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| 1965 war: When Kashmiris were made scapegoats | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Aug 10: In 1964, Sher-e-Kashmir was sent on a special mission to Pakistan by the Indian Prime Minister, Jawahar Lal Nehru. However, while he was still in Pakistan, Nehru died and Sher-e-Kashmir had to cut short his important mission. He returned immediately to participate in the funeral of his `friend'. The `mission Kashmir' ended on Nehru's pyre. His successor, Lal Bahadur Shastri ignored Sheikh Abdullah much to his disappointment.
A noted Kashmiri journalist who was exiled by Sher-e-Kashmir's regime has written on his (Sher-e-Kashmir's) activities in Pakistan. According to him, "Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah discussed a possibility of guerrilla war in Kashmir, and Pakistan's support for it. He was disappointed with the response of the Pakistani authorities."
After 1965 war when Pakistan President, General Ayoub Khan, and his Foreign Ministry officials including late Zulifkar Ali Bhuttoo, shifted the blame for the failure of Operation Gibraltor on the people of Kashmir, Mir came out openly to defend the hapless Kashmiris. In a meeting with a noted columnist Shabir Chowdhury at his Rawalpindi residence, immediately after the war, Mir said, "When Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah visited Pakistan in 1964, he discussed a possibility of guerrilla war in Kashmir, and Pakistan's support for it. He was disappointed with the response of the Pakistani authorities. When he returned back from Hajj he was arrested by India and once again put behind the bars. When Pakistan started the 'Operation Gibraltar' in 1965, he was still in jail and must have been astonished to hear about 'guerrilla war', if it can be called so."
In the same meeting Mir added, "Poor Kashmiris were made the scapegoats. They were never consulted, not even informed that a war of liberation of Kashmir was being started. Those who were sent to Kashmir valley did not even know the Kashmiri language. .....The whole affair was a wild goose chase."
Mir Abdul Aziz also claimed that some Mujahideen went to shops and asked for 'dho seir ata' (two kilo flour), but they asked in weights which were abolished a long time ago. Also, the request for 'atta' was enough to expose them that they were not Kashmiris.
It was after the failure of the venture when the planners of the 'Operation' turned their propaganda guns against the poor Kashmiris, and claimed that if it were not for the non co-operation of the Kashmiris, the 'Operation' would have been successful. In a systematic manner this misinformation was spread and Government resources were used to carry out this propaganda operation. The planners of the 'Operation Gibraltar' were unsuccessful in liberating Kashmir but they were successful in shifting the blame of Operation's failure onto the Kashmiri people. This is because Mir Abdul Aziz, as earlier quoted, said, 'poor Kashmiris were made the scapegoats.' |
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