The following is a timeline of the Kashmir conflict.
1946–1947: Kashmir Unrest and Accession
1946
May 1946: Sheikh Abdullah launches the "Quit Kashmir" movement against the Maharaja. He is arrested and charged with sedition. Jawaharlal Nehru attempts to go to Kashmir to defend Abdullah in court. He is arrested and forced to leave the State.
July 1946: The Maharaja declares the Kashmiris would decide their own destiny without any outside interference.
October 1946: Muslim Conference launches a `Campaign of Action' demanding the end of autocratic rule by the Maharaja. Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas imprisoned.
November 1946: The British Resident in Kashmir observes that the Maharaja and the Prime Minister Ram Chandra Kak intend to stay away from the Indian Union (the proposed independent Dominion, prior to the partition decision). The reason cited is "antagonism... displayed by a Congress Central Government" towards Kashmir.
December 1946: Hindu and Sikh refugees from the Hazara district pour into Muzaffarabad. 2,500 of them are looked after by the state.
Early 1947
January 1947: Elections held for the State's legislative assembly. The National Conference boycotts the elections. The Muslim Conference wins 16 of the 21 Muslim seats.
March 1947: Lord Mountbatten arrives in India as the last Viceroy of India, amidst country-wide communal riots. The Unionist government of Punjab falls.
April 1947
April: Hindus and Sikhs of Sialkot flee to Jammu in the face of increasing tensions. The exodus increases in June and continues till August.
21 April: Maharaja greeted by a gathering of 40,000 demobilised soldiers in Poonch. He was `specially impressed and alarmed', according to Azad Kashmir sources.
May 1947
1 May: The Maharani of Jammu and Kashmir along with Yuvraj Karan Singh initiates discussions with Justice Mehr Chand Mahajan, a judge of the Punjab High Court with connections to the Indian National Congress, to come in as the Prime Minister of Kashmir. Mahajan shows reluctance.
June–July 1947
3 June: The Partition Plan decided to divide British India into independent dominions of India and Pakistan.
13 June: At the Joint Defence Council meeting, Jinnah and Nehru disagree on the accession of princely states, Jinnah asserting that it was for the rulers to decide and Nehru insisting that it was for the people.
19 June: Lord Mountbatten visits Kashmir for 5 days to persuade the Maharaja to accede to India or Pakistan. Maharaja shows reluctance.
June: Poonchis start a 'No Tax' campaign against the Maharaja's administration.
end of June: Maharaja has a meeting with Punjab businessman Rai Bahadur Gopal Das, where he expresses fears of ill-treatment at the hands of Congressmen. Gopal Das relays this to Vallabhbhai Patel.
July: The Maharaja forces the disarming of demobilised soldiers in Poonch and Mirpur. Muslims complain that the arms they deposited with the police were distributed to Hindus and Sikhs for self-defence.
3 July: Vallabhbhai Patel writes to the Maharaja trying to allay his fears of ill-will from the Indian National Congress. Patel encourages him to visit Delhi for discussions. The letter is followed by detailed discussions between the Maharaja and Gopal Das. Maharaja promises to declare general amnesty to all political prisoners and also to dismiss the Prime Minister Ram Chandra Kak.
11 July: Muhammad Ali Jinnah declares that if Kashmir opted for independence, Pakistan would have friendly relations with it. Liaquat Ali Khan endorses the position.
19 July: At a convention of the Muslim Conference in Srinagar, the followers of the acting president Choudhry Hamidullah support independence for the state, and those of Mirwaiz Yousuf Shah support accession to Pakistan. The eventual compromise resolution requested the Maharaja to declare the "internal autonomy" of the state and accede to Pakistan for defence, foreign affairs and communications. Jinnah's personal secretary K. H. Khurshid assures the Maharaja that Pakistan would not "take away an iota of his power".
23 July: State's Prime Minister Ram Chandra Kak visits Delhi for 5 days, meeting Mountbatten as well as the political leaders of Congress and Muslim League. He explains that the State has decided not to accede to either Dominion.
August 1947
1 August: Mahatma Gandhi visits the Maharaja; impresses upon him the need to be prompt in deciding on the State's accession. In discussions with Ram Chandra Kak, Gandhi reportedly pointed out to him his unpopularity and Kak offered to resign.
1 August: The Gilgit Agency is transferred by the British to the Maharaja. The British Political Agent Colonel Roger Bacon hands over the power to Major Ghansara Singh appointed Governor of Gilgit. Major William Brown appointed commander of the Gilgit Scouts.
11 August: Maharaja dismisses Prime Minister Ram Chandra Kak and replaces him with the retired Major Janak Singh. Concurrently a second approach is made to Justice Mahajan to come in as the Prime Minister. Due to floods and partition violence, the message reaches him only on 25 August.
