Editing Azad Kashmir (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Azad Kashmir|1947 Poonch rebellion}}
[[File:Jammu and Kashmir in 1946 map of India by National Geographic.jpg|thumb|left|A 1946 map of the [[princely state]] of [[Jammu and Kashmir (princely state)|Jammu and Kashmir]]; present-day Azad Kashmir constitutes areas of the three western-most districts]]
At the time of the [[Partition of India]] in 1947, the British abandoned their [[suzerainty]] over the [[princely states]], which were left with the options of joining India or Pakistan or remaining independent. [[Hari Singh]], the [[maharaja]] of Jammu and Kashmir, wanted his state to remain independent.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.indiatogether.org/peace/kashmir/intro.htm |title=The J&K conflict: A Chronological Introduction |publisher=India Together |access-date=5 June 2010 |archive-date=4 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140404153406/http://indiatogether.org/peace/kashmir/intro.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name = britannica>{{cite encyclopedia |author=Britannica Concise Encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/312908/Kashmir |title=Kashmir (region, Indian subcontinent)&nbsp;– Britannica Online Encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |access-date=5 June 2010 |archive-date=1 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100301205100/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/312908/Kashmir |url-status=live }}</ref> Muslims in the western districts of the Jammu province (current day Azad Kashmir) and in the Frontier Districts province (current day [[Gilgit-Baltistan]]) had wanted to join [[Pakistan]].{{sfn|Snedden|2013|loc =p. 14: "Similarly, Muslims in Western Jammu Province, particularly in Poonch, many of whom had martial capabilities, and Muslims in the Frontier Districts Province strongly wanted J&K to join Pakistan."}}

In Spring 1947, an uprising against the maharaja broke out in [[Poonch district, Pakistan|Poonch]], an area bordering the [[Rawalpindi division]] of [[West Punjab]]. The maharaja's administration is said to have started levying punitive taxes on the peasantry which provoked a local revolt and the administration resorted to brutal suppression. The area's population, swelled by recently demobilised soldiers following [[World War II]], rebelled against the maharaja's forces and gained control of almost the entire district. Following this victory, the pro-Pakistan chieftains of the western districts of [[Muzaffarabad district|Muzaffarabad]], [[History of Poonch District|Poonch]] and [[Mirpur district|Mirpur]] proclaimed a provisional Azad Jammu and Kashmir government in Rawalpindi on 3 October 1947.{{sfn|Bose|2003|pp=32–33}}{{refn|group=note|Officially, the Mirpur and Poonch districts were in the Jammu province of the state and Muzaffarabad was in the Kashmir province.  All three provinces spoke languages related to [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]], not the [[Kashmiri language]] spoken in the [[Kashmir Valley]].<ref>{{citation |first=Navnita Chadha |last=Behera |title=Demystifying Kashmir |publisher=Pearson Education India |year=2007 |isbn=978-8131708460 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qM6kW9ZRMRkC |page=29 |access-date=27 September 2016 |archive-date=17 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230117135717/https://books.google.com/books?id=qM6kW9ZRMRkC |url-status=live }}</ref>}} Ghulam Nabi Gilkar, under the assumed name "Mr. Anwar," issued a proclamation in the name of the provisional government in [[Muzaffarabad]]. However, this government quickly fizzled out with the arrest of Anwar in Srinagar.{{sfn|Snedden|2013|loc=p. 59}} On 24 October, a second provisional government of Azad Kashmir was established at [[Palandri]] under the leadership of [[Sardar Ibrahim Khan]].{{sfn|Snedden|2013|loc=p. 61}}

