Indo-Pakistan War Letters 1965 and 1971

Indo-Pakistan War 1965
In 1965, August 5th, Pakistan, believing that India having suffered defeat in 1962 against China would not react to a quick war over the disputed territory of Kashmir, crossed the Line of Control disguised as Kashmiri locals and attempted to take control of various areas of Kashmir.

Pakistan was under the false impression that the locals would want and respond positively to a takeover by their forces. However, the local people had tipped off the Indian forces and on August 15th, Indian forces crossed the ceasefire line. This area between India and Pakistan has been under dispute since the separation in 1947 when war broke out on the 22nd October 1947. This war came to a close 1st January 1949. Negotiations between India and Pakistan began and lasted until 1954 without resolving the Kashmir problem. Pakistan controlled part of the area, Azad (Free) Kashmir, while India held most of the territory, which it annexed in 1957.

Concerning the 1947 partition, Michael Koldner wrote:

According to Alastair Lamb, it seems likely that Lord Mountbatten, the British Viceroy, engineered Partition in such a way that Jammu and Kashmir would go to India. At the very least, it seems evident that he tampered with the process sufficiently to leave that option wide open. By allocating the Gurdaspur district of the Punjab to India, even though it ought to have gone to Pakistan by the logic of Partition, the possibility of Jammu and Kashmir joining India was left open. Had Gurdaspur gone to Pakistan, there would have been no land-route connecting India to Kashmir. The evidence seems to suggest that Mountbatten meddled with the proceedings of the Radcliffe Commission, whose job it was to assign territories to either Pakistan or India. At best, his intention was to give Maharaja Sir Hari Singh a real choice of which Dominion to join. More likely is the assertion that he intended India rather than Pakistan to be the guardian of the Northern Frontier because he had more trust in India’s secular leadership (http://www.defencejournal.com/nov98/indkashmir.htm).

In this second conflict, Pakistan had seriously underestimated India’s ability to respond. The war eventually spread to the Punjab and after an indecisive battle in the Sialkot region, both countries agreed to a UN mandated ceasefire which took affect on the 23rd September 1965. The ceasefire and the Tashkent Declaration of 10 January 1966 brought the two sides back to their original positions prior to the crises. The war was, more or less, a wasteful mistake.

Much has been written by the media of both sides of the conflict which has slanted the issues to their point of view. Fortunately the scope of this article concentrates upon the postal history aspect and thus does not attempt to make any kind of judgment one way or the other.

Indo-Pakistan War 1971
The third war that broke out between India and Pakistan had a different basis than the previous conflicts. Here Pakistan had failed to accommodate East Pakistan’s demands for autonomy in 1970 which in turn led to a secessionist demands in 1971. India provided active military support to those wanting to separate and war broke out on 22 November 1971, lasting until 17 December 1971. The immediate affect of this conflict was the birth of the new independent nation of Bangladesh. The Pakistani military was soundly defeated and the President Yahya Khan resigned and was replaced by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.

Fig 1a has been registered at Shershah Colony Karachi 31 August 1965 as indicated by the manuscript marking on the front and by the three strikes of a double circle cancel on the reverse (Fig 1b). The cover has not received a censor mark and shows on the reverse a double circle Providence R.I. Reg Div cancel dated 5 Sep 65 and a double circle Providence R.I Annex USPS cancel of 7 Sep 65. Postage R1 22 annas.

Figure 1a

Figure 1b

Figs 2a and 2b. Cover from Karachi to Providence, R.I. USA. This is cancelled Shershah Colony Karachi by both a double circle and a straight line cancel. Registered 27 September 1965 in manuscript with a boxed K — 128 in purple which may be a censor’s mark. The single line date Oct 4 1965 is probably a Foxon Co receiving mark. On the reverse (Fig 2b) is a double lined Pakistan censorship mark and a double lined circular Providence R.I. REG DIV dated 3 OCT 1965 and a double lined circular Providence R.I Annex USPS dated 4 OCT 1965. Postage R1 75 Paisa

Figure 2a

Figure 2b

Fig 3 was taken from the internet and shows an oval Pakistan censor T I. Passed in Violet ink dated Oct 1965. Postmark appears to read Temporary P.O. The delivery Postmark is dated 19 OCT 1965. Censor applied at Chittagong. After the 1971 war Chittagong became part of Bangladesh.

Figure 3

Fig 4. Cover with double circle Chittagong cancel dated December 1965 with C-1 (Chittagong censor) in rectangle. Delivery date 18 December 1965.

Figure 4

Fig 5. Aerogramme sent from Satellite Town, Rawalpindi To Hobart Tasmania. Two double circle Cancels of Satellite Town on front along with KR-248 (Karachi censor) in rectangle. On the reverse is a oval Pakistan Censorship and an opened by censor in a rectangle. Postage 90 Paisa.

Figure 5

Thanks
Nina Dowden for the genesis of this article. Nina kindly sent a number of covers for consideration and these immediately took my eye.

Information Received
In AJP No 94, December 2005, William Hempel asked on behalf of Poul Larsen regarding the vessel which carried the postcard from Perth, WA, which was illustrated on page 25.

Frank Gerlcevich from Como, WA, sent the following information:

Re. Query on ship from Fremantle to Denmark…I rang the WA Maritime Museum and received the following information.

The ship “GERA” of the Norde Deutsche Lloyd line arrived in Fremantle on Sept 23, 1898, after traveling down the east coast of Australia, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide to Fremantle.

Its probable sailing date was Sept 25, 1898 en route to Europe via the Suez, Genoa, Antwerp and onto Hamburg.

Unfortunately the records are not complete, but these dates tie in with the Ship Mail Room, Perth of Sept 24, 1898 and the arrival in Denmark, 21 Oct 1898.

If you have a query, ask the members through your journal. There is a lot of knowledge out there.