11–13 August: Partition violence erupts in Sialkot, driving the surviving Hindus and Sikhs to Jammu.
14–15 August: Independence and Partition of British India into India and Pakistan. Kashmir signs Standstill Agreement with Pakistan. India requests further discussions for a Standstill agreement.
18 August: In one of the worst train massacres of Partition, Lohars and 'Kashmiris' of Nizamabad kill all the Hindu and Sikh passengers of Wazirabad-Jammu train.
20 August: Pakistan Army formulates `Operation Gulmarg' to organise a tribal invasion of Kashmir.
23 August: Rebels under the command of Sardar Abdul Qayyum fire on the State Forces at Bagh. According to Major General Henry Lawrence Scott, the Chief of Staff of State Forces, they were incited by 30 Muslims from West Punjab that entered the State a few days earlier.
25 August: Maharani's emissary delivers invitation to Justice Mahajan, with a repeated request on 7 September.
25 August: Muslim Conference writes to the Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan claiming that the state's government and the National Conference were intriguing. "If, God forbid, the Pakistan Government or the Muslim League do not act, Kashmir might be lost to them and the responsibility would be theirs," warns the communication.
September 1947
Early September: Pakistan Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan charges Mian Iftikharuddin with organising a revolt in Kashmir. Iftikharuddin introduces the Muslim Conference leader Sardar Ibrahim to Colonel Akbar Khan. Sardar Ibrahim requests and receives arms for the rebels.
4 September: Henry Lawrence Scott informs the Maharaja that 400 armed Muslims infiltrated from Kahuta into the state to terrorise the Hindu and Sikh minorities. Kashmir reports the information to Pakistan and urges it to control the inflitration. On the same day, Civil & Military Gazette reports that there was an `uprising' in the Poonch area.
9 September: Pakistan cuts off supplies of petrol, sugar, salt and kerosene and stops trade in timber, fruits, fur and carpets in violation of the standstill agreement.
12 September: Liaquat Ali Khan approves the plan for "Armed Revolt inside Kashmir" prepared by Colonel Akbar Khan and another plan prepared by Sardar Shaukat Hayat Khan. Khurshid Anwar of Muslim League National Guard is dispatched to the Frontier to mobilise the Pashtun tribes for an armed attack.
13 September: Pakistan accepts the accession of the Junagadh State.
13-18 September: Justice Mehr Chand Mahajan visits Kashmir and accepts the Maharaja's invitation to be the Prime Minister of the state.
19 September: Mahajan meets Jawaharlal Nehru and Vallabhbhai Patel in Delhi to apprise them of the situation in the state. He indicates Maharaja's willingness to accede to India but asks for political reforms to be delayed. Nehru demands the release of Sheikh Abdullah.
20 September: Muslim Conference informs Jinnah that there was "atrocious military oppression in Poonch." According to Sardar Ibrahim, a people's militia of 50,000 ex-servicemen was raised to form an `Azad Army'.
26 September: Civil & Military Gazette reports on the `Exodus of Muslims from Jammu'. 50,000 Muslims are said to have migrated to West Punjab. The Jammu city's Muslim population is said to have been halved.
27 September: Nehru writes to Vallabhbhai Patel predicting a Pakistani incursion into Kashmir. He recommends that the Maharaja "make friends" with the National Conference.
29 September: Sheikh Abdullah released from prison. Henry Lawrence Scott, the Chief of Staff of the State Forces leaves his position. Records that about 100,000 Muslims from East Punjab and an equal number of non-Muslims from West Punjab were safely escorted through Jammu by the State Forces.
30 September: Nehru proposes using plebiscite as a means of settling disputes regarding princely states. It is discussed in the Indian Cabinet and then communicated to Pakistani Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, who is in Delhi. Khan's eyes are said to have "sparkled" at the proposal. However, he makes no response.
October 1947
3 October: Khwaja Ghulam Nabi Gilkar, under the assumed name "Mr. Anwar," issues the proclamation of a provisional `Azad Kashmir' government in Muzaffarabad. This government fails with the arrest of Gilkar in Srinagar.
5 October: Nehru is informed by Dwarakanath Kachru that the Maharaja had lost control of the western districts of the state.
6 October: Armed rebellion starts in Poonch.
6 October: The Maharaja replaces the chief of State Forces Banbury and the police chief Powell by Hindu officers.
7 October: Maharaja imposes rigorous precensorship of Press, especially of all views regarding the State's accession.
8-9 October: Owen Pattan post on Jhelum river captured by rebels. Sehnsa and Throchi abandoned by State Forces after attack.
10 October: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel expedites Justice Mahajan's leave from Punjab High Court enabling him to accept Prime Ministership. Mahajan visits Indian leaders and Lord Mountbatten in Delhi before proceeding to Srinagar.
