Moslem Tribesmen In Kashmir Raid

Northern Advocate, 25 October 1947, Page 7

Moslem Tribesmen In Kashmir Raid

LONDON, Fri. (11 a.m.). —Ten thousand Moslem tribesmen, in a convoy of lorries from Hazara, raided Kashmir under cover of darkness and drove the Kashmir state forces seven miles back from the border, says the Daily Express Srinagar correspondent. The raiders wiped out a customs post at Domeli and burned and looted numerous villages in the Mu Affarabad district.

Snipers cut the main road between Srinagar and Rawalpindi—Kashmir’s only link with the outside world. The deputy-Premier (Mr R. L. Batra) said he believed the raiders included Afridi and Waziristan tribesmen who, he said, were attempting to control the Pakistan Government.

jmic position makes it dependent upon Pakistan, the Moslems feel that Kashmir must accede to Pakistan, but indications are that Gandhi recently *• influenced Sir Hari Singh in leanings toward the Indian Dominion. RULE ESTABLISHED’ The “Provisional Government of Kashmir,” which was established recently, claimed in a statement issued in Pulandri, in western Kashmir, that it had' established its rule over most of Kashmir state and that the Maharajah and his “so-called Prime Minister” had fled Kashmir Province to Pammu Province, and would perhaps soon flee from there as well. The statement added that Moslems and non-Moslems would be included in the new Government. .r. 7

“They are doing tremendous damage and we are sending out arms to ail civilians in the threatened areas,” he said. The ruler of Kashmir (Sir Bari Singh) ordered roads and bridges to be built over the Ravi River in the south for possible military aid from the Indian Dominion. The Times Srinagar correspondent says that because the population of Kashmir is over 80 per cent Moslem, and- because its geographical and econ-