INVASION OF KASHMIR

Oct. 22, 2020

The Ministry of Culture is marking October 22 — the day the Pakistani invasion began in Kashmir and set the stage for the first India-Pakistan war — with a string of events, including a symposium in Srinagar on the events of that day.

About:         

  • On October 22, thousands of tribal invaders from Pakistan crossed into Kashmir overrunning outposts of Hari Singh’s state forces in Muzaffarabad, Domel and other places on the road to Srinagar.

  • The Kashmir forces were too small in number. Plus, the Muslim soldiers, who were in equal numbers with the Dogras in the force, joined hands with the raiders.

  • Pakistan maintained it had nothing to do with this invasion, but Indian military histories say the invasion was planned two months ahead by the Pakistan Army, and codenamed Operation Gulmarg.

  • Two Kashmiris – Brigadier Rajinder Singh and Shahid Maqbool Sherwani – are celebrated for their resistance that helped keep the invaders out of Srinagar for a few days, until Indian troops arrived on October 27, a day after Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession to India.

  • However, with Pakistani forces formally entering the battlefield in support of the tribesmen, the war would continue for over a year, until a ceasefire was declared on the night of December 31, 1948, and the terms of the ceasefire were accepted on January 5, 1949.