12 October: K. H. Khurshid, Jinnah's private secretary, sent to Kashmir to mobilise support for Pakistan, reports, "Muslim Conference is now practically a dead organization." Consequently, Pakistan has to use force, and "supply arms and foodstuff to the tribes within and without the state."
14 October: The activists of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and the Akalis mount attacks on villages of the Jammu district, killing Muslims and setting houses on fire, said to be the beginning of 1947 Jammu violence.
15 October: Mehr Chand Mahajan takes charge as Prime Minister of the state. A concentration of 6,000 tribesmen reported at Abbottabad-Mansehra.
19–22 October: The Maharaja and the new Prime Minister travel to the Jammu province to investigate the Pakistani border raids, visiting Jammu (19 October), Bhimber (20 October), Kathua (21 October) and returning to Srinagar on 23 October.
20 October: Lorries carrying 900 Mahsud tribesmen leave Frontier tribal region heading to Kashmir. Governor George Cunningham sends a letter to the Indian army chief Gen. Rob Lockhart warning him about the invasion, which was received on 23 or 24 October.
21 October: Maharaja appoints Bakshi Tek Chand, a retired judge of the Punjab High Court, to frame a constitution for the state. Due the impending invasion, this commission does not get a chance to take off.
21 October: Dak Bungalow at Bhimber attacked by rebels. Accusations that this is an effort to kill or abduct the Maharaja, who was scheduled to visit that day.
21 October: Journalist G. K. Reddy, working for API in Lahore, receives a telephone call from the Pakistan Army Headquarters in Rawalpindi, stating that the Ramkot post was being attacked that night, and the news should be published as coming from Palandri.
21-22 October: Pakistan precipitates the first Indo-Pakistani War by launching a tribal lashkar (levy) from Waziristan in an effort to overthrow the Maharaja's government. Thousands of Pashtuns from Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, recruited covertly by Pakistani Army, invade Kashmir, along with the Poonch rebels, allegedly incensed by the atrocities against fellow Muslims in Poonch and Jammu. The tribesmen engage in looting and killing along the way. Pro-Pakistan members of the Maharaja's army rebel at Domel (Muzaffarabad) and take control of the Jhelum river bridge.
22 October: All the Muslim members of the State Police in the Jammu City are disarmed and ordered to go to Pakistan.
24 October: New Delhi receives the news of tribal invasion via two channels, from General Gracey of Pakistan Army communicated to General Lockhart and from R. L. Batra, the Deputy Prime Minister of Jammu and Kashmir, to Nehru. Batra carries a message from the Maharaja requesting military assistance as well as a proposal to accede to India.
24 October: A second provisional government of Azad Kashmir established at Palandri under the leadership of Sardar Ibrahim.
24 October: Bhimber falls to rebels after an attack by armoured vehicles of the Pakistan Army.
25 October: Defence Committee meeting in Delhi, headed by Lord Mountbatten, considers the Maharaja's request. Ministers unanimous in sending military assistance, but disagree on whether to accept Kashmir's accession. The secretary of the States Department, V. P. Menon, is sent to Kashmir to assess the situation.
26 October: V. P. Menon brings the news that the situation in Kashmir is critical and that the Maharaja is ready to agree to "any terms". Decision taken to accept the accession on the condition of a future ratification by people and the appointment Sheikh Abdullah to the government. Maharaja moves from Srinagar to Jammu, his winter capital.
26–27 October: The Maharaja signs the Instrument of Accession (IOA), acceding the state to the Indian Union. India accepts the accession, regarding it provisional until such time as the will of the people can be ascertained.
27 October: The Indian army enters the state to repel the invaders. Sheikh Abdullah endorses the accession but terms it ad hoc which would be ultimately decided by the people of Jammu and Kashmir. He is appointed head of the emergency administration.
27 October: Mohammad Ali Jinnah orders General Douglas Gracey to send Pakistani troops into Kashmir. Gracey declines pointing out the fact of Kashmir's accession to India. Gracey had a 'stand down order' from the Supreme Commander Claude Auchinleck to the effect that, in the event of an inter-Dominion war, all the British officers in both the armies must stand down.
27 October: Kashmir Liberation Committee is formed to manage Pakistan's conduct of the war. It is headed by Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan, with Colonel Akbar Khan as the military member, Ghulam Muhammad, the finance minister, and Sardar Ibrahim, the president of the provisional Azad Kashmir government.
28 October: Field Marshal Auchinleck flies to Lahore and explains the stand down order to Jinnah. Upon his suggestion, Jinnah invites the Indian leaders for a conference in Lahore. However, the Indian Cabinet declines the invitation.
