Azad

[Debra Necochea]

Azad Jammu and Kashmir[a] abbreviated as AJK and colloquially referred to as simply Azad Kashmir, is a region administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entity[8] and constituting the western portion of the larger Kashmir region, which has been the subject of a dispute between India and Pakistan since 1947.[1] Azad Kashmir also shares borders with the Pakistani provinces of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the south and west, respectively. On its eastern side, Azad Kashmir is separated from the Indian union territory of Jammu and Kashmir (part of Indian-administered Kashmir) by the Line of Control (LoC), which serves as the de facto border between the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir. Geographically, it covers a total area of 13,297 km2 (5,134 sq mi) and has a total population of 4,045,366 as per the 2017 national census.

The territory has a parliamentary form of government modelled after the British Westminster system, with the city of Muzaffarabad serving as its capital. The President of AJK is the constitutional head of state, while the Prime Minister, supported by a Council of Ministers, is the chief executive. The unicameral Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly elects both the Prime Minister and President. The territory has its own Supreme Court and a High Court, while the Government of Pakistan's Ministry of Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan serves as a link between itself and Azad Jammu and Kashmir's government, although the autonomous territory is not represented in the Parliament of Pakistan.

Northern Azad Kashmir lies in a region that experiences strong vibrations of the earth as a result of the Indian plate underthrusting the Eurasian plate.[9] A major earthquake in 2005 killed at least 100,000 people and left another three million people displaced, causing widespread devastation to the region's infrastructure and economy. Since then, with help from the Government of Pakistan and foreign aid, reconstruction of infrastructure is underway. Azad Kashmir's economy largely depends on agriculture, services, tourism, and remittances sent by members of the British Mirpuri community. Nearly 87% of Azad Kashmiri households own farm property,[10] and the region has the highest rate of school enrollment in Pakistan and a literacy rate of approximately 74%.[11][4]

Azad Kashmir (Free Kashmir) was the title of a pamphlet issued by the Muslim Conference party at its 13th general session held in 1945 at Poonch.[12] It is believed to have been a response to the National Conference's Naya Kashmir (New Kashmir) programme.[13] Sources state that it was no more than a compilation of various resolutions passed by the party.[14] But its intent seems to have been to declare that the Muslims of Jammu and Kashmir were committed to the Muslim League's struggle for a separate homeland (Pakistan),[12] and that the Muslim Conference was the sole representative organisation of the Muslims of Kashmir.[13] However, the following year, the party passed an "Azad Kashmir resolution" demanding that the maharaja institute a constituent assembly elected on an extended franchise.[15] According to scholar Chitralekha Zutshi, the organisation's declared goal was to achieve responsible government under the aegis of the maharaja without association with either India or Pakistan.[16] The following year, the party workers assembled at the house of Sardar Ibrahim on July 19, 1947, reversed the decision, demanding that the Maharaja accede to Pakistan.[17][18]

Soon afterward, Sardar Ibrahim escaped to Pakistan and led the Poonch rebellion from there, with the assistance of Pakistan's prime minister Liaquat Ali Khan and other officials. Liaquat Ali Khan appointed a committee headed by Mian Iftikharuddin to draft a "declaration of freedom".[19] On October 4, an Azad Kashmir provisional government was declared in Lahore with Ghulam Nabi Gilkar as president under the assumed name "Mr. Anwar" and Sardar Ibrahim as the prime minister. Gilkar travelled to Srinagar and was arrested by the maharaja's government. Pakistani officials subsequently appointed Sardar Ibrahim as the president of the provisional government.[20][note 1]

At the time of the Partition of India in 1947, the British abandoned their suzerainty over the princely states, which were left with the options of joining India or Pakistan or remaining independent. Hari Singh, the maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, wanted his state to remain independent.[22][23] Muslims in the western districts of the Jammu province (current day Azad Kashmir) and in the Frontier Districts province (current day Gilgit-Baltistan) had wanted to join Pakistan.[24]

