People on this side of the divide, for whatever reason, are not clear in their thoughts and actions. They are not sure whether to call themselves Kashmiris, Azad Kashmiris or Pakistanis. And the unfortunate increasing gulf between different ethnic groups of Kashmir is not helping the matters. People outside the Valley of Kashmir, at times, are not considered as 'real Kashmiris', and this weakness in a sense of belonging is not helping in the 'nation building' process.

This topic is an important one and needs complete analyses and clarity, and it could not be done in this article. Also if we can discuss and analyse Azad Kashmir and its ‘Azadi’ then perhaps it would be easier to clarify this ambiguity.

What Does Azad Mean?

Before we discuss and analyse ‘Azad Government’ and its ‘Azadi’, we need to establish what do we mean by the word ‘Azad’ or ‘Azadi’? Azad could mean something or someone without any restrictions, independent and sovereign; or it could mean liberal. Of course here it is not used in the sense of liberal, but independent and sovereign. The word independent itself has many meanings; it could mean self – governing, autonomous, self-regulating, free or sovereign.

If by Azad we mean sovereign, then this like word independent has many meanings. If we take the generally understood meaning of sovereign - a supreme ruler or monarch - someone with absolute powers, then the question arises as to how many countries are there or how many rulers are there with absolute powers in the world.

We have more than 180 independent countries which are members of the UN, but the question is how many of them are independent and sovereign in the true sense of the word. In one sense, they are all independent, but only a few of them have absolute sovereignty, others are heavily dependent on others and certain restrictions are imposed on their conduct. That means independence is a relative term, all countries are independent but not all have complete sovereignty, most countries have a degree of sovereignty depending on their power, geographical location and friendship with other powers with absolute sovereignty.

Many might question if Pakistan, which controls Azad Kashmir, is a sovereign country. We all know that at times Pakistani rulers are not asked to do something but are told to do it, so where is the sovereignty of Pakistan when the FBI, IMF and the World Bank are calling the shots inside Pakistan, and where was the sovereignty of Yemen when six innocent (every one is presumed innocent until tried and convicted in a court of law) men fell victim to American shelling. There are many more such incidents where sovereignty of countries is invaded by those who think they have the ‘right’ to do so.

In view of that, Azad Kashmir is certainly not Azad; it is not even semi autonomous. The State of Jammu and Kashmir was semi autonomous during the British Raj, and history tells us that no ruler of Kashmir was  ‘sacked and removed’ by the British, although they tried to curtail powers of Kashmiri rulers especially during the reign of Maharaja Partap Singh.

And if we compare the semi autonomous period under the British Raj with the period since 1947, the latter is shameful. I lost the count how many times Pakistani authorities have ‘sacked and removed’ Azad Kashmiri rulers. Not only they were ‘sacked and removed’ but disgraced and imprisoned, and despite that if we want to call ourselves Azad then no one can help us.

Provisional Republican Government for Kashmir Announced

The provisional Government for Kashmir was announced on 4th October 1947. It is important to note that at that time the future status of three Princely States was not decided: Jammu and Kashmir, Hyderabad and Jungadh. The last two had Muslim rulers with a non-Muslim majority population; and Kashmir had a non-Muslim ruler with a Muslim majority population.

The Muslim ruler of Junagadh declared to accede to Pakistan, even though there was no land link with Pakistan, and the majority of the people were not Muslim. Pakistan accepted this ‘accession’, and in response to this, a provisional Government for Junagadh was announced in Bombay on 1st October, 1947.

Encouraged by this, some Kashmiri activists, namely Ghulam Nabi Gilkar, Bashir Din, Mehmood Ahmed, Mufti Zia- U- Din, and Mohammed Abdullah Qadri, gathered in Lahore to do something for Kashmir. They agreed to set up a similar type of Provisional Government, but no one was prepared to face the consequences. At last Ghulam Nabi Gilkar took the challenge, and as a matter of precaution, he used a fake name Mr Anwar, and sent a statement.

The statement, signed by Mr Anwar, described him as the President of the Provisional Republican Government of Kashmir read like this:

‘With the termination of the Paramountcy of the British Crown, the ruling family of Kashmir have lost whatever rights it claimed under the treaty of Amritsar, under which Kashmir was transferred by the British to Maharaja Gulab Singh, a forefather of the present ruler, for a paltry sum of Rs.50 lakhs, and that the people have set up a Provisional Government with Headquarters at Muzaffarabad’.  If after 1pm on 4th October, Hari Singh (the present Maharaja) or any person acting under his orders or instructions claims to rule over the State, he shall be punished according to the laws of the Provisional Government. Henceforth all the laws, orders and instructions promulgated by the Provisional Government shall be respected and obeyed.’

Over the years, the Pakistani and Azad Kashmir Government officials find it convenient not to mention the Provisional Government of 4th October 1947, and the focus of attention has been the government which was set up on 24th October. It is unfortunate to note that even the historians and academics have increasingly failed to acknowledge the first Provisional Government.