29 October: Jinnah and Liaquat Ali Khan enter the war officially by deciding to maintain a force of at least 5000 tribesmen in Kashmir. Tribesmen again start pouring into Kashmir.
31 October: Major William Brown, the commander of the Gilgit Scouts, leads a coup against the governor of Gilgit, imprisoning him. A provisional government is declared by the rebels.
November 1947
1 November: Lord Mountbatten and Mohammad Ali Jinnah meet in Lahore, as the Governors Generals of India and Pakistan respectively. Mountbatten offers India's proposal that the accession of Junagadh, Hyderabad as well as Kashmir should be decided by an impartial reference to the will of the people in the form of a plebiscite. Jinnah rejects the offer.
Early November: Sheikh Abdullah recommends that India give an ultimatum and declare war against Pakistan upon the expiry of the ultimatum. Nehru does not favour a broader war.
5 November: Most of the tribesmen withdraw to Uri in the fact of the Indian assault. Many return home, sensing that the fight was lost.
5–6 November: Convoys of Muslim refugees from Jammu going to West Punjab attacked by armed bands supported by State troops. Very few survive. 6 November is remembered as a remembrance day in Pakistan and Azad Kashmir.
9 November: Another convoy of Muslim refugees is guarded by Indian troops, who repel the attackers killing 150 of them. No further attacks on convoys reported after this incident.
16 November: Pakistan's Political Agent Khan Mohammad Alam Khan arrives in Gilgit and takes over the administration. The provisional government is dismissed.
25 November: Massacre of 20,000 Hindus and Sikhs taking shelter at Mirpur in what is now Azad Kashmir. The day is remembered as the Mirpur day in Indian-administered Jammu.
26 November: Liaquat Ali Khan meets Nehru in Delhi. Nehru asks for the raiders to be withdrawn. Khan demands an `impartial administration' in Kashmir and proposes that the UN be invited to hold a plebiscite. However, the next day India's Defence Committee was informed that Pakistan was reinforcing tribesmen.
28 November: Horace Alexander estimates that 200,000 Muslims were affected by the anti-Muslim violence in Jammu. Mahatma Gandhi speaks about it in his prayer meeting. Reproaches Sheikh Abdullah for not curtailing the Maharaja's powers.
30 November: Indian forces evacuate the State garrison at Kotli. Mirpur ransacked. Large concentrations of insurgents reported at Sialkot, Gujrat and Jhelum.
December 1947
4 December: The British Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Army sanctions military involvement in the Kashmir war. One million rounds of ammunition and twelve volunteer officers are provided.
8 December: Meeting between Nehru and Liaquat Ali Khan, along with ministers and Lord Mountbatten. Mountbatten proposes that the UN be invited to break the deadlock.
15-20 December: Indian forces losing ground. Nehru contemplates escalating the war across the international border to strike against the bases of raiders, but eventually decides against it.
20 December: Mountbatten recommends India take the matter to the UN, where he says it would have a "cast-iron case"; believes the UN would promptly direct Pakistan to withdraw. The proposal discussed in the Indian Cabinet.
22 December: Nehru hands Liaquat Ali Khan a formal letter demanding that Pakistan deny assistance to the raiders.
24 December: Indian forces evicted from Jhangar by rebels. However, they repel the attack on Naushera by 27 December. India reinforces Kashmir by an additional brigade.
27 December: British Commonwealth Minister Philip Noel-Baker considers it a "political miscalculation" by India that the Security Council would condemn Pakistan as an aggressor. The events before Kashmir's accession would also come into play. He also predicts that the question of plebiscite would be the focus of the Security Council.
28–30 December: Mountbatten urges Nehru "to stop the fighting and to stop it as soon as possible". Exchanges between Mountbatten and Nehru passed on to the British government, which is also advised that any Indian defeat in the Kashmir valley will immediately lead to a broader war. Prime Minister Attlee warns Nehru that opening a broader war would jeopardise India's case in the UN. Britain also alerts the US, which requests clarifications from the Indian government.
31 December: India refers the Kashmir problem to the UN Security Council.
31 December: British Commonwealth Relations Office (CRO) enquires its permanent representative at the UN, Alexander Cadogan, about the validity of Indian claims. Cadogan responds that India was entitled to charge Pakistan as aggressor under Article 35 and to take measures for self-defence under Article 51, including "pursuing invaders into Pakistan".
1948: War and diplomacy
January 1948
1 January: UN Security Council considers the Kashmir problem.
January: `Balawaristan' insurrection in Gilgit by the local people. Put down by the Gilgit forces.