In Spring 1947, an uprising against the maharaja broke out in Poonch, an area bordering the Rawalpindi division of West Punjab. The maharaja's administration is said to have started levying punitive taxes on the peasantry which provoked a local revolt and the administration resorted to brutal suppression. The area's population, swelled by recently demobilised soldiers following World War II, rebelled against the maharaja's forces and gained control of almost the entire district. Following this victory, the pro-Pakistan chieftains of the western districts of Muzaffarabad, Poonch and Mirpur proclaimed a provisional Azad Jammu and Kashmir government in Rawalpindi on October 3, 1947.[25][note 2] Ghulam Nabi Gilkar, under the assumed name "Mr. Anwar," issued a proclamation in the name of the provisional government in Muzaffarabad. However, this government quickly fizzled out with the arrest of Anwar in Srinagar.[27] On October 24, a second provisional government of Azad Kashmir was established at Palandri under the leadership of Sardar Ibrahim Khan.[28]

On October 21, several thousand Pashtun tribesmen from North-West Frontier Province poured into Jammu and Kashmir to help with the rebellion against the maharaja's rule. They were led by experienced military leaders and were equipped with modern arms. The maharaja's crumbling forces were unable to withstand the onslaught. The tribesmen captured the towns of Muzaffarabad and Baramulla, the latter of which is 32 kilometres (20 mi) northwest of the state capital Srinagar. On October 24, the Maharaja requested military assistance from India, which responded that it was unable to help him unless he acceded to India. Accordingly, on October 26, 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh signed an Instrument of Accession, handing over control of defence, external affairs, and communications to the Government of India in return for military aid.[29] Indian troops were immediately airlifted into Srinagar.[30] Pakistan intervened subsequently.[23] Fighting ensued between the Indian and Pakistani armies, with the two areas of control more or less stabilised around what is now known as the "Line of Control".[31]

Following the 1949 cease-fire agreement with India, the government of Pakistan divided the northern and western parts of Kashmir that it controlled at the time of the cease-fire into the following two separately controlled political entities:

Danish Khan in The Friday Times characterizes this development as providing "an avenue for citizens to draw attention from political elites towards immediate socio-economic and developmental concerns such as access to basic infrastructure and public goods," further stating "while public sector investments in infrastructure and social sectors have shown relative improvements over the years, the overarching narrative in the political sphere, spanning across party lines, remains heavily focused on the Jammu & Kashmir conflict rather than indigenous socio-economic development."[36]

The Constitution provides Kashmir its own President, Prime-Minister, High Court, Supreme Court, Auditor General and Chief Election Commissioner as well.[37] The 13th Amendment to the AJK Constitution, passed in Muzaffarabad empowered the AJK government, increased the powers of the elected assembly, granted Azad Kashmir greater financial and administrative powers and sought to make the federal territory more autonomous. The word "Act" was also deleted from the Constitution.[38]

In 1972, the then current border between the Indian and Pakistani controlled parts of Kashmir was designated as the "Line of Control". This line has remained unchanged[39] since the 1972 Simla Agreement, which bound the two countries "to settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations". Some political experts claim that, in view of that pact, the only solution to the issue is mutual negotiation between the two countries without involving a third party such as the United Nation.[40] The 1974 Interim Constitution Act was passed by the 48-member Azad Jammu and Kashmir unicameral assembly.[41]

In April 1997, the Nawaz Sharif government refused to grant constitutional status to Azad Jammu and Kashmir stating that "'The grant of constitutional rights to these people will amount to unilateral annexation of these areas."[42]

The northern part of Azad Jammu and Kashmir encompasses the lower area of the Himalayas, including Jamgarh Peak (4,734 m or 15,531 ft). However, Sarwali Peak (6326 m) in Neelum Valley is the highest peak in the state.[2]

The region receives rainfall in both the winter and the summer. Muzaffarabad and Pattan are among the wettest areas of Pakistan. Throughout most of the region, the average rainfall exceeds 1400 mm, with the highest average rainfall occurring near Muzaffarabad (around 1800 mm). During the summer season, monsoon floods of the rivers Jhelum and Leepa are common due to extreme rains and snow melting.

The southern parts of Azad Kashmir, including the Bhimber, Mirpur, and Kotli districts, have extremely hot weather in the summer and moderate cold weather in the winter. They receive rain mostly in monsoon weather.[citation needed]

In the central and northern parts of the state, the weather remains moderately hot in the summer and cold and chilly in the winter. Snowfall also occurs there in December and January.[citation needed]

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