Pr im e M in ist e r L iaqua t A l i K h a n :

T h e C au se o f F r e e d o m
Liaquat Ali Khan provides the official Pakistani narrative of how a section of the Mus-
lims revolted against the ruler of Kashmir; Kashmiris, he maintains, were fighting not
only for their freedom but also for their existence.

I am speaking to you tonight from my sick-bed. I wish to talk to you about Kash-
mir, because the affairs of Kashmir have reached a critical phase and have now
 Pakistan, 1947 and After 777

assumed international importance and because I know that Kashmir is upper-

most in your mind as it is in mine.
In the exhilaration of self-styled gallantry and valour, some erstwhile sym-
pathisers of the oppressed people of Kashmir seem to have forgotten the history
of this beautiful land. Let us, therefore, briefly recall it for their benefit.
This piece of God’s earth along with the human beings inhabiting its hills
and valleys, was, under the infamous Amritsar Treaty, sold by the British to a
Dogra chieftain for the paltry sum of Rs. 75,00,000. The present Maharaja in-
herits the people of Kashmir as though they were so much cattle.
During the past 100 years of Dogra rule, this highly gifted and most attrac-
tive race of Kashmiris has been dragged down to the lowest depths of misery. In
recent years, they have made many attempts to fight for their freedom. Time
and again they have been thwarted but time and again they have risen to defy
tyranny.
The fight is not yet at an end. But I would like my listeners to know that to-
day the people of Kashmir are fighting not only for their freedom but also for
their very existence, for their misfortunes have, in recent months, taken on a
darker shade. They have been caught in the meshes of a widespread plan of the
extermination of Muslims. This plan has succeeded in Alwar, in Bharatpur, in
Patiala, in Faridkot, and in Kapurthala. And all these you will note are States
that have acceded to the Indian Union.
In the beginning of October, news of the bestial deeds perpetrated on the
innocent people of Kashmir began to trickle through. In a short time, the
trickle became a torrent. Burning villages could be seen from the Murree hills.
Thousands of terror-stricken refugees poured into Pakistan.
It was at this stage that the people of Kashmir in sheer desperation turned
on their oppressors. Kashmiris, and specially the inhabitants of Poonch, have
many relatives in Hazara and in the West Punjab. Consequently feelings in
certain parts of Pakistan rose very high and some people from the N.W.F.P.
and the Tribal Areas, stirred by the atrocities in Kashmir, rushed to the aid of
their brethren.
It is the oppressed, enslaved and entrapped people of Kashmir struggling for
their freedom (and now for their lives) and their sympathisers, whom the Indian
Government is helping to wipe out. The declared object of the Indian Govern-
ment is to strengthen the Maharaja’s hands. How blood-stained these hands are
is quite well-known to the leaders of India, even though they may choose to
forget this fact now. . . .
For the choice before [the Kashmiris] now is freedom or death. If the plans
of their enemies succeed, they will be exterminated, as Muslims in various
other parts of India have been exterminated. It is presumably after such exter-
mination that the Indian Government proposed a referendum should be held.
What use is a referendum after the voters have been driven away from their
homes, or silenced in death? The world knows how we have consistently and
778 Pa k is ta n , 19 4 7 a n d A fte r

repeatedly tried to reach a better understanding with the Kashmir Govern-

ment. The Kashmir Government has ignored or rejected all these approaches.
[Liaquat Ali Khan, “Freedom or Death: Choice Before Kashmiri Muslims.”
Radio address on Nov. 4, 1947, in Speeches and Statements of Quaid-i-Millat
Liaquat Ali Khan, 1941–51, ed. M. Rafique Afzal(Lahore:
Research Society of Pakistan, University of the Punjab, 1967), 131–136.]