waz
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Allah bless our forefathers, my entire generation fought and freed our land to become part of Pakistan. Allah bless our Pashtun tribal brothers, the Wazirs, the Meshuds, the Mohammeds in our hour of need.
This should be a national celebration.
According to Sardar Ibrahim, during September 1947, some 50,000 men were organised into a people’s militia variously known as the ‘Azad Army’, ‘Azad Forces’ or ‘Azad Kashmir Regular Forces’. This locally-officered volunteer ‘army’ comprised 90 per cent ex-servicemen, except in Bagh, where the percentage was lower. A ‘very small percentage of Pakistani volunteers’ fought with them, as may have twelve women. According to the Azad Kashmir Defence Minister, Colonel Ali Ahmad Shah (a former captain in the J&K State Force), the ‘Azad Forces had been recruited locally or had risen spontaneously’. They comprised ‘seasoned troops’ with experience fighting in both world wars and the serious ‘Waziristan Operations’ (1920-21). After Azad Kashmir came into being, its ‘Defence Council’ assumed administrative control of ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir Forces’. This council comprised seven members: two ministers (Defence, Finance); one bureaucrat (Defence secretary); two soldiers (commander-in-chief, chief of staff), and two ‘public representatives’ (members of the Muslim Conference).‘Soldiers’ were paid Rs. 10 per month from accumulated donations, although many men apparently refused wages. Clothing came from donations from local supporters and Pakistanis. The ‘main problem’ was a lack of arms, with some soldiers fighting with ‘axes, spears and swords’. Most used arms and ammunition ‘captured from the enemy in major and minor engagements’ or obtained from Muslim deserters from the Maharaja’s army. Communications were an issue, with men fighting ‘in separate groups on many fronts … [with] no links with each other’. Couriers carried messages between Muzaffarabad and Bagh; elsewhere, post and telegraphic exchanges went via locations in Pakistan.
Benefiting from shorter supply lines, rugged terrain, local knowledge and support, and high morale, the Azad Army built on the Poonch uprising to further oppose the Maharaja. By 22 September 1947, the Azad Army’s military structure was functioning so well that Major-General Scott reported that the Maharaja’s armed forces were losing control over large parts of J&K. The Maharaja’s opponents were doing well, despite ‘miserably lack[ing] a regular line of communication, and a regular supply of arms and ammunition’. By mid-to-late October, they controlled large parts of Poonch and Mirpur, while much of Muzaffarabad tehsil was being cleared of non-Muslims elements, including ‘Sikhs, Dogras and R.S.S [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] cut-throats’. This latter activity mirrored anti-Muslim religious violence occurring in Jammu.
The Azad Army’s success was significant: when Pukhtoon tribesmen entered Kashmir Province on 22 October 1947, most of western Jammu Province had already been liberated from the Maharaja’s forces. Two days after the Pukhtoons’ invasion – as India correctly called it – and possibly prompted by it, some anti-Maharaja elements in Poonch and Mirpur managed to form a government in the area outside the Maharaja’s dwindling control. On 24 October 1947, they formed the Provisional Azad Government, which came into being two days before Maharaja Hari Singh’s accession to India on 26 October 1947.
Taken from
The forgotten Poonch uprising of 1947
CHRISTOPHER SNEDDEN.
Indian press in 'mourning'.
This should be a national celebration.
According to Sardar Ibrahim, during September 1947, some 50,000 men were organised into a people’s militia variously known as the ‘Azad Army’, ‘Azad Forces’ or ‘Azad Kashmir Regular Forces’. This locally-officered volunteer ‘army’ comprised 90 per cent ex-servicemen, except in Bagh, where the percentage was lower. A ‘very small percentage of Pakistani volunteers’ fought with them, as may have twelve women. According to the Azad Kashmir Defence Minister, Colonel Ali Ahmad Shah (a former captain in the J&K State Force), the ‘Azad Forces had been recruited locally or had risen spontaneously’. They comprised ‘seasoned troops’ with experience fighting in both world wars and the serious ‘Waziristan Operations’ (1920-21). After Azad Kashmir came into being, its ‘Defence Council’ assumed administrative control of ‘Azad Jammu and Kashmir Forces’. This council comprised seven members: two ministers (Defence, Finance); one bureaucrat (Defence secretary); two soldiers (commander-in-chief, chief of staff), and two ‘public representatives’ (members of the Muslim Conference).‘Soldiers’ were paid Rs. 10 per month from accumulated donations, although many men apparently refused wages. Clothing came from donations from local supporters and Pakistanis. The ‘main problem’ was a lack of arms, with some soldiers fighting with ‘axes, spears and swords’. Most used arms and ammunition ‘captured from the enemy in major and minor engagements’ or obtained from Muslim deserters from the Maharaja’s army. Communications were an issue, with men fighting ‘in separate groups on many fronts … [with] no links with each other’. Couriers carried messages between Muzaffarabad and Bagh; elsewhere, post and telegraphic exchanges went via locations in Pakistan.
Benefiting from shorter supply lines, rugged terrain, local knowledge and support, and high morale, the Azad Army built on the Poonch uprising to further oppose the Maharaja. By 22 September 1947, the Azad Army’s military structure was functioning so well that Major-General Scott reported that the Maharaja’s armed forces were losing control over large parts of J&K. The Maharaja’s opponents were doing well, despite ‘miserably lack[ing] a regular line of communication, and a regular supply of arms and ammunition’. By mid-to-late October, they controlled large parts of Poonch and Mirpur, while much of Muzaffarabad tehsil was being cleared of non-Muslims elements, including ‘Sikhs, Dogras and R.S.S [Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh] cut-throats’. This latter activity mirrored anti-Muslim religious violence occurring in Jammu.
The Azad Army’s success was significant: when Pukhtoon tribesmen entered Kashmir Province on 22 October 1947, most of western Jammu Province had already been liberated from the Maharaja’s forces. Two days after the Pukhtoons’ invasion – as India correctly called it – and possibly prompted by it, some anti-Maharaja elements in Poonch and Mirpur managed to form a government in the area outside the Maharaja’s dwindling control. On 24 October 1947, they formed the Provisional Azad Government, which came into being two days before Maharaja Hari Singh’s accession to India on 26 October 1947.
Taken from
The forgotten Poonch uprising of 1947
CHRISTOPHER SNEDDEN.
Indian press in 'mourning'.
