Azad Kashmir

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Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) آزاد جموں و کشمیر
Country	Pakistan
Capital  • Coordinates	Muzaffarabad  • 34°13′N 73°17′E / 34.22°N 73.28°E / 34.22; 73.28
Largest city	Mirpur
Population (2008)  • Density	4,567,982 (estimate)  • 306/km²
Area	13,297 km²
Time zone	PST (UTC+5)
Main language(s)	Urdu (official) Punjabi Hindko Mirpuri Pahari Gojri Pashto
Status	self-governing state under Pakistani control
• Districts	•  8
• Towns	•  19
• Union councils	•  182
Established  • Governor/Commissioner  • Chief Minister  • Legislature (seats)	1948  • President Raja Zulqarnain Khan  • Prime Minister Sardar Yaqoob Khan  • Legislative Assembly (49)
Website	Government of Azad Kashmir

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (Urdu: آزاد جموں و کشمیر; AJK) or, for short, Azad Kashmir (literally, "free Kashmir") is the southernmost political entity within the Pakistani-controlled part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. It borders the present-day Indian-administered state of Jammu and Kashmir to the east (separated from it by the Line of Control), the North-West Frontier Province of Pakistan to the west, the Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA) to the north, and the Punjab Province of Pakistan to the south. With its capital at Muzaffarabad, Azad Kashmir covers an area of 13,297 square kilometres (5,134 sq mi) and has an estimated population of about four million.

Azad Kashmir's financial matters, i.e., budget and tax affairs, are dealt with by the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council, rather than by Pakistan's Central Board of Revenue. The Azad Jammu and Kashmir Council is a supreme body consisting of 11 members, six from the government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and five from the government of Pakistan. Its chairman/chief executive is the president of Pakistan. Other members of the council are the president and the prime minister of Azad Kashmir and a few other AJK ministers.

History

map of the entire Kashmir region

After the Partition of India in 1947, the princely states were given the option of joining either India or Pakistan. However, Hari Singh, the maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, wanted Jammu and Kashmir to remain independent. In order to buy some time, he signed a stand-still agreement, which side-stepped the agreement that each princely state would join either India or Pakistan.^[1] The raiders from North-West Frontier Province and the Tribal Areas feared that Hari Singh may join Indian Union. In October 1947 supported by Pakistani Army they attacked Kashmir and tried to take over control of Kashmir. Initially Hari Singh tried to resist their progress but failed. Hari Singh then requested Indian Union to help. India responded that it could not help unless Kashmir joins India. So on 26 October 1947 Kashmir accession papers were signed and Indian troops were airlifted to Srinagar. Fighting ensued between Indian Army & Pakistani Army with control stabilizing more or less around what is now the "Line of Control".^[2]

Las Dana-Haji Pir Road, Bagh District

Later, India approached UN to solve the dispute and resolutions were passed to hold a plebiscite with regard to Kashmir's future. However, this plebiscite has not been held on either side since the legal requirement for the holding of a plebiscite was the withdrawal of the Indian and Pakistani armies from the parts of Kashmir that were under their respective control—a withdrawal that never did take place.^[3] In 1949, a cease-fire line separating the Indian- and Pakistani-controlled parts of Kashmir was formally put into effect.

Following the 1949 cease-fire agreement, the government of Pakistan divided the northern and western parts of Kashmir which it held into the following two separately-controlled political entities:

1. Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) - the narrow southern part, 250 miles (400 km) long, with a width varying from 10 to 40 miles (16 to 64 km).
2. Gilgit-Baltistan formerly called Federally Administered Northern Areas (FANA) - is the much larger area to the north of AJK, 72,496 square kilometres (27,991 sq mi), it was directly administered by Pakistan as a de facto dependent territory, i.e., a non-self-governing territory. However it was officially granted full autonomy on 29 August, 2009.^[4]

An area of Kashmir, that was once under Pakistani control, is the Shaksgam tract —a small region along the northeastern border of the Northern Areas that was provisionally ceded by Pakistan to the People's Republic of China in 1963 and which now forms part of China's Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang.

