Azad Kashmir- is it Azad ? Part  3

  Part One

  Part Two

Part Three

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Azad Kashmir has nearly all the ingredients of a government minus sovereignty. For example, it has offices of President and Prime Minister, 'elected’ Assembly, Kashmir Council, Supreme Court and its own flag. What it doesn’t have is sovereignty over the area on this side of the LOC, and free hand to rule this area. There are many other things which independent countries have and Azad Kashmir doesn’t have them.

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Mangla Dam

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President Bush is a powerful man yet he cannot walk into Cuba, a tiny troublesome neighbour and build a dam or powerhouse to meet energy requirements of the USA. He cannot even build a dam or powerhouse in any of the American States without a series of negotiations and agreements with that State even though that dam or powerhouse is in the larger interest of the USA.  

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Here we have ‘an independent state of Azad Kashmir’ where Mangla dam was built without any consultation or any written agreement with the Azad Kashmir government of the time. The dam was built to meet energy requirements of Pakistan, yet thousands of ‘Azad Kashmiris’ were made homeless, and to rub salt in their wounds, to date no royalties have been paid to the ‘Azad Kashmir government. Apart from that, appropriate arrangements were not made to relocate the suffering people of Mirpur who lost their homes and graves of their forefathers to meet energy requirements of Pakistan.

As if that was not enough, Pakistani authorities after failing to build a dam in Kala Bagh, decided to have another go at the people of Mirpur. New plans were made to upraise the dam and uproot thousands of people again, but our ‘Azad government’ was not even consulted at planning stage. They had to talk to the Azad Kashmiri authorities at the implementing stage, which they did, and that is generally to ensure that there is no trouble and some compensation is paid to the people.

If  the 'elected government of Azad Kashmir' is not consulted on this major issue, then of course there is no question of consulting the people as it is expected of them to give in to this demand, because if they don’t, then they would be considered as ‘anti Pakistan’, and in worst case ‘pro India.’

There would be many to oppose what I have written above and say that this is not true, and that we are ‘azad’, and can do what we want in ‘Azad Kashmir’. Of course we are azad to open our grocery store and fancy goods shop around the corner or clothes shop, go to mosque five times a day as well, and free to go to Islamabad and Lahore but not to Gilgit and Baltistan. If only this is our concept of ‘azadi’ then we are ‘azad’.

I am sure during the time of the British one had right to open a shop in any part of the country and go to the mosque as well. And it was because of this false sense of being ‘azad’ to which Allama Iqbal said:  

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The meaning of that is that the Mullahas have permission to freely pray in India and because of this these ignorants think that India is independent.  

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Azad Kashmir and Policies

Those who claim that we are ‘azad’ need to ask themselves if the government of Azad Kashmir can make a policy on the following:  

1.      Plan its own economic policy and open State Bank of Kashmir where expatriate Kashmiris could send money directly that Azad Kashmir government could make use of this foreign exchange?  

2.      Take control of resources in its territory, for example, take control of Mangla Dam and take control of Gilgit and Baltistan and development of these areas.  

3.      Directly make contracts with foreign countries for help and support and for other development projects?  

4.      Make a policy on nationality, citizenship and naturalisation, migration from or into Azad Jammu & Kashmir, admission into, and immigration and expulsion from AJK including in relation to the regulation of the movements in AJK;  

5.     Make a policy on Post and Telegraphs, including Telephones, Wireless Broadcasting and other like forms of Communications; Post Office Saving Banks;  

6.      Make a policy on Aircraft and air navigation; the provision of aerodromes; regulation and organisation of air traffic and aerodromes;  

7.      Make a policy on Railways, Electricity, Curriculum, syllabus, planning, Tourism, Duties of customs, including export duties, State Property in Pakistan, Mineral oil and natural gas.

In short, according to the Interim Constitution of Azad Kashmir Act, 1974,  there are 55 important policy areas where the Azad Kashmir government has no jurisdiction at all; and it is this Act and the Karachi Pact which strongly controls and curtails powers of the Azad Kashmir government.  

