Seventy-eight years have passed since Indian forces landed in Srinagar on October 27, 1947, an event remembered by Kashmiris worldwide as Black Day. That day marks the beginning of India’s illegal occupation of Jammu and Kashmir, the betrayal of solemn pledges for self-determination, and the ongoing suffering of a people still denied their inalienable right to determine their own future.
Roots of the Tragedy
The Kashmir tragedy predates 1947. Under the Treaty of Amritsar (1846), the British sold the entire Muslim-majority state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) to the Dogra ruler Gulab Singh for 7.5 million Nanak Shahi rupees. Gulab Singh and his successors governed the state through systemic repression and discrimination, particularly targeting Muslims. By mid-1947, as British India approached independence, Maharaja Hari Singh’s Dogra forces, assisted by Patiala state troops and the RSS militia cadres, carried out violent anti-Muslim pogroms in Jammu.
According to The Times (London, August 10, 1948), over 237,000 Muslims were systematically massacred, and more than a million fled to Pakistan. These massacres formed part of a deliberate effort to alter the region’s demography before any decision on accession. Meanwhile, local Muslims in Poonch revolted in mid-August 1947, expelled Dogra troops, and sought accession to Pakistan, weeks before any tribal intervention.