On 21 October, several thousand [[Pashtuns|Pashtun]] tribesmen from [[North-West Frontier Province (1901–1955)|North-West Frontier Province]] poured into Jammu and Kashmir to help with the rebellion against the maharaja's rule. They were led by experienced military leaders and were equipped with modern arms. The maharaja's crumbling forces were unable to withstand the onslaught. The tribesmen captured the towns of Muzaffarabad and [[Baramulla]], the latter of which is {{convert|20|mi|km|order=flip}} northwest of the state capital [[Srinagar]]. On 24 October, the Maharaja requested military assistance from India, which responded that it was unable to help him unless he acceded to India. Accordingly, on 26 October 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh signed an [[Instrument of Accession (Jammu and Kashmir)|Instrument of Accession]], handing over control of defence, external affairs, and communications to the Government of India in return for military aid.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/10537286|title=Kashmir: Why India and Pakistan fight over it|date=23 November 2016|work=BBC News|access-date=21 June 2018|archive-date=24 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181224045738/https://www.bbc.com/news/10537286|url-status=live}}</ref> Indian troops were immediately airlifted into Srinagar.{{sfn|Bose|2003|pp=35–36}} Pakistan intervened subsequently.<ref name = britannica /> Fighting ensued between the Indian and Pakistani armies, with the two areas of control more or less stabilised around what is now known as the "[[Line of Control]]".<ref>
{{cite news
 |url=http://www.southasianmedia.net/magazine/journal/grasping_nettle.htm
 |title=Grasping the Nettle
 |author=Prem Shankar Jha
 |work=South Asian Journal
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100516074510/http://www.southasianmedia.net/magazine/journal/grasping_nettle.htm
 |archive-date=16 May 2010
}}{{unreliable source?|date=May 2015}}
</ref>

India later approached the United Nations, asking it to resolve the dispute, and resolutions were passed in favour of the holding of a plebiscite with regard to Kashmir's future. However, no such plebiscite has ever been held on either side, since there was a precondition that required the withdrawal of the Pakistani army along with the non-state elements and the subsequent partial withdrawal of the Indian army<ref name="UN Resolution 47">{{cite web|title=UN resolution 47|url=http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=S%2FRES%2F47%20%281948%29&Lang=E&Area=RESOLUTION|access-date=11 September 2012|archive-date=3 September 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150903183750/http://daccess-ods.un.org/access.nsf/Get?Open&DS=S%2FRES%2F47%20%281948%29&Lang=E&Area=RESOLUTION|url-status=live}}</ref> from the parts of Kashmir under their respective control&nbsp;– a withdrawal that never took place.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.indianembassy.org/policy/Kashmir/uncip(s1100).htm |title=UNCIP Resolution of August 13, 1948 (S/1100)&nbsp;– Embassy of India, Washington, D.C. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071013165623/http://www.indianembassy.org/policy/Kashmir/uncip%28s1100%29.htm |archive-date=13 October 2007 }}</ref> In 1949, a formal cease-fire line separating the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir came into effect.

Following the [[Karachi Agreement|1949 cease-fire agreement]] with India, the government of Pakistan divided the northern and western parts of Kashmir that it controlled at the time of the cease-fire into the following two separately controlled political entities:
* Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK)&nbsp;– the narrow, southern part, {{convert|250|mi|km|order=flip|abbr=on}} long, with a width varying from {{convert|10|to|40|mi|km|round=5|order=flip|abbr=on}}.
* [[Gilgit–Baltistan]] formerly called the [[Federally Administered Northern Areas]] (FANA)&nbsp;– the much larger political entity to the north of AJK with an area of {{convert|72496|km2|sqmi|abbr=on}}.

In 1955, the [[1955 Poonch uprising|Poonch uprising]] broke out. It was largely concentrated in areas of [[Rawalakot]] as well as the rest of [[Poonch Division]]. It ended in 1956.{{sfn|Snedden|2013|loc=pp. 120, 121, 122}}

In 1970, [[Yahya Khan|Yahya Khan's]] military administration promulgated a 'rudimentary' constitution, 'The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Government Act, 1970' which provided AJK a presidential system, an elected legislative assembly and 'considerable' autonomy. Snedden refers to it as having "delivered the most autonomy ever enjoyed by this region – or by any region in J&K." The central government only controlling foreign affairs, defence and currency, while the MKA was sidelined.<ref name="Cambridge University Press-2018">{{Cite book |title=Kashmir: history, politics, representation |date=2018 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-108-40210-1 |editor-last=Zutshi |editor-first=Chitralekha |location=Cambridge New York NY Port Melbourne New Delhi Singapore}}</ref>{{Rp|page=121}}

[[Zulfikar Ali Bhutto]], then Prime-Minister of Pakistan, with some local support imposed the '[[Interim Constitution of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (1974)|Azad Jammu and Kashmir Interim Constitution Act, 1974]]’ (Interim till the Kashmir dispute was resolved with India). It allowed AJK a directly elected [[Azad Kashmir Legislative Assembly|AJK Legislative Assembly]], and a smaller indirectly elected [[Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council]] in Islamabad. This arrangement reduced the power of the MKA, however Snedden referred to it as a "diminution."<ref name="Cambridge University Press-2018"/>{{Rp|pages=121–122}}

