The state of Jammu and Kashmir having an area of 84,471 square miles lies in the North East of Pakistan and North West of India. Russia, China and Afghanistan also share its border towards the North. Area wise, the State of Jammu and Kashmir was the largest state in the sub-continent of Indo-Pak among the 562 princely states of the Sub-continent at the time of its division, and still claims the same status. Its area is almost equal to the total area of Belgium, Denmark, Holland, Austria and Albania, all put together, although it is slightly smaller than Great Britain.
The Muslims of Azad Jammu and Kashmir started a liberation against India in 1947. As a result of this war, the Government of Azad Jammu and Kashmir was established on 24th October, 1947, in the liberated area which is about 5,000 square miles out of total area of 84,471 square miles. An area of 28,000 square miles was also liberated by Gilgit Scouts and now it forms Northern Areas (Gilgit-Baltistan) which is being administered by the Federal Government of Pakistan.
The Government established on 24th October 1947, was working like a war council. The Rules of Business were framed in order to run the administration of Azad Jammu and Kashmir under which the executive as well as the legislative authority vested in the President. The courts and Laws code were enacted in 1948 for running the judicial administration and some laws of former Jammu and Kashmir State were allowed to continue in operation. Thereafter, in 1952, the Rules of Business were revised. The system of administration as well as the legislation was provided in these Rules of Business. Another revision of the Rules of business took place in 1957.
In the system, which prevailed from 1947 to 1960, the person holding the confidence of the Working Committee of Muslim conference was nominated as the president of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. For sometimes in the earlier years, the office of Supreme Head also existed who approved the legislation for Azad Jammu and Kashmir, but this office was abolished in 1952 and, thereafter, only the President was the Executive Head, who was assisted by some ministers.
In 1960, the Presidential Election System through the “votes of basic democrats” was introduced in Azad Jammu and Kashmir with another body known as ‘ Azad Jammu and Kashmir State Council’ which was also elected by the basic democrats. This Council consisted of 12 members elected by the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, whereas 12 members were elected by the refugees of Jammu and Kashmir State settled in Pakistan. In 1964, this system was also replaced and Azad Jammu and Kashmir Government Act, 1964, was enacted, whereby the provision for the State Council was amended to the extent that 8 State counsellors were to be elected by the basic democrats of Azad Jammu and Kashmir. In 1965, the provision was made for appointment of two members to be nominated by the President from amongst the refugees settled in Pakistan.
The Chairman of the Council was to be nominated by the Chief Advisor under the Act,1964 from amongst the Members. The Chairman had to act as the President for Azad Jammu and Kashmir ex-officio. In 1968, the Azad Jammu and Kashmir Government Act, 1968, came in to force and 8 members were elected, while 4 members were to be nominated by the Chief Advisor from amongst the refugees settled in Pakistan. The Chairman of the Council was elected by the counsellors, who was also ex-officio President. In 1969, a caretaker government was inducted into office.
The major constitutional changes came in 1970 when the system of adult franchise was adopted and a democratic setup was introduced in Azad Jammu and Kashmir through Azad Jammu and Kashmir Act, 1970. For the first time, the Legislative Assembly as well as President of Azad Jammu and Kashmir were also elected on the basis of adult franchise by the people of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, and the refugees of Jammu and Kashmir settled in Pakistan. The Assembly consisted of 24 elected members and one co-opted lady member.
The presidential system of government worked for about 4 years when, in 1974, the parliamentary system was introduced in AJ&K under the AJ&K interim Constitution Act, 1974, which has undergone about 11 amendments so far. Earlier in 1974, the Assembly consisted of 40 members, elected on the basis of adult franchise and two co-opted lady members, whereas the Assembly now consists of 41 elected Members and 8 co-opted members of which 5 are ladies, one member from Ullama-e-Din or Mushaikh, while one is from amongst Jammu & Kashmir technocrats and other professionals, whereas one is from amongst Jammu and Kashmir nationals (state subjects) residing abroad. Since 1975, the Prime Minister has been elected by the members of legislative Assembly.
He is the Chief Executive of the State, whereas the President is the and the Legislature, we now have an independent Judiciary as well. The Supreme Court, High Court and sub- ordinate courts are present, in addition to many other Courts, established under various laws. The pattern of the State of Azad Jammu and Kashmir is almost the same which is prevailing in Pakistan with the exception that in Azad Jammu and Kashmir there exists a Council with Prime Minister of Pakistan as the Chairman, 6 elected members, 3 ex-officio Members including President AJK (Vice- Chairman of the Council), Prime Minister of AJK or his nominee, Federal Minister for Kashmir Affairs, and 5 Members to be nominated by the Prime Minister of Pakistan from amongst the Federal Ministers and Members of the Parliament. The Council has been assigned a specified field of activities and it has also further assigned some of the functions to the Central Government in Pakistan. Such as, the Defence, Security, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Currency and Coins which are the responsibilities of the Government of Pakistan.
The people in the Jammu area are Muslim in the west and Hindu in the east and speak Hindi, Punjabi, and Dogri. The inhabitants of the Vale of Kashmir and the Pakistani areas are mostly Muslim and speak Urdu and Kashmiri. The sparsely inhabited Ladakh region and beyond is home to Tibetan peoples who practice Buddhism and speak Balti and Ladakhi.
Kashmir earthquake of 2005, disastrous earthquake that occurred on Oct. 8, 2005, in the Pakistan-administered portion of the Kashmir region and the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan; it also affected adjacent parts of India and Afghanistan. At least 79,000 people were killed and more than 32,000 buildings collapsed in Kashmir, with additional fatalities and destruction reported in India and Afghanistan, making it one of the most destructive earthquakes of contemporary times.
The devastating earthquake struck at 8:50 AM local time (03:50 UTC), with its epicentre located 12 miles (19 km) northeast of Muzaffarabad, the administrative centre of the Pakistani-administered Azad Kashmir area, and approximately 65 miles (105 km) north-northeast of Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. Measured at a magnitude of 7.6 (slightly less than that of the 1906 San Francisco quake), the earthquake caused major destruction in northern Pakistan, northern India, and Afghanistan, an area that lies on an active fault caused by the northward tectonic drift of the Indian subcontinent. The Muzaffarabad area was the worst hit, and a number of villages there were totally destroyed. At least 32,335 buildings collapsed in various cities in the Kashmir region—including Anantnag and Srinagar in Jammu and Kashmir state, India—with additional property losses reported in the Pakistani cities of Islamabad, Lahore, and Gujrat, among others. The official death toll was 79,000 for Pakistani-administered Kashmir and the NWFP, although other sources put it at 86,000, with the number injured estimated at more than 69,000. At least 1,350 people were killed and 6,266 injured in Jammu and Kashmir state in India, and the tremors were felt at a distance of up to 620 miles (1,000 km), as far away as Delhi and Punjab in northern India. Four fatalities and 14 injured survivors were reported in Afghanistan. The property loss caused by the quake left an estimated four million area residents homeless. The severity of the damage and the high number of fatalities were exacerbated by poor construction in the affected areas.
The relief effort for the survivors was hampered by numerous aftershocks, as well as by the ensuing landslides and falling rocks, which damaged highways and mountain roads and made parts of the affected region inaccessible for several days. In a display of goodwill, five crossing points were opened in the line of control (the military demarcation line between the Indian- and Pakistani-administered parts of Kashmir) to facilitate rescue efforts and the flow of relief goods. NATO troops and various international aid agencies played significant roles in the subsequent relief and rescue efforts.