Gilgit Agency

With the recent changes to Article 370 by making it ineffective and all the political debates around it have made us all more aware of the various regions in the State of Jammu and Kashmir. We also now have a fair idea on where is Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) located and also can easily figure out the strategic importance of the region. POK is not just Kashmir but, comprises of Gilgit-Baltistan and certain parts of Kashmir valley. If we plan to write the history of this whole region, which we should but then, it will be an uphill task for which I don't consider myself ready as yet. For today, I will restrict my sharing to an episode in history which clearly brings to light the British duplicity when dealing with Kashmir. 

We have to first start by knowing the geography of the region which the British called the Gilgit Agency and understand its strategic importance thereby, we get to know as to why British did what they did.  

As we see in the above map the Gilgit area which comprises of the north-west region of Jammu and Kashmir which is the area above Kargil. Through this area India shares borders with Afghanistan in the north adjoining the Wakhan corridor (Though under Pakistani occupation it is the Indian border shared with Afghanistan). To the east it shares borders with China's province of Xinjiang (known in the past decades as East Turkestan Republic). To the south-east it is bordering Pakistan which unfortunately is also an illegal occupier of the area. To the south of this region we have the Kashmir valley part of which is also under illegal occupation of Pakistan. Such is the strategic importance of the Gilgit region that without it the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) becomes impossible. 

Gilgit-Baltistan area was named as Gilgit Agency by the British in the year 1935 when the Kashmir state leased this area to the British mainly to protect it from the fear of the expanding USSR. This lease was for 60 years and was supposed to end in 1995 however, had to be abruptly called off and was returned back to Kashmir State, when the British Raj abrogated all treaties with the princely states on 1st August 1947 with the passing of the Indian Independence Act which included lapse of paramountcy. For the transfer formalities, Kashmir State sent Brigadier Ghansara Singh to take charge from the British forces however, to his surprise the British forces (Gilgit Scouts) did not withdraw fully which later resulted in execution of their sinister plan. Major William Brown and Captain A S Mathieson remained in command of Gilgit Scouts and the two owed allegiance to their former British Commander Lieutenant Colonel Roger Bacon who was transferred to Khyber (part of Pakistan) after the lapse of paramountcy. So, instead of Maharaja or Kashmir State the Gilgit Scouts under command of these two took orders from Lieutenant Colonel Bacon.

In the backdrop of all this when Pakistan Army in the guise of tribal army invaded Kashmir on 10 October 1947, Maharaja Hari Singh who had earlier decided to remain independent signed the Instrument of Accession to India on 27 October 1947 which was accepted and signed by Governor General of India Lord Mountbatten. Here, the duplicity of the British is clearly evident on one hand Mountbatten showed that he was a friend of India by supporting the accession of Kashmir and on the other through Lieutenant Colonel Bacon they were going to execute their plan of cutting off the north-west Kashmir from Indian control. 

In just four days after the accession of Kashmir on 31 October 1947 the British officers commanding the Gilgit Agency Major Brown and Captain Mathieson completed a coup in Gilgit. After accession the two of them had opted to serve for Pakistan and should have left Gilgit, still remained there and took orders from Bacon who was in Khyber which became part of Pakistan. Brown got his scout troops surround the Gilgit residency during the night of 31 October 1947 and capture it after a short gun battle in which he lost one scout and later imprisoned the Governor Brigadier Ghansara Singh. Without any authority Brown informed Peshawar of the accession of Gilgit Agency to Pakistan and on 2 November 1947 the Pakistan flag was raised over the headquarters of Gilgit Scouts. Major Brown received the Order of British Empire (OBE) in the new years honors list as his reward for the successful military coup in Kashmir's Gilgit. This confirms that it was not just one or two rogue officers helping Pakistan to capture Gilgit it was a well thought out plan by the British Empire to make sure India does not get a land route connect to the Central Asian Countries (yesteryear USSR) through a small Afghan strip of the Wakhan Corridor and in turn keep it away from the strategic location of Gilgit-Baltistan which is rightfully an integral part of India. Nehru also accepted this coup quietly and never raised this globally and the whole story around POK or accession of Kashmir remains focussed on the Pakistani Army invasion. Where we rarely hear about the British role in creating POK, they were equally guilty by joining hands with Pakistan. This could have been even treated as an invasion by a retreating colonial ruler trying to grab parts of its own colony. 

Seven decades have passed and this region which was once known for its beautiful mountainous areas of Swat & Chitral has now become unfortunate dens of Islamic terrorism and we still rarely talk about this. The sequence of events makes me wonder what if this never happened. The domination of China in the region would have been very difficult. Our dependency on Chabahar Port for trade with Afghanistan and Central Asia would not have been so important because through Wakhan Corridor we could have got road and rail connectivity right up to Russia. Also the situation in Afghanistan would have been different had the coup not taken place.