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In 1846, the British colonial rulers of India sold the territory, including its people (by a sale deed called the Treaty of Amritsar, in return for a sum of money) to a Hindu warlord. This warlord who bought himself into royalty, declared himself as the Maharaja(king) of Jammu and Kashmir. Under his regime, the Maharaja committed many brutalities against the Muslim majority. Several mosques were closed and occupied by his forces. The slaughtering of a cow was declared a crime punishable by death. It was nearly 69 years ago in 1931, that the people of Kashmir made their first organized protest against the Maharaja Hari Singh’s cruelty. This led to the “Quit Kashmir” campaign against the Maharaja in 1946, and eventually to the Azad(free) Kashmir movement.

The first armed encounter between the Maharaja's troops and the rebel forces occurred in August 1947. Faced with a rebellion from his people, who were joined by few hundred civilian volunteers from Pakistan, Maharaja fled to Jammu on 25th of October 1947. In Jammu, after he was assured of military assistance from the government of India to crush the revolution in Kashmir, he allegedly signed an "Instrument of Accession" to India. Lord Mountbatten conditionally accepted the "Instrument of Accession" on behalf of the British Crown, and furthermore, outlined the conditions for official acceptance in a letter dated 27th October 1947: "In consistence with their policy that in the case of any (native) state where the issue of accession has been subject of dispute, the question of accession should be decided in accordance with the wishes of the people of the state, it is my government's wish that as soon as law and order have been restored in Kashmir and her soil cleared of the invaders the question of state's accession should be settled by a reference to the people" (Mountbatten, 1947). The Government of India accepted the "Instrument of Accession" conditionally, promising the people of the state and the world at large that accession would be final only after the wishes of the people of the state were heard upon return of normalcy in the state.

Following the “Instrument of Accession”, India moved its forces into Srinagar and a fight broke out between Indian forces and the forces of liberation. The forces of Azad(free) Kashmir successfully resisted India's armed intervention and liberated one ­ third of the State. Realizing it could not brake the resistance, India brought the issue to the United Nations Security Council in January of 1948. The Security Council discussed the question from January until April of 1948. It came to the conclusion that it would be impossible to determine who is responsible for the fighting. Since both parties desired that the question of accession should be decided through an impartial plebiscite, the Council developed proposals based on the common ground between them. These were combined in the U.N. Security Council resolution 726 on 21st of April 1948, which called for a cease-fire, the withdrawal of all outside forces from the state and a plebiscite under the control of an administrator, who would be nominated by the Secretary General. For negotiating the detail of the plan, the Council established a five member commission known as “United Nations Commission for India and Pakistan” (UNCIP) to implement the resolution.

The U.N. Security Council issued another resolution (995) which reaffirmed that future status of Jammu and Kashmir to be determined by popular referendum or plebiscite. “Having given careful consideration to the points of view expressed by the representatives of India and Pakistan regarding the situation in the State of Jammu and Kashmir; and being of the opinion that the prompt cessation of hostilities and the correction of conditions the continuance of which is likely to endanger international peace and security are essential to implementation of its endeavors to assist the Governments of India and Pakistan in effecting a final settlement of the situation” (UNCIP, 1948). Part III of the resolution stated that, “Government of India and the Government of Pakistan reaffirm their wish that the future status of the State of Jammu and Kashmir shall be determined in accordance with the will of the people and to that end, upon acceptance of the truce agreement, both Governments agree to enter into consultations with the Commission to determine fair and equitable conditions whereby such free expression will be assured” (UNCIP, 1948).