2 January: The British Cabinet decides to send a special delegation to handle the Kashmir issue in the Security Council, sidestepping Alexander Cadogan. The Commonwealth Relations minister Philip Noel-Baker,
10 January: Noel-Baker puts forward the British proposals to the US State Department: Kashmir to be put under an "impartial administration" headed by a UN-appointed chairman; India–Pakistan joint military forces, along with UN troops, to operate under a UN-appointed commander-in-chief. He fails to win the US support to these far-reaching proposals.
15 January: Presentations by India and Pakistan to the Security Council. While India reiterates its demands in the original referral, Pakistan makes wide-ranging allegations against India including 'genocide' against Muslims in various places in India, unlawful occupation of Junagadh and other issues. Pakistan demands the withdrawal of both the raiders and the Indians from Kashmir.
17 January: UN Security Council passes Resolution 38 calling upon India and Pakistan to refrain from aggravating the situation and requesting them to inform the Council of any "material changes" in the situation.
20 January: UN Security Council passes Resolution 39 announcing a 3-member Commission to investigate the Kashmir dispute. However the Commission does not come into fruition till May 1948.
28 January: Sheikh Abdullah, as a member of the Indian delegation to the Security Council, meets the US delegate Warren Austin and raises the possibility of independence for Kashmir. At this stage, the US shows no interest in further fragmentation of India.
late January: Noel-Baker wins the support of the western powers in the Security Council—the US, Canada and France—for the Pakistani stand that the raiders cannot be withdrawn without a change of government in Kashmir. Draft resolutions formulated along the lines of the 10 January proposals.
February–April 1948
3 February: India requests an adjournment of the Security Council discussions. Indian Cabinet said to be in favour of withdrawing the UN referral unless greater consideration is shown to India's complaints.
9–11 February: Gilgit rebels attack Skardu. The State forces at Skardu defend it for almost six months hence. No reinforcements possible due to the Zoji La pass being closed under winter snows. The Ladakhis appeal to Nehru for help.
12 February: Security Council discussions adjourned.
27–28 February: Serious differences between the US and UK delegations in their approach to the Kashmir resolution. The US insists on Pakistan's obligation to stop the assistance to the raiders, favours keeping the interim government of Kashmir in place, limits the role of the UN commission to the conduct of the plebiscite. However, the US refrains from making its views public.
27 February: The Commonwealth Affairs Committee of the British Cabinet discusses the Kashmir question for the first time. Patrick Gordon Walker, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Commonwealth Relations, disagrees with Noel-Baker and proposes a 'completely neutral' attitude on the part of the UK. The committee formulates a new approach overriding Noel-Baker's.
7 March: A small group of Indian troops brave through the Zoji La pass, reaching Leh with guns and ammunition to raise a local volunteer force.
10 March: Security Council deliberations resume.
18 March: Republic of China, as the current Chair of the Security Council, tables a resolution in three parts: restoration of peace by calling upon Pakistan to withdraw the raiders, request to India to appoint to a plebiscite administration with UN-nominated directors, and another request to India to broaden the interim government with representatives from all major political groups.
21 April: UN Security Council passes Resolution 47 calling for a three-step process for the resolution of the dispute: Pakistani withdrawal of its nationals, India to reduce its troops to minimum level, and arrangements for a plebiscite. The UN Commission proposed in January is enlarged to five members under the name of UNCIP. Both India and Pakistan reject the resolution but promise to work with the Commission.
May 1948
10 May: `Operation Sledge' — Four columns of insurgents strike Indian lines of communication at Gund, Pandras, Dras and Kargil, and all except Gund captured. The Indian land route to Skardu as well as Leh is severed.
22 May: India establishes air link to Leh.
July 1948
5 July: UNCIP arrives in the subcontinent. In Karachi, it was told by Pakistan that three brigades of regular Pakistan Army were operating in Kashmir, a "bombshell" of news according to Josef Korbel. In Delhi, the Commission was told that it needed to recognize the aggression by Pakistan. The Commission broaches the possibility of partition, considered favourably by India but rejected by Pakistan.
6 July: In response to an appeal by the UNCIP, India limits operations to clearing the land route to Leh and relieving Poonch.
August 1948
13 August: UNCIP adopts its first resolution on Kashmir, fine-tuning the April resolution of the Security Council to take into account objections by both India and Pakistan. Pakistan's aggression is indirectly acknowledged by asking for its withdrawal as the first step. The resolution is accepted by India, but effectively rejected by Pakistan.
14 August: State forces at Skardu fall after eight months of siege.
September 1948
21 September: After sustained negotiations with India and Pakistan, the UNCIP leaves for Zurich to write an interim report to the UN Security Council.
