Pakistan now needs to realise that it is no longer possible for it to mislead the people of Kashmir with fallacies, misinformation and outright lies. The people of the state are well aware of its past evil machinations and quite sure about what they want in the future.
Jaibans Singh
On October 27, 1947, the Indian Army landed in Srinagar airport and thus began what is historically referred to as the Indo-Pakistan War, 1947-48. The war witnessed many iconic battles over two campaigning seasons in areas ranging from Zoji La to the Kashmir valley, Poonch and Mendhar etc. The newly created state of Pakistan put in all the military might that it could muster but, in the end, it had to accept an ignominious defeat.
The high point of the war was 27 October, 1947, when, post the accession of the State to the Indian Union by Maharaja Hari Singh, the Indian troops landed at Srinagar airport and saved the people of Kashmir from the ongoing large scale massacre, rape, loot and arson in the hands of the mercenary hordes of Kabilies (Tribal’s of the North West Frontier province) sent by Pakistan under the leadership of its army officers to annex Jammu and Kashmir. If the Indian Army had not reacted, Srinagar would have been a huge, desolate graveyard and the history of the Kashmir valley would have changed forever.
Before the Indian Army landed in Srinagar and opposed the tribal onslaught, the invading hordes had laid waste everything that came their way. They pillaged Baramulla for four day in the most inhumane manner. The men and children were tortured and killed while the women were raped and carried back as sex slaves. Even the Nuns of the Convent there were raped and killed ruthlessly.
The Kashmir Pundit community was identified for special treatment involving the most depraved form of torture and cruelty possible. Whole families committed mass suicide in the face of this brutal and merciless onslaught by jumping from roof tops or throwing themselves into the running waters of the Jhelum River.
The Indian troops who fought the war had only the safety and security of the people of Kashmir in mind, without any thought about how politics would play out in the long run. Their concern was to ensure that the barbarians were thrown out in the shortest possible time without causing any further damage. In this, they were singularly successful, but not without paying a heavy price including loss of lives of many soldiers.
Even under such terrible conditions the human spirit prevailed. A 19 year old boy, Maqbool Sherwani, went about on a cycle spreading a message that the Indian Army was on the doors of Baramulla. This information restrained the mercenaries and saved thousands of lives. In fact, it stalled the march to Srinagar and literally saved the city from a fate even worse than that of Baramulla. When the Pakistanis realised that young Maqbool had misled them, they shot and crucified him. The young boy, with his courage and presence of mind, etched a place for himself in history for all times.
The people at that time were full of praise for the Indian forces as they are even today. They still remember with respect, admiration and pride the courage and sacrifice of the Indian forces in 1947.