Pakistan Alert Network: Chronology of India-Pakistan Wars

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Pakistan's Ongoing 2 Million Refugee Crisis
Never in human history so many refugees have been created in such a short period of time as in Pakistan. 2 million in ten days. May Allah have mercy on these poor people who are still displaced 2 months later.

Urge Your Local Bar Association to Take Action
The movement for the restoration of judiciary in Pakistan is gaining moment. The pressure to reinstate the original judicial system is building up as more bar associations around the world are demonstrating support for the legal community in Pakistan.

Demand the Restoration of Judicial System in Pakistan
For the last eight months Pakistanis are leading an effort to establish the rule of law in Pakistan. It has given rise to a genuine popular movement of Pakistanis in Pakistan, led by lawyers, human rights activists, and professionals in Pakistan.

A Chronology of the Kashmir Dispute

Map of Kashmir

Chronology of India-Pakistan Wars

India and Pakistan have fought three wars with each other since gaining independence from Great Britain in 1947. The first of these was fought from 1947-1948, the second in 1965, and the third in 1971. The disputed region of Jammu and Kashmir has proven a flash point for these two countries. The first two wars they fought were over control of this area.

The first war was fought almost immediately after the two countries were declared independent nations. India and Pakistan were at odds over the state of Jammu and Kashmir that had been, in effect, an independent monarchy in British India.

Under the terms of the British withdrawal, "princely states" such as Jammu and Kashmir were to join either India or Pakistan, according to certain guidelines. The first of these was that states with majority Muslim populations would accede to Pakistan, and states with majority Hindu populations would accede to India. The second was that states were to accede to the emerging country with which they shared a border.

While Kashmir had a primarily Muslim population, it shared borders with both India and Pakistan. At first the monarch of Kashmir had refused to accede to either state and attempted to retain the region's status as an independent area. However, a rebellion broke out in the western part of Kashmir. Seeing the rebellion as an opportunity for getting a foothold in the region, the Pakistani leadership sent in regular troops disguised as local tribesmen.

In an effort to obtain India's assistance in quelling the rebellion and fending off the invaders, the maharaja agreed to India's terms. He acceded to India by signing the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947, and Sheikh Muhammad Abdullah, the leader of the largest secular and popular organization in the state, approved the accession.

Shortly after, Indian troops landed in Srinagar and blocked the advance of the invading forces. Eventually a ceasefire was agreed upon through mediation by the United Nations. The war came to a close on January 1, 1949. The total number of battle deaths was around 1,500.

The second Indo-Pakistan war was also fought over Kashmir. It began on August 14, 1965. Widespread disturbances had broken out in the Kashmir valley following the theft of a sacred relic, the Moe-e-Moqdas, from the Hazaratbal mosque in Srinagar, the winter capital of Kashmir, in December 1963. Protests against Indian rule had reinforced the Pakistani belief that local Kashmiris would support a Pakistani invasion. As they had in 1947, the Pakistani military began infiltrating guerrilla forces into the Kashmir valley beginning in June 1965.

These infiltrators were supposed to link up with pro-independence Kashmiris and spark a full-fledged rebellion within the state.
However, the local Kashmiris turned in the infiltrators to the Indian authorities. Despite this, the Pakistani leadership continued infiltration efforts throughout the summer of 1965. As the Indian authorities moved to seal the border, a number of skirmishes took place along the Ceasefire Line, established after the 1947-1948 war in Kashmir.

On September 1, 1965, the Pakistan army launched a major assault on Kashmir; a second on September 5, penetrated 14 miles into Indian-occupied territory. To relieve pressure on the Kashmir front, Indian forces counter-attacked in the Punjab near the Pakistani city of Lahore and crossed the international border. By mid-September 1965, the war had reached a stalemate. On September 20, the United Nations called for a ceasefire, to which both sides agreed by September 22.

India suffered about 3,000 casualties and Pakistan about 3,800. Following the ceasefire, the Indian prime minister met with the Pakistani president in the Central Asian city of Tashkent to negotiate a settlement. Both sides agreed to return to their original borders but the underlying causes of the Kashmir dispute were never resolved.

The third war between India and Pakistan began after a civil war in East Pakistan. In December 1970, Pakistan held nationwide elections. In East Pakistan, the Awami League led by Sheikh Mujiber Rehman won an overwhelming majority. In the western part of Pakistan, the Pakistan People's Party of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto won the majority. Negotiations on power sharing between the two wings of Pakistan broke down by February 1971, after both sides had taken rigid stances. The growing political turmoil in East Pakistan produced increasing demands for regional autonomy.

As a result, the Pakistani army began a crackdown on Dhaka, the capital of East Pakistan. Unprecedented numbers of refugees began to flood from East Pakistan into the neighbouring Indian state of West Bengal (now Bangla). By about mid-May 1971, the refugee population had climbed to around 9.8 million.

A group of Indian statesmen successfully argued that it would be cheaper to fight another war with Pakistan than to absorb almost 10 million refugees. Accordingly, Prime Minster Indira Gandhi fashioned a strategy designed to accomplish two objectives: the return of the refugees and the creation of a new state in East Pakistan.

The Indians began providing the resistance movement, known as the Mukti Bahini ("liberation force"), with sanctuaries, training, and weaponry. By November 1971, the Mukti Bahini was attacking military installations in East Pakistan from bases along the Indian border. Unable to deter these attacks, Pakistan declared war on India along the western frontier on December 3, 1971.

The Indian army moved quickly into East Pakistan and routed the Pakistani forces. On December 17, both India and Pakistan declared ceasefires. Pakistan's defeat in the 1971 war led to the creation of Bangladesh. India was the first country to recognize Bangladesh as an independent state.