What proxies have we been using from day one for our "nefarious designs"???
This 1947 picture shows Pathan tribesmen waiting for trucks and more ammunition as they prepare to go into battle
Around 2,000 tribesmen stormed Muzaffarabad that morning and easily scattered the Kashmir state army deployed there. Military historians estimate it was just 500-strong at the time and had also suffered defections by Muslim soldiers.
Flushed with victory, the tribesmen got down to wanton looting and arson.
"They plundered the state armoury, set entire markets on fire and looted their goods," Mr Rahman says.
"They shot everyone who couldn't recite the kalima - the Arabic-language Muslim declaration of faith. Many non-Muslim women were enslaved, while many others jumped in the river to escape capture."
The streets were littered with signs of mayhem - broken buildings, broken shop furniture, the ashes of burnt goods and dead bodies, including those of tribal fighters, state soldiers and local men and women. There were also bodies floating in the river.
The raiders spent about three days in Muzaffarabad before sense prevailed and the leaders urged them to move on towards Srinagar, the state capital some 170km to the east.
From here, one column drove in trucks down the Jhelum river, breezing past Uri and reaching Baramulla where another round of looting and arson ensued.
Rahman was part of the column that headed north on foot to Teetwal from where they turned east and went past Kupwara to arrive at the outskirts of Srinagar, a journey of well over 200km.
They did not face any resistance. The maharaja's army had scattered, and Hindus and Sikhs had fled the villages. They only met Muslims on the way.
"Muslim women would sometimes offer us food but the Pathans were reluctant to accept, thinking it may be poisoned. They would instead capture those people's goats and sheep, slaughter them and roast the meat on fire."
One night the fires attracted aircraft that dropped bombs, killing scores of them. "Bodies were strewn over a large area in a forest."
Unbeknown to them, the maharaja had by then signed an instrument of accession with India. Between 26 and 30 October, the Indians flew in enough troops to Srinagar to tilt the balance against tribal fighters.
Witnesses tell the BBC how men with sticks and axes started one of the world's longest conflicts.
www.bbc.com