November 1948
1 November : Zoji La pass recaptured by India.
15 November: Dras recaptured.
20 November: Two Indian columns link up at Poonch, relieving the pressure on the garrison.
23 November: Kargil recaptured.
December 1948
14 December 1948: Major attack by the regular Pakistan army on Indian line of communications at Beripattan-Naushera.
1949
January 1949: On 1 January, a ceasefire between Indian and Pakistani forces leaves India in control of most of the valley, as well as Jammu and Ladakh, while Pakistan gains control of part of Kashmir including what is now Azad Kashmir and Gilgit–Baltistan.
January 1949: On 5 January 1949, UNCIP (United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan) resolution states that the question of the accession of the State of Jammu and Kashmir to India or Pakistan will be decided through a free and impartial plebiscite. As per the 1948 and 1949 UNCIP Resolutions, both countries accept the principle, that Pakistan secures the withdrawal of Pakistani intruders followed by withdrawal of Pakistani and Indian forces, as a basis for the formulation of a Truce agreement whose details are to be arrived in future, followed by a plebiscite; However, both countries fail to arrive at a Truce agreement due to differences in interpretation of the procedure for and extent of demilitarisation one of them being whether the Azad Kashmiri army is to be disbanded during the truce stage or the plebiscite stage.
Early 1949: Jammu Praja Parishad launches an agitation calling for the full integration of the state with India. 294 members of the party arrested.
April 1949: Azad Kashmir signs Karachi Agreement with Pakistan, ceding control over defence and foreign affairs and complete control over Gilgit-Baltistan. The agreement is kept secret until 1990.
June 1949: The Maharaja is forced to leave the state and appoint his son Karan Singh as the Prince Regent.
October 1949: On 17 October, the Indian Constituent Assembly adopts Article 370 of the Constitution, ensuring a special status and internal autonomy for Jammu and Kashmir, with Indian jurisdiction in Kashmir limited to the three areas agreed in the Instrument of Accession, viz., defence, foreign affairs and communications.
1951
August–September 1951: Elections for the Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, with 75 seats allocated for the Indian administered part of Kashmir and 25 seats left reserved for the Pakistan administered part. Sheikh Abdullah's National Conference wins all 75 seats in a rigged election. The UN passes a resolution to the effect that such elections do not substitute a plebiscite.
October 1951: Jammu Praja Parishad becomes an affiliate of the newly founded Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the precursor of the present Bharatiya Janata Party.
November 1951: The Constituent Assembly passes legislation stripping the Maharaja of all powers and making the government answerable to the Assembly.
1952
1952: Sheikh Abdullah drifts from a position of endorsing accession to India in 1947 to insisting on the self-determination of Kashmiris in 1952.
January–June 1952: Jammu Praja Parishad renews agitation calling for the full integration of the state with India. Army called to impose order and several hundred activists imprisoned. Jana Sangh and other Hindu nationalist parties stage a demonstration outside the Indian Parliament in support of the Praja Parishad.
April 1952: Sheikh Abdullah delivers his Ranbirsinghpura speech, where he questions the state's continued accession to India.
June 1952: State Constituent Assembly considers a proposal for abolishing hereditary monarchy. It also adopts a state flag.
July 1952: Sheikh Abdullah signs Delhi Agreement with the Indian government on Centre-State relationship, providing for the autonomy of the State within India as well as the autonomy for regions within the State.
November 1952: The Constituent Assembly adopts a resolution abolishing monarchy and replaces it with an elected Sadar-i-Riyasat (Head of State). The Prince Regent Karan Singh is elected to the position.
November 1952: Jammu Praja Parishad relaunches its agitation for the third time. The Jana Sangh and other Hindu nationalist parties launch a parallel agitation in Delhi supporting the Praja Parishad.
1953
May 1953: Jana Sangh leader Syama Prasad Mukherjee makes a bid to enter Jammu and Kashmir, citing his rights as an Indian citizen. He is promptly arrested at the Jammu border. In a widespread agitation in Jammu, Punjab and Delhi, 10,000 activists are imprisoned.
May 1953: Abdullah heads a subcommittee of the National Conference which recommends four options for the state's future, all involving a plebiscite or independence. Abdullah remains firm in negotiations with the central government.
June 1953: Syama Prasad Mukherjee dies in prison on 23 June. Massive protests held in Delhi and other parts of the country.
August 1953: The working committee recommendations are opposed by three of Abdullah's five-member cabinet, including the Deputy Prime Minister Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad. They are further strengthened by the communist faction led by G. M. Sadiq. They inform the Sadr-i-Riyasat Karan Singh that Abdullah has lost the majority within the cabinet.
August 1953: Sheikh Abdullah is dismissed by Sadr-i-Riyasat and later arrested. Bakshi Ghulam Mohammed is appointed as the new Prime Minister.
August 1953: Nehru pushes for a plebiscite in talks with Pakistan, and the two countries agree to appoint a Plebiscite Administrator within six months. A plebiscite would be held in all regions and the state partitioned on the basis of the results.
