Jammu and Kashmir: Faultlines over the decades

Jammu and Kashmir: Faultlines over the decades
TNN, Sep 16, 2010, 04.23am IST
Faultlines over the decades

Oct 27, 1947 | Tribal raiders, backed by Pakistan army, attack Kashmir; Maharaja Hari Singh signs the Instrument of Accession with India

Dec 31, 1948 | The two sides call for a ceasefire

Apr 21, 1948 | India takes the issue to the UN Security Council, which passed Resolution 47 imposing an immediate ceasefire and says New Delhi should retain a minimum military presence and that the final solution will be made through a plebiscite conducted under UN auspices. India and Pakistan agree to hold the plebiscite

Aug 1953 | Kashmiri leader Sheikh Abdullah arrested; Kashmir erupts and observes a 20-day strike. Many say the Sheikh's arrest marked the beginning of separatism
1963 | Pakistan cedes 20% of Kashmir including Aksai Chin, which it occupied following the Sino-Indian War and the Trans-Karakoram Tract to China

1965 | Second Indo-Pak war begins following Islamabad's Operation Gibraltar, designed to infiltrate forces into J&K. The five-week war ends in a UN mandated ceasefire and the subsequent Tashkent Declaration

1971 | Another war results in Pakistan military's surrender in East Pakistan ( Bangladesh). The two countries agree to settle all issues including J&K in the framework of the UN Charter and the subsequent Shimla Agreement

1975 | After decades of incarceration, Sheikh abandons his self-determination platform and inks the "Delhi Accord" with Indira Gandhi, seeking "a place of honour and dignity in terms of safeguards provided under Article 370"

1987 | Rigged elections trigger insurgency

1999 | Terrorists and Pakistani soldiers infiltrate into J&K during the winter season and occupy vacant mountain peaks of the Kargil range, resulting in a high-scale conflict

Apr 2003 | PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, often described as the architect of the peace process, visits Srinagar and calling for better relations with Pakistan and a peaceful approach to Kashmir conflict

Jan 2004 | The renewed thaw consolidates when Vajpayee and Pakistani ruler Pervez Musharraf meet in Islamabad and announce a slew of measures. Later in January, a Hurriyat delegation meets Vajpayee and deputy prime minister L K Advani, in the first such face-to-face encounter between the separatists and the highest officials

Feb 2004 | The first round of talks held in Islamabad between India and Pakistan foreign secretaries and an eight-item agenda, including Kashmir, agreed on for substantive talks. Further meetings held in the second half of 2004.

Dec 2008 | Extraordinary balloting in state elections sees a record 68% turnout, fuelling hope of a return to normalcy




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