In 1972, the then current border between Pakistani and Indian held areas of Kashmir was designated as the "Line of Control". The Line of Control has remained unchanged^[5] since the 1972 Simla pact, which bound the two countries "to settle their differences by peaceful means through bilateral negotiations." Some political experts claim that, in view of that pact, the only solution to the issue is mutual negotiation between the two countries without involving a third party, such as the United Nations.

Government

Districts of Azad Kashmir

Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) is a self-governing state under Pakistani control but is not constitutionally part of Pakistan^{[citation needed]}. It has its own elected president, prime minister, legislature, high court, and official flag. The government of Pakistan has not yet allowed the state to issue its own postage stamps, however, and Pakistani stamps are used in the state, instead. The state is administratively divided into two divisions which, in turn, are divided into eight districts.

Ethnic Groups

Azad Kashmir is predominantly Muslim. The majority of the population is culturally, linguistically, and ethnically related to the people of northern Punjab. The article Ethnic groups of Azad Kashmir gives a breakdown of all the major tribes in the state. The vast majority of the people who live in Azad Kashmir, despite that region's being referred to as part of Kashmir, do not speak Kashmiri or any of its dialects.

Toli pir Rawalakot

Languages

Urdu is the official language of Azad Kashmir but is spoken by only a minority of people^{[citation needed]}. The dominant language spoken in the state is Pahari, which is very similar to Pothwari and Hindko^{[citation needed]}.

Economy

This section requires expansion.

In the latter part of 2006, billions of dollars for development were mooted by international aid agencies for the reconstruction and rehabilitation of earthquake-hit zones in Azad Kashmir, though much of those funds were subsequently lost in bureaucratic channels, leading to delay in help reaching the most needy, and hundreds of people are still living in tents.^[7] A land-use plan for Muzaffarabad city was prepared by the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Education

The Literacy rate for Azad Kashmir was 62% in 2004. Higher than any other region in Pakistan. Out of 62% about 55.47% are people at the age of 10 or a little above of it, 70.52% are male and 40.46% are female.^[8] However, only 2.2% were graduates compared to the average of 2.9% for the whole of Pakistan.^[9]

Gallery

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Sheru Dhara, Bagh	Cloudy weather in Toli pir	Banjosa, Rawalakot	Kotli
Kotli District	Mangla Dam, adjacent to Mirpur	Typical houses in Mirpur	Toli pir Azad kashmir
Rawalakot Valley	Banjosa rest house and lake	Rawalakot bazaar	Bagh, city view

State Symbols

Black-necked crane, the state bird	Kashmir stag, the state animal	Almond tree, the state tree	Rhododendron, the state flower
Polo, the state sport

Notable Kashmiris

• Mian Muhammad Bakhsh, sufi saint
• Baba Shadi Shaheed, sufi saint
• Sardar Sikandar Hayat Khan, former prime minister and president of Azad Kashmir
• Prof Dr Mohammad Sharif Chattar, botanist, author, poet
• Barrister Sultan Mahmood, former prime minister of Azad Kashmir
• Lord Nazir Ahmed, member of the UK House of Lords
• Karam Hussain, mayor of Kirklees, UK
• Ghulam Ahmad, author, educator, and philanthropist
• Khawaja Zafar Iqbal, journalist
• Ali Adnan Ibrahim, scholar and lawyer
• Saira Khan, BBC presenter
• Khalid Mahmood, member of the UK parliament
• Sheikh Younas Azam, Kashmiri journalist (deceased)
• Tassadaq Hussain Khan, former army chief
• Baba-e-Poonch Khansahib Col Khan Muhammad Khan Member of Legislaive Assembly for Tehsil Bagh and Sudhonoti, 1934 - 1946.
• Sardar Fateh Muhammad Khan Karelvi, Muslim MLA during Dogra rule
• Aziz Khan, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee of Pakistan
• Sardar Muhammad Anwar Khan, vice-chief of the General Staff
• General Raja Sakhi Daler Khan
• Tahir Abbas, sociologist at the University of Birmingham

See also

• Kashmir Conflict

References

External links

Pakistan portal

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• Government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir
• Azad Jammu and Kashmir travel guide from Wikitravel

v • d • e Administrative divisions of Azad Kashmir Capital Muzaffarabad Districts Bagh · Bhimber · Kotli · Mirpur · Muzaffarabad · Neelum · Poonch · Sudhnati