Danish Khan in ''[[The Friday Times]]'' characterizes this development as providing "an avenue for citizens to draw attention from political elites towards immediate socio-economic and developmental concerns such as access to basic infrastructure and public goods," further stating "while public sector investments in infrastructure and social sectors have shown relative improvements over the years, the overarching narrative in the political sphere, spanning across party lines, remains heavily focused on the Jammu & Kashmir conflict rather than indigenous socio-economic development."<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 May 2024 |title=Understanding The Protest Movement In Azad Jammu & Kashmir |url=https://thefridaytimes.com/14-May-2024/understanding-the-protest-movement-in-azad-jammu-kashmir |access-date=15 May 2024 |website=The Friday Times |language=en}}</ref>

The Constitution provides Kashmir its own [[President of Azad Kashmir|President]], [[Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir|Prime-Minister]], [[High Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir|High Court]], [[Supreme Court of Azad Jammu and Kashmir|Supreme Court]], Auditor General and Chief Election Commissioner as well.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ali |first1=Shaheen Sardar |last2=Rehman |first2=Javaid |date=1 February 2013 |title=Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Minorities of Pakistan: Constitutional and Legal Perspectives |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=60VAsoo-huYC |journal=[[Nordic Institute of Asian Studies]] |issue=Monograph Series No. 84 |pages=121 |isbn=978-1-136-77868-1 |via=[[Routledge]] Curzon}}</ref> The 13th Amendment to the AJK Constitution, passed in [[Muzaffarabad]] empowered the AJK government, increased the powers of the elected assembly, granted Azad Kashmir greater financial and administrative powers and sought to make the federal territory more autonomous. The word "Act" was also deleted from the Constitution.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Act 1974: AJK approves 13th Amendment |url=https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/325050-act-1974-ajk-approves-13th-amendment |access-date=16 May 2024 |website=www.thenews.com.pk |language=en}}</ref>

At one time under Pakistani control, Kashmir's [[Trans-Karakoram Tract|Shaksgam tract]], a small region along the northeastern border of Gilgit–Baltistan, was provisionally ceded by Pakistan to the People's Republic of China in 1963 which helped in resolving China-Pakistan boundary dispute and now the forms part of China's [[Xinjiang]] Uygur Autonomous Region.

In 1972, the then current border between the Indian and Pakistani controlled parts of Kashmir was designated as the "[[Line of Control]]". This line has remained unchanged<ref>
{{cite web
 |url=https://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unmogip/
 |title=UNMOGIP: United Nations Military Observer Group in India and Pakistan
 |url-status=dead
 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080514065929/http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unmogip/
 |archive-date=14 May 2008
}}
</ref> since the 1972 [[Simla Agreement]], which bound the two countries "to settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations". Some political experts claim that, in view of that pact, the only solution to the issue is mutual negotiation between the two countries without involving a third party such as the United Nation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kapur |first=Saloni |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DHMjEAAAQBAJ&dq=Bilateral+issue+of+Simla+Agreement+rules+out+UN&pg=PA132 |title=Pakistan after Trump: Great Power Responsibility in a Multi-Polar World |date=8 March 2021 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-5275-6727-6 |language=en}}</ref> The 1974 Interim Constitution Act was passed by the 48-member Azad Jammu and Kashmir unicameral assembly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/azad-kashmir-india-pakistan-pakistan-peoples-party-ppp-nawaz-sharif/|title=How free is Azad Kashsmir|work=The Indian Express|date=26 March 2016|access-date=26 March 2016|archive-date=27 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160327084943/http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/azad-kashmir-india-pakistan-pakistan-peoples-party-ppp-nawaz-sharif/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In April 1997, the [[Nawaz Sharif]] government refused to grant constitutional status to Azad Jammu and Kashmir stating that "'The grant of constitutional rights to these people will amount to unilateral annexation of these areas."<ref>{{Cite web |title=Rediff on the NeT: PoK not part of its territory: Pakistan |url=http://www.rediff.com/news/apr/18pak.htm |access-date=3 May 2022 |website=www.rediff.com |archive-date=19 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190719113350/http://www.rediff.com/news/apr/18pak.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>