September 1953: Following reports of US-Pakistan alliance, Nehru warns Pakistan that it had to choose between winning Kashmir through plebiscite and forming a military alliance with the United States.
1954
February 1954: The Constituent Assembly, under the leadership of Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad, passes a resolution ratifying the accession of Kashmir to India.
May 1954: Pakistan and US sign a Mutual Defence Assistance Agreement. Nehru withdraws the plebiscite offer to Pakistan. He states that he is concerned about the cold-war alignments and that such an alliance affects the Kashmir issue. India resists plebiscite efforts from now on.
1955–1957
August 1955: Sheikh Abdullah's lieutenant Mirza Afzal Beg forms the Plebiscite Front to fight for the plebiscite demand and the unconditional release of Sheikh Abdullah who was arrested after his dismissal.
November 1956: On 17 November 1956, the state Constituent Assembly adopts a constitution for the state declaring it an integral part of the Indian Union. On 24 January 1957, UN passes another resolution stating that such actions would not constitute a final disposition of the State. India's Home Minister, Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant, during his visit to Srinagar, declares that the State of Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and there can be no question of a plebiscite to determine its status afresh. India would resist plebiscite efforts from then on.
1957: Elections held for the first Legislative Assembly. National Conference wins 69 of the 75 seats, where 47 seats were unopposed. Bakshi Ghulam Mohammad continues as the Prime Minister.
1958: Sheikh Abdullah is arrested on 8 August, in the Kashmir Conspiracy Case.
1959–1962
1959: China annexes Tibet. Rising tensions between China and India on the issues of boundary between Tibet and India, especially in Aksai Chin.
1962: Elections held for the second Legislative Assembly. National Conference wins 68 of the 74 seats.
1963: In March 1963, the Chinese government signs an agreement with Pakistan on the boundary between the Northern Areas and the Xinjiang province, ceding the Trans-Karakoram Tract.
1963-1964: On 27 December 1963, mass upsurge occurs in Kashmir Valley when the holy relic is found missing from the Hazratbal Shrine; the lost relic is recovered on 4 January 1964.
1964: On 8 April, the Government drops all charges in the Kashmir Conspiracy Case. Sheikh Abdullah is released after 11 years.
1964: On 21 November, the Articles 356 and 357 of the Indian Constitution are extended to the state, by virtue of which the Central Government can assume the government of the State and exercise its legislative powers. On 24 November, the J&K Assembly amends the State Constitution changing the posts of Sadr-i-Riyasat and "prime minister" to Governor and "chief minister" respectively, bringing them in line with the Indian Constitution. Scholar Sumantra Bose regards it the "end of the road" for the Article 370 and the constitutional autonomy guaranteed by it.
1965: On 3 January, the J&K National Conference dissolves itself and merges into the Indian National Congress, a marked centralising strategy.
1965: Indo-Pakistani War of 1965: Pakistan takes advantage of the discontent in the Valley and sends in a few thousand armed Pakistani infiltrators across the cease-fire line in August in Operation Gibraltar, and incidents of violence increase in Kashmir Valley; A full Indo-Pakistani war breaks out which ends in a ceasefire on 23 September.
1966: In January, Tashkent Declaration is signed by both countries agreeing to revert to pre-1965 position, under Russian mediation. Pakistan supported guerrilla groups in Kashmir increase their activities after the ceasefire. Kashmiri nationalists Amanullah Khan and Maqbool Bhat form another Plebiscite Front with an armed wing called the Jammu and Kashmir National Liberation Front(NLF) in Azad Kashmir, with the objective of freeing Kashmir from Indian occupation.
1972: Republic of India and Pakistan agree to respect the cease-fire as Line of Control. India and Pakistan sign the Simla Agreement in July, which has a clause that the final settlement of Kashmir will be decided bilaterally in the future and that both the sides shall respect the LOC.
1975: 1975 Indira-Sheikh accord reached in February between the Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Sheikh Abdullah. Plebiscite Front is dissolved and renamed the National Conference. Sheikh assumes the position of Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir after a 11-year gap.
1976: Maqbool Bhat is arrested on his return to the Valley. Amanullah Khan moves to England and NLF becomes Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front(JKLF).
1977: Mid-term elections called by the government. Sheikh Abdullah's National Conference wins a majority in what is regarded as the first "free and fair" election in the State. Abdullah re-elected as the Chief Minister on 9 July.
1977: Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF) founded in the United Kingdom by converting the UK chapter of the Plebiscite Front. Amanullah Khan elected as its General Secretary the following year.
1979: The USSR invades Afghanistan. The US and Pakistan are involved in training, recruiting, arming, and unleashing the Mujahideen on Afghanistan. The Mujahideen so recruited would take on their own agenda of establishing Islamic rule in Kashmir from the late 1980s.
