PC Pak Search Sudhan Operation

PC Pak Search Sudhan Operation
Part of the Kashmir conflict and 1955 Poonch uprising
Date5 June 1950 (1950-06-05) – 1955
Location
Azad Kashmir
Belligerents
Commanders and leaders
Sardar Muhammad Ibrahim Khan[2]
Casualties and losses
Several arrested
Several homes burned down
  • 458 killed[3][4]
  • 1,204 injured
  • 500 captured[5]

PC Pak Search Sudhan Operation was a Pakistani military operation of the 1955 Poonch uprising. It was the first major operation of the Pakistan Army inside Pakistan and was conducted against Sudhan tribal insurgents in the Sudhan-majority Sudhanoti, Poonch, Bagh, and Kotli Districts of Azad Kashmir.[6]

Background

A UN-backed ceasefire was signed by India and Pakistan on 1 January 1949, marking the end of the Indo-Pakistani war. Sardar Ibrahim Khan, the president of the newly established Azad Kashmir, was not a signatory to the ceasefire and disagreements grew between Ibrahim Khan and the government of Pakistan over the future of Kashmir. These tensions culminated in the Pakistan government suspending Ibrahim Khan from the presidency of Azad Kashmir on 21 May 1950.[7]

As a response to his ousting, Ibrahim Khan started the democracy movement, which eventually turned into an armed rebellion, paralyzing the Azad Kashmir government. After eliminating all police posts from Azad Kashmir and occupying 80% of its territory, Ibrahim Khan declared his rebel government in Rawalkot in the Poonch District.[8]

The operation

The PC Pak Sudhan operation was conducted by the 12th division of the Pakistan army.[9] The operation was a direct response to the rebellion orchestrated by Ibrahim Khan, who was continuing to advance on other areas of Azad Kashmir.

Negotiations

Negotiations were held between Sardar Ibrahim and the Government of Pakistan on 4 April 1952, after which ten Saduzai groups, under Ibrahim Khan's command, surrendered to the government of Pakistan while Bagh and Sidhnuti districts refused Ibrahim Khan's decision to negotiate. However, after Pakistani forces gained control and occupied the Bagh and Sidhnuti districts, Sardar Abdul Aziz Khan, who had established his rebel government in the Bagh district, negotiated with the government of Pakistan on 2 January 1955 and surrendered. The Sadhuzai chieftains of the hilly areas of the Sidhnuti district neither surrendered nor agreed to any negotiations until the Baral Agreement of 1956.[10]

Baral Agreement

The last rebel leader of the 1950s, Ghazi Sher Dil Khan, along with 2,000 Saduzai rebels, signed an agreement surrendering to the government of Pakistan and the independent government of the state of Jammu and Kashmir on 20 September 1956 in the Baral valley. This agreement was effectuated by the president of Azad Kashmir, Sardar Muhammad Abdul Qayyum Khan.

See also

References

  1. ^ https://frontline.thehindu.com/books/land-beyond-the-line/article37249858.ece/amp/ Book Review: Dinkar P. Srivastava's "Forgotten Kashmir: The Other Side of the Line of Control" sheds light on PoK Sudhan revolt. The fourth chapter is on the Sudhan Revolt, once again a little-known page of history. Pakistan dismissed Sardar Ibrahim Khan as president of PoK in May 1950 and his tribe, the Sudhan, took to arms. The Pakistani military put down the rebellion.
  2. ^ Mahmud, Ershad. “Status of AJK in Political Milieu.” Policy Perspectives, vol. 3, Sudhan Rebellion In Azad Kashmir http://www.jstor.org/stable/42922642. Accessed 8 Dec. 2023.
  3. ^ Snedden, Christopher (December 2013). Kashmir - The Untold Story. HarperCollins India. pp. 120, 121, 122. ISBN 9789350298985.
  4. ^ Khan Yousafzai, Usman (18 March 2021). "The forgotten Poonch revolt: A stain on our history". tribune.com.pk. The Express Tribune. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  5. ^ Haley Duschinski; Mona Bhan; Cabeiri deBergh Robinson, eds. (June 2023). The Palgrave Handbook of New Directions in Kashmir Studies. Springer. ISBN 978-3-031-28520-2. Sudhans' uprising also was embarrassing. Rebels captured some 500 Pakistani soldiers and spoilt pretensions that Azad Kashmir was a stable, unified region
  6. ^ Marxism, In Defence of (17 November 2005). "Kashmir's Ordeal - Chapter Six". Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  7. ^ Zubair, Zeba (2020), From Mutiny to Mountbatten, Routledge, p. xliv, ISBN 9781317847991
  8. ^ Snedden, Christopher (December 2013). Kashmir - The Untold Story. HarperCollins India. pp. 120, 121, 122. ISBN 9789350298985.
  9. ^ Khan Yousafzai, Usman (18 March 2021). "The forgotten Poonch revolt: A stain on our history". tribune.com.pk. The Express Tribune. Retrieved 20 June 2021.
  10. ^ Kapur, Manohar Lal; Kapur (1980). History of Jammu and Kashmir State: The making of the State. India: Kashmir History Publications. p. 52.