Some Historical Facts About Kashmir
By:  Dr. Maqsood Jafri

Kashmir is situated at the heart of Asia, with historical links to both South and Central Asia. It is surrounded by Pakistan, Afghanistan, china and India. Its' area is approximately 84,471 square miles. India did not have land link with Kashmir. It was only because of the conspiracy brewed by the RAd cliff award of 1947 that handed over Gurdaspur to India to provide her geographical contiguity. Most of the border of Kashmir is adjoined with Pakistan. Its' estimated population is 15 million. Since 1947, approximately 63% of the area of Kashmir is occupied by India.
Kashmir has always been enjoying a special independent status. It is a lush green valley. It is a heaven on earth. Great historians like Abu Al-Fazal, Sir William Pitemil and Sir Francis praised its' scenic beauty and gravitating landscape. Before the advent of Islam, the Hindus and the Buddhists ruled over it. The history testifies that twenty one Rajas had ruled over Kashmir before the Muslim rule was established. A Tibitan known as Reechan Shah maneuvered to seize the power in Kashmir. He was much curious to embrace true religion and was dissatisfied with his superstitious cult. He embraced Islam by the teachings of Baba Abdul Rehman popularly known as Hazrat Bulbul Shah. Shah Miri dynasty also played positive role for the welfare of the Kashmiris. With the arrival of Shah Hamadan, Kashmir became the cradle of Islamic teachings,crafts and art. Sadrud Deen, Sultan Shehabud Deen and Sultan Zain-ul-Abedeen known as Bud Shah are still the stalwarts and hallmarks in the galaxy of Kashmiri rulers. They were pious and just rulers.
The Moghal period started when Akbar defeated Yusuf Chak and forcibly annexed Kashmir with India. Jehanghir and Shah Jehan constructed beautiful and memorable gardens, forts, mosques ans palaces in Kashmir. After the era of Moghals, the periods of Afghans and Hindu Dogras proved to be the periods of agony, cruelty, disaster, ignominy, destruction and dictatorship. In collaboration with the British, Maharaja Gulab Singh purchased Kashmir for a paltry sum. This shameful accord took place on March16, 1846 at Amritsar.
The Dogra rulers like Ranjeet Singh and Hari Singh inflicted untold and unprecedented atrocities on the poor and docile Kashmiris. The Dogra rule is the worst type of governance in the history of Kashmir. Sir Walter and Aldous Huxley have commented on this era and called it the era of plight and pillage. The age of savagery and serfdom is still prevalent in Kashmir. More than one hundred thousand innocent and defenseless Kashmiris have been uncouthly killed by the Indian army. The ladies have been gang raped. the elderly lot incapacitated and maimed. The youth shot dead and incarcerated. The valley of Kashmir is well known for its' peace adoration and creative propensities. But this heaven like valley has been turned in to the pit of hell by the Indian perpetrators. Kashmir has produced poets like Baba Rishi, Habba Khatoon, Lulla Arifa,Mehjoor, Azad, Mehmood Ghami,Ttehseen Jafri and Taoos Banahali. This valley of love and peace has been turned in to the battle field and blood bath by the Indian military.
The Indian rulers believe in expansionism, hegemony, aggression and jingoism. After their nuclear explosions in 1998, the Indians have become the replica of arrogance and hostility.  Kashmir is an old eerie story created by the British colonialism. By their hatched conspiracy like a ripe fruit it fell on the lap of their lackeys. It is a legacy of a hoary history. If the Kashmir issue is not resolved amicably, the global peace will remain a pawn to the abiding hangover of imperialism. On either side of the divide, the Kashmiris are are full of wrath, fury and annoyance on the malevolent conduct of the Indian forces in Kashmir. The Kashmiris demand to exercise the right of Self-determination guaranteed to the them by the UN. They demand fair and free plebiscite under the UN auspices.
Peeping through the annals of history, we see that with the advent of the Muslim rule in India, a period of peace, progress, prosperity, tranquility, religious tolerance and equity commenced. Whether it was the era of the Lodhis, Tughlaqs, Ghoris or of Moghals, they never interfered in the religious affairs of the Hindus or other minorities. The Muslim rulers were very broad minded and moderate. Under the umbrella of Muslim rule, all nationalities, segments and factions lived peacefully. The Moghal emperor Akbar so accommodating to the Hindus that his latitude encompassed the weddings with the Hindu women. We can not find even a single episode resulting in to ethnic cleansing or religious bloodbath. The Muslim rulers were very much conscious of maintaining neutrality, harmony and homogeneity. But, unfortunately, after the division of the Sub-continent they have fallen a prey to the tight and tenacious cluches of the Indian chauvinism  and fundamentalism. They are being cut like cabbages and carrots by the bayonets of the Indian army. The religious maniacs in the shape of the hard liners of RSS and BJP are all out to either convert them to Hinduism or burn them alive. Babri Mosque has been frantically desecrated and demolished by the Hindu extremists. On minor issues we see the genocide of the Muslims in India and Kashmir. The confidence building measures, co-existence spirit and peace process can only produce positive results when the Indians will shun the policy of prejudice. The permanent peace in the Sub-continent can be sustained if the Indians realize the implications of the writing on the wall. That writing is: " Live and let Live." It is the matter of great shame that an Indian premier announced in a meeting in New York that he was proud of being the member of RSS, the organization that announced the outrageous massacre of the non- Hindus. Under such circumstances, the only viable solution to existing honorably in India is to unite and form a United Forum of Muslims, Christians, Sikhs and Low Cast Hindus. For their survival they have to unite.
The Kashmiris under the Indian rule are living in utter misery,slavery and subjugation. They are denied their legal, human and democratic right to plebiscite. Their sacred  places like Hazrat Ball and Charar Sharif have been desecrated and burned to ashes. India falsely boasts and brags to be the largest democracy in the South Asia. all these boisterous, bullying and baffling claims are the walls of sand scattered and erased by the gush of waves. The Indian tall claims are empty vessels. These claims tantamount to casting dust in to the eyes of the world. It is a mirage, a deceit, a delusion and a deception. India is ah aggressor in Kashmir and is playing havoc in the valley of Kashmir. The Hindu Brahminism is a great threat to world peace. The president of the USA Mr. Barack Obama had had announced to appoint special envoy on the issue of Kashmir during his election campaign in 2008. But, under the pressure of the Jewish and Hindu lobby, he averted. It is said with heavy heart that the Muslim countries have shown no interest in Kashmir issue. They are dead skeletons lingering and lurking in the alleys of imperialists. For the freedom of Kashmir, all peace loving nations must play their role and pressurize India to stop atrocities being inflicted on the Kashmiris and act on the UN resolutions. International Kashmir Conference held in Washington DC, USA, in 2o10, in which eminent Kashmiri, Pakistani, Indian and American politicians, congressmen, senators, ministers and intellectuals had participated, in my speech I had candidly and vocally postulated that the Indian membership of the UN must be cancelled for not acting on the UN resolutions on Kashmir.