already working in Quad with USA against China and Pakistan and India can also take advantage of the growing relationship with Quad here. Even if India acquires PoK, it cannot be said for how long peace will be maintained here. If seen, India spends about 35% of its budget on defence, a major share of which goes to Jammu and Kashmir and all this is to stop Kashmir rebels and Pakistani terrorists.
If India acquires PoK through military, then its economic cost may increase because insurgency here is a big problem which needs to be understood and this military acquisition may increase natural resources, which will have a direct impact on India’s development. Here we can only say that after the removal of Article 370, now India should stabilize and develop Jammu and Kashmir, due to which the development here and the support of the people will prove helpful to India in getting back PoK and perhaps in maintaining peace here.
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