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The Karachi Pact

The Karachi Pact, gave Pakistan power to control Gilgit and Baltistan and assume all the following responsibilities:

1.          Defence 

2.          Foreign policy of Azad Kashmir.

3.          Negotiations with the United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan.

4.          Publicity in foreign countries and in Pakistan.

5.         Co - ordination and arrangement of relief and rehabilitation of refugees.

6.         Co - ordination of publicity in connection with plebiscite.

7.         All activities within Pakistan regarding Kashmir such as procurement of food,  civil supplies running of refugee camps and medical aid.

8.         All affairs of Gilgit - Ladakh under the control of Political Agent.

It is claimed that Sardar Ibrahim Khan, signed the Karachi Pact, as the President of Azad Kashmir, but the interesting thing is that during his visit to the United Kingdom some years ago, he denied this claim, and categorically stated that he never signed the Karachi Pact. This news was also published in Pakistani and Kashmiri newspapers. If he has not signed this Agreement then who did, and what is the legal position of Pakistan with regard to all the above.

That aside, ACT 1974 does not allow anyone to contest elections of any kind in Azad Kashmir without taking an oath of allegiance to Kashmir's accession to Pakistan. If someone refuses to sign this allegiance, his nomination would be rejected for not filling in accession to Pakistan oath document.

Similarly, no Minister, Prime Minister or President in Azad Kashnir can assume office unless he takes the oath of Kashmir's accession to Pakistan. In other words if you want a job of any kind in Azad Kashmir you have to sign an oath of allegiance. Section 7.2 of the Act 74 clearly says:

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"No person or political party in Azad Jammu and Kashmir shall be permitted to propagate against, or take part in activities prejudicial or detrimental to, the ideology of the state's accession to Pakistan".
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Section 21 explains about the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council:
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There shall be an Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council, and Prime Minister of Pakistan shall be the Chairperson of the Council.  The Chairperson (Pakistani Prime Minister) will appoint five members to the Kashmir Council. Other members are: The President (AJK), the Prime Minister of Azad Jammu and Kashmir or a person nominated by him; and six members to be elected by the Azad Kashmir Assembly.

Moreover to make sure that Azad Kashmir government does not make any ‘silly’ move, Pakistan has ensured that all high ranking officers like Chief Secretary, Finance Secretary, Inspector General Police etc for Azad Kashmir are sent by the Islamabad government.  

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Forces Disbanded by Pakistan

At one time the Azad Jammu and Kashmir government had its own army with its own Chief of Staff. Azad Jammu and Kashmir Forces were disbanded by Pakistan, and now Azad Kashmir governments have no right to have its own army, whereas ‘Azad’ countries take it as their right to have their own army. The story does not end here, section 31.3 states that AJK Council and the Assembly does not have power to make any laws concerning the following:

     The defence and security of Azad Jammu and Kashmir;

    The current coin or the issue of any bills, notes or other paper currency;

    The external affairs of Azad Jammu and Kashmir including foreign trade and foreign aid.
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And Section 35 further degrades the Azad Kashmir Constituent Assembly, which says:

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Bills passed by the Council shall not require the assent of the President (AJK) and shall, upon its authentication by the Chairperson of the Council, become law and be called an act of the Council. (Please remember that the chairperson of the Council is always the Prime Minister of Pakistan).

Let us look at the oath that rulers of Azad Kashmir take and see what ‘Azadi’ they have. Azad Kashmiri rulers solemnly declare: 

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"That as a President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir I will remain loyal to the country and to the cause of accession of the State of Jammu & Kashmir to Pakistan".

We have habit of calling areas of Azad Kashmir as ‘azad’, and areas under India as occupied. One can see from the above that Azad Kashmir is not ‘Azad’, but if people for whatever reason want to live in this false sense of being ‘Azad’, then it cannot be helped.