1982: On 8 September, Sheikh Abdullah dies and his son Farooq Abdullah assumes office as Chief Minister of J&K.
1984: Indian consul general in Birmingham, UK Ravindra Mhatre is abducted by JKLF militants and murdered. India executes Maqbool Bhat. Amanullah Khan and Hashim Qureshi are expelled from the UK and return to Pakistan. Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) seeks their help in preparing the groundwork for liberation of Jammu and Kashmir from India. Amanullah Khan establishes JKLF in Azad Kashmir.
13 April 1984: The Indian Army takes Siachen Glacier region of Kashmir.
1987: Farooq Abdullah wins the Assembly elections. The Muslim United Front (MUF) alleges that the elections have been rigged. The insurgency in the Kashmir Valley increases in momentum from this point on. The MUF candidate Mohammad Yousuf Shah, a victim of the rigging and state's mistreatment become Syed Salahuddin, chief of militant outfit Hizb-ul-Mujahideen. His election aides called the HAJY group - Abdul Hamid Shaikh, Ashfaq Majid Wani, Javed Ahmed Mir and Mohammed Yasin Malik - would join the JKLF. Amanullah Khan takes refuge in Pakistan, after being deported from England and begins to direct operations across the LoC. Young disaffected Kashmiris in the Valley such as the HAJY group are recruited by JKLF.
1988: Protests begin in the Valley along with anti-India demonstrations, followed by police firing and curfew.
1989: End of Soviet occupation of Afghanistan releases a great deal of militant energy and weapons to Kashmir. Pakistan provides arms and training to both indigenous and foreign militants in Kashmir, thus adding fuel to the smouldering fire of discontent in the valley.
1990: In January, Jagmohan is appointed as the Governor. Farooq Abdullah resigns. On 20 January, an estimated 100 people are killed when a large group of unarmed protesters are fired upon by the Indian troops at the Gawkadal bridge. With this incident, it becomes an insurgency of the entire population. On 1 March, an estimated one million take to the streets and more than forty people are killed in police firing. On 13 February, Lassa Kaul, director of Srinagar Doordarshan, is killed by the militants for implementing pro-Indian media policy. Though the JKLF tries to explain that the killings of Pandits were not communal, the murders cause a scare among the minority Hindu community. The rise of new militant groups, some warnings in anonymous posters and some unexplained killings of innocent members of the community contribute to an atmosphere of insecurity for the Kashmiri Pandits. Joint reconciliation efforts by members from both Muslim and Pandit communities are actively discouraged by Jagmohan. Most of the estimated 162,500 Hindus in the Valley, including the entire Kashmiri Pandit community, flee the Valley in March.
1990 and after: An officially estimated 10,000 desperate Kashmiri youth cross-over to Pakistan for training and procurement of arms. Indigenous and foreign militant groups besides pro-India renegade militants proliferate through the 1990s with an estimated half a million Indian security forces deployed in the Kashmir Valley since the 1990s with increasing violence and human right violations by all sides leading to tens of thousands of civilian casualties.
1999: Kargil War
14–16 July 2001: General Pervez Musharraf and Atal Bihari Vajpayee meet for peace talks.
October 2001: Kashmiri assembly in Srinagar attacked (38 people dead).
December 2001: Attack on Indian parliament in New Delhi.
2 May 2003: India and Pakistan restore diplomatic ties.
11 July 2003: Delhi-Lahore bus service resumes
24 September 2004: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and President Musharraf meet in New York during UN General Assembly.
July 2006 : Second round of Indo-Pakistani peace talks.
June 2010: Following the killing of a young Kashmiri Tufail Ahmad Mattoo, protest demonstrations continue in Kashmir for months.
June 2011: September - Indian forces kill three Pakistani soldiers in firing across the Line of Control. India accuses Pakistan of opening fire first.
June 2012: August - The Chief Minister of Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah, says that the security situation there is not yet conducive to the revoking of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act (AFSPA) in the state.
June 2012: September - Indian President Pranab Mukherjee visits Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir within two months of taking up office. Despite the threat of protests from separatists, see Insurgency in Jammu and Kashmir, the visit passes off without any security incident.
2014: Despite boycott calls by separatist Hurriyat leaders, Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly election, 2014 saw highest voters turnout in last 25 years since insurgency erupted in the region. Indian authorities claimed that this is vote of Kashmiri people in favour of democracy of India.
July 2016 : Following the killing of Burhan Muzaffar Wani on 8 July 2016, violent protests broke out in Kashmir Valley. Curfew imposed continues, and death toll reaches above 90.
Timeline of the Kashmir conflict Wikipedia (Text) CC BY-SA
