During its invasion on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir in 1947, 1965 and subsequently 1971, Pakistan illegally occupied some areas which are termed as Pakistan Occupied Territories of Ladakh (POTL) or Pakistan Occupied Jammu Kashmir (POJK). The areas of Skardu, Hunza Valley, Gilgit, Baltistan and parts of Nagar Valley fall under POTL and Mirpur, Muzaffarabad constitute POJK.

 

 

 

 

Jammu and Kashmir was a princely state and ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh and it was spread in a geographical area of approximately 2,22,236 sq. km. During 1947, British was ruling India using two types of administrative arrangements to govern the country viz. ‘British India’ and ‘Princely State’. British India was directly governed by the British Crown whereas the princely states were ruled by the respective rulers under the suzerainty of British crown. At the time of independence of India in 1947, British India was divided based on communal award and a new country Pakistan was carved out of British India. But the rulers of the princely states were given complete freedom to choose the fate of their states and accede either to India or Pakistan.

 

 

A common framework, for this purpose, was developed by India in the form of Instrument of Accession (IoA) that must be signed by the respective rulers and the same had to be signified by the then Governor-General of India Lord Mountbatten. Jammu and Kashmir was one of those princely states, whose ruler had to make a choice between India and Pakistan, and his decision would be final in the matter of accession. The Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir signed the IoA in favour of India on October 26, 1947 and the then Governor General signified it on the next day. Hence, the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir became an integral part of India.

 

 

 

 

 

Before the instrument of accession would have been signed in favour of India, Pakistan invaded Jammu Kashmir. The Pakistani mercenaries killed thousands of men, women and children mercilessly. Women were raped in the onslaught, men were murdered. Lakhs of people were made to flee from their homes to save their lives. As per the eyewitnesses, in Mirpur itself, out of total population of 25,000 of the village, around 18,000 people were brutally killed and 3,500 were seriously injured in the carnage of three days i.e. 25th- 27th November, 1947. According to some estimates 70-80% of population was brutally murdered by the Pakistani assassinators in uniform.

The conspirators first prepared for the carnage in Abbottabad and then tribal of 5000 Pakistani men, army men waged the war against the innocent people of the aforesaid region led by Maj Gen Akbar Khan, who was identified with the name “Gen Tariq”, of the Pakistan Army. The onslaught on the masses was perpetuated by the Pakistani army, who infiltrated in J&K and managed to usurp the major portion of it. The affected areas were Bhimber, Mirpur, Kotli, Muzaffarabad, Deva Batala, Gilgit, Baltistan, and parts of Poonch that fell to Pakistan and they are now collectively called as POJK and POTL. After Indian Government reconstituted Ladakh and Jammu Kashmir as the Union Territories of India on 31st Oct 2019. Presently, India has only 1,01,387 sq.km. of land with it and rest of the area is illegally occupied by Pakistan and China. Around 78,114 sq.kms. of UTs of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh is under illegal occupation of Pakistan.

 

 

 

In 1970, Pakistan divided the areas of Erstwhile POJK into two parts viz. Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Gilgit-Baltistan (Northern Areas). It is essential to note here that only Pakistan claims it as AJK however; there is no Azadi or freedom otherwise, not even according to the international laws. Gilgit-Baltistan on the other hand was the integral part of erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir (now POTL) but Pakistan attempts to show it as a separate region; hence using the nomenclature ‘Northern Areas’. These two regions are created only to misguide national and international agencies and diverting the attention from the illegality of the occupation of Pakistan.

 

 

Azad Jammu-Kashmir (POJK) was a self-governing State under the control of Pakistan with a President, Prime Minister and a Legislative Assembly whereas the Northern Areas that include Gilgit and Baltistan regions have been made into an autonomous self-governing body under Pakistan control called Gilgit-Baltistan (POTL). Gilgit-Baltistan has a Governor appointed from Islamabad and a Chief Minister. Both the regions are facing enormous hardship and exploitation in the hands of Pakistan.

 

 

 

 

For more than last six decades, POTL has borne the brunt of sectarian violence, no development of civic infrastructure and amenities, denial of fundamental rights and oppression by Islamabad based polity. Democratic voices here are crushed ruthlessly by Pakistan administration and political rights are denied to the people of the region. Regular Shia-Sunni conflicts are also reported from Gilgit-Baltistan and extreme measures are used against the Shia community. There is a sustained and systematic campaign for disturbing the demographic order of this region by encouraging large scale migration from Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province. Surprisingly, the gross violation in POTL is never discussed in the national and international arena. Even the UN does not bother to investigate the plight of the hapless people from this region.