15 Interesting Facts And History About Pakistan Occupied Kashmir POK

Kashmir or more popularly known as Pakistan Occupied Kashmir or POK has been in the possession of Pakistan since the year 1947. Divided into 2 different parts by Pakistan known as Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir, POK has been the major cause of the constant disputes between India and Pakistan.

The entire population currently residing in the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir is said to be approximately around 52 lakhs in the year 2020. After the repeal of Article 370, Indians have been demanding the capture of POK at the earliest. Here we are going to have a discussion about 15 interesting facts and history about Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. This will give the students an idea about the situation there in Kashmir and also let them know about the history of the place and how it came to be. 

What Exactly Is POK - Know Interesting Facts And History About Pakistan Occupied Kashmir POK

Essentially a part of India, Pakistan Occupied Kashmir was invaded in the year 1947 by Pakistan. While Pakistan claims to hold possession over the land, Indians tend to vehemently deny any such claims of the country. There is so much more to the story. This is what we are going to learn here with the interesting facts and history about Pakistan Occupied Kashmir POK.

1. The division of POK happened in two parts. In the official languages, these parts are called Jammu and Kashmir, and Gilgit-Baltistan. In Pakistan, however, Azad Jammu and Kashmir are known as Azad Kashmir. 

2. The position occupied by Pakistan Occupied Kashmir’s Chief is that of the President. The Prime Minister’s position of the land is the Chief Executive Officer’s. There is a separate Council consisting of ministers that support the Prime Minister. 

3. While Pakistan Occupied Kashmir concerns itself to be an assembly that is self-governing, the real truth is that it currently operates under complete control of Pakistan. 

4. POK or Pakistan Occupied Kashmir is basically a part of Original Kashmir. The borders of the country tend to touch the different Pakistani areas of Punjab, Wakhan corridor to Afghanistan, Northwest, eastern areas of Indian Kashmir, and Xinjiang region of China. 

5. If we remove Gilgit-Baltistan from the map, the entire area occupied by Azad Jammu and Kashmir will be about 13,000 kilometers in total. That is about 3 times the original size of the Indian side of Kashmir. The entire population of the place is around 52 lakhs. 

6. Another one of the facts and history about Pakistan occupied Kashmir POK is that the capital city of Azad Jammu and Kashmir is Muzaffarabad. There are 10 districts in the city and 33 tehsils in total. There are about 182 federal councils in the city as well. 

7. There are a total of 8 different districts present on the Southside of POK and these districts are Bhimber, Mirpur, Muzaffarabad, Neelam, Bagh, Sudhanoti, and Rawalakot. 

8. China was handed over the responsibility of a certain part of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir known as the Hunza-Gilgit, the area of Baltistan and Raksam, as well as the Shaksgam Valley. These areas are known to be the Trans-Karakoram Tract areas and these are ceded. 

9. Some of the main sources of income for the people in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir is through different forms of cultivation. They tend to cultivate forestry, wheat, maize, and livestock. 

10. There are some low-grade reserves of coal in the area along with some bauxite deposits, chalk reserves, and more. Apart from that, carpets, wooden items, as well as textile items are some of the main products that are manufactured in the industries that tend to be situated in these areas. 

11. From an agricultural Point of View, the main crops that are included in the country are mushrooms, walnuts, apples, cherries, honey, resins, plants, burning wood, maple, and medicinal herbs as well.

12. The education sector in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir is not that developed since there is an acute shortage of colleges and schools there. However, the literacy rate in this part of the land is about 72%. 

13. Some of the prominent languages that are spoken in the lands of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir are Punjabi, Kashmiri, Urdu, and Pashto. 

14. There is also a High Court and a Supreme Court in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. 

15. Jammu and Kashmir always remained under the ruling of Maharaja Hari Singh. That is because the government never really came directly under the rule of the British Government during the entire process of consolidating the whole Indian Subcontinent. 

So, there you have it. These are the 15 interesting facts about Pakistan Occupied Kashmir POK.

What Is The History About Pakistan Occupied Kashmir POK? 

After learning the interesting facts and history about POK, the students will get to know the entire situation of the region illegally occupied by Pakistan. During the time of India’s independence in the year 1947, the British Government readily abandoned all the claims that they had made over the different princely states. At that time, the decision was left to these states whether they wanted to join Pakistan or India or just remain independent regions. Maharaja Hari Singh, the then ruler of Jammu and Kashmir made the choice to remain an independent region during that time.

The entire state of Jammu and Kashmir was a very diversified one in the year 1947. Known to be a very powerful Kingdom, the Valley of Kashmir consisted of about 97% of Muslims and the rest were some religious minorities. These minorities consisted of the Kashmiri Pandits that belonged to the Hindu Community. The eastern districts in the Jammu Section however had a huge population of Hindus.

After the independence of India, an uprising began against the ruler of Jammu and Kashmir in the region of Poonch. The main reason behind the sudden uprising was the ridiculous amount of taxes that were imposed on the peasantry by the Maharaja. October 21st, 1947 marked the first attack on Jammu and Kashmir by 1000 Pashtun tribesmen belonging to the North-West Frontier Province. These people had the full support of certain Pakistani army officials and they had the intention of liberating Jammu and Kashmir from the rule of the Maharaja. Despite the Maharaja’s efforts to invade the invasion, the rebellions didn’t stop as the people were heavily armed with armaments from modern technology. They reigned in the Poonch district after 3 days of battle on 24th October 1947.

It was on that day when the Maharaja requested assistance from the Military services of India. There were certain conditions to the acceptance of that request. The Maharaja had to sign what was called an “Instrument of Accession” wherein the Indian Government would have full rights over three important subjects of Jammu and Kashmir such as External Affairs, Control of Defense, and Communications. After the signing of the treaty, several Indian troops were airlifted to a location in Srinagar where the Pakistani army intervened and the war started. After the war, the parts that remained under the rebellious control of Pakistan were collectively named Pakistan Occupied Kashmir or POK.

This was one of the most important events to occur in the history of POK and was eventually included in the books discussing the interesting facts and history about POK. 

What Claims Does Pakistan Make?

One of the most interesting facts about Pakistan Occupied Kashmir POK is that Pakistan tends to make certain claims on this land for sure. The Claims made by the country of Pakistan are solely based on the declaration that came into effect in 1993. According to the declaration, Jammu and Kashmir were considered to be a part of the 5 states that came under the ruling of the Pakistani Government. However, India doesn’t accept the claims made by Pakistan to this day.

Pakistan Occupied Kashmir still tends to be illegally in possession of the Pakistani Government. However, with the removal of Article 370, there seems to be some sort of hope that India might possess control over Kashmir in the future. We hope that this article of interesting facts about Pakistan Occupied Kashmir POK is able to help you gain some knowledge on the matter.