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| Economic blockade of J&K by Pakistan | | |
SANT KUMAR SHARMA
Jammu, October 23
Sixty-two years ago, the state’s economy was predominantly agricultural, just as it continues to be even now. As such, the state imported many essential items from outside, mainly the undivided Punjab controlled by the British.
At the time of Partition, in August 1947, the most important items of import were salt, cloth, rice and fuel (both petrol and diesel) for automobiles. Trading in these items was well-established and the state government used to import these goods by payment in cash.
Jammu was then the railhead and the trains moved goods from Amritsar to Lahore, onwards to Sialkot and from there to Jammu. Incidentally, Sialkot and Jammu are located only 38 km apart and the two cities had very close ties, social, cultural as also economic.
In August 1947, Pakistan emerged as a new nation on the world map as the British departed from the sub-continent. The ruler of Jammu & Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh, had entered into a Standstill Agreement with the Pakistan government.
The Pakistan government assured the Maharaja that the supplies of essentials like salt and petrol will continue unhindered. On advance payment basis. Based on these assurances, the J&K government made necessary payments to ensure uninterrupted supplies but that was not to be.
It is pertinent to mention here that Eid that year fell in last week of October and by mid-October, the demand for all goods in the entire state was at a peak. This was due to the fear psychosis that prevailed as sporadic raids by marauders were routine and the hoarding by citizens that it fostered. Also, the festival season also contributed to enhanced demand.
According to official documents, the state had paid for import of rice for four months (November, December, January and February). An advance payment of Rs 6,01,000 had been made but the state was supplied only 406 tonnes. This was just enough for less than a month and the rest of the supplies were withheld.
No less than 637 tonnes of wheat, sufficient for two months, as also supplies of gram, was also with-held, willfully, by Pakistan authorities.
In Rawalpindi, 189 bales of cloth had been collected for J&K but these were not allowed to be brought in.
Supply of 10 wagons (206 tonnes) of salt lying at Rawalpindi was also halted.
To starve and paralyse the state’s economy completely, the Pakistan government also with-held supplies of 5,000 tins of kerosene and 1.75 million litres of petrol.
Simultaneously, Pakistan also sought to freeze all communications in the state. Lack of supply of petrol immobilized motorized transport as the stocks started depleting. The railway service connecting Sialkot to Jammu, which brought in vital supplies, was also disrupted in the last week of September 1947.
With all arteries blocked, a slow creeping paralysis set in within Jammu & Kashmir, according to history division of the ministry of defence.
This was the economic blockade that Pakistan enforced on J&K before it launched Operation Gulmarg, the operation to capture the state using force, despite the Standstill Agreement it had entered into with the state.
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