Kashmir has been in constant conflict for decades. The Kashmir conflict has been between India and Pakistan, with Kashmir in the middle. Kashmir is a disputed piece of land that came to be after Britain dismantled the Indian empire. As a result of this disputed land war broke out. Each country has territorial claims to Kashmir, and very different positions. If tensions continue, Kashmir could possibly enter the conflict for independence, from both nations; but the possibility of diplomatic solutions could present themselves.
To have a well rounded understanding, of the Kashmir conflict, one must look at all of the angles and positions. First of all, one must if only briefly understand what lead up to this conflict. The Kashmir conflict has been an ongoing conflict for multiple years. The conflict initially started when the British dismantled the Indian empire. “Ever since the partition of the sub-continent in 1947, when Britain dismantled its Indian empire, India and Pakistan have been arch rivals” (BBC). This dismantlement was just the tip of a falling ice berg, and lead up to the creation of what is now known as Pakistan. The creation of Pakistan split India essentially into two nations, and is partly the start of the Kashmir conflict. The India went to war with Pakistan, due to support, being given to an insurgency in Kashmir. When the war finally came to an end a ceasefire was put into effect and Kashmir remained disputed. “India and Pakistan first went to war in October 1947 after Pakistan supported a Muslim insurgency in Kashmir… The war ended on 1 January 1949, with the establishment of a ceasefire line… The status of the territory remained in dispute” (BBC). With rising tension in both countries, war broke out again, an...
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...iance to either side. Only 3% percent of the mainly Muslim inhabitants of the city think Kashmir should become part of Pakistan, and 7% prefer Indian rule”(Sujai). It is clear from this poll and all of the deaths in Kashmir that the people have finally had enough. Many want independence and it looks like some might be willing to fight for it. Only time and the people of Kashmir can determine what will happen in this region.
In conclusion, Kashmir is a long disputed territory. When the British dismantled the Indian empire, the Kashmir conflict essentially started. Both India and Pakistan lay claim to this region, and have fought for decades over it. The people of Kashmir might be willing to fight for independence and are tired of the countless deaths. In time the world may see Kashmir declare independence, possibly fight for it and ask for international support.
The people of India and Pakistan hate each other with a burning passion that goes back thousands of years. Because of the constant border wars you had to be stealthy when talking to people. For example if we were both on India's land and were both Indians we could be buddies; on the flip side if you spoke Sindhi, a derived form of Hindi, and I spoke Hindi I can assume you were Pakistani and we would have to fight it out.
The knowledge and understanding of blood feuds helps in the develop understanding of the current conflicts in the Middle East. The Middle East conflict started after World War II when the United Nations handed the Jewish people land once owned by the Palestinians. A conflict has occurred with the Palestinians who live together with Israelis that has led to terrorism and tyranny. Israelis believe they must control the Palestinians to stop their terrorism; while the Palestinians use terrorism to seek independence from Israelis. Blood Feuds in Thull are similar to the situation in the Middle East and are violently depicted in Lincoln Keiser's "Friend by Day Enemy By Night."
The primary focus of this tension arises from a common area – Kashmir/Jammu. The conflict in this region can be accredited to the differences in religion. The conflict in Kashmir stems from 1947. This was the year the partition of the Indian sub-continent occurred. However, this partition of land was based on approximate religious lines created by the British empirical rule, when they allowed the princes of 650 states to choose which country they would join. In theory, these princes had the option of remaining independent, but that option was stamped out due to the revolts of the people living in those states. Kashmir was ruled by Maharaja Hari Singh. Because of its location, it could choose to join either country; however, Hari Singh remained neutral. His choice was eventually ignored in 1947, when Pakistan deployed Muslim tribesmen to capture the capital. At this point, Hari Singh freaked out and asked India for military assistance against Pakistan. In return, Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession and ceded Kashmir to India on October 26, 1927. As we can see, the main reason for this conflict is religion. There are some non-religious reasons for this conflict; however, those reasons eventually tie back to religion in one way or another. One of these "non-religious" reasons relates to the recent development of nuclear weapons in both India and Pakistan. While nuclear weapons add to the terror in the area, their development was a result of conflict between India and Pakistan. This conflict has a...
The two groups were fighting for control over the province of Kasmir, which is a valley in the northern part of India and is part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. They both want this piece of land because, since Muslims and Hindus were split apart, they feel the need to be more powerful than each other and take control of this beautiful piece of land. In 1947 this state was considered an independent country and the Marahaja, who was the ruler of India, made it so that India and Pakistan remained neutral. While India stuck to this agreement Pakistan attacked Jammu and Kashmir because they wanted control of it, which forced the Marahaja to escape to India. The Marahaja asked the people of India to help get rid of the Pakistanis who were attacking them and, if they did, he would make Jammu and Kashmir a part of India. The people of India got rid of most of the Pakistani attackers, but a large area that was hard to reach was still controlled by them. Since India wanted to stop the fighting, they ended up leaving the Pakistanis to have a large area, but India had an even larger area. The fighting ended in 1949 and, since other powerful states didn’t ask Pakistan to withdraw it’s troops from a state that had became a part of India, India called the United Nations and told them that Pakistan had attacked a neutral state that had became a part of India, so they should withdraw their soldiers. The United Nations agreed with this and also wanted India to ask the people of Jammu and Kashmir if they wanted to be part of India or Pakistan. The Prime Minister of India asked the people if they wanted to be part of India or Pakistan through a process called referendum or plebiscite, which is basically a vote. A plebiscite couldn’t be made because Pakistan didn’t want to give up Jammu and Kasmir, and since many powerful countries didn’t force them to withdraw their troops
To this day there is still rivalry between Hindus and Muslims because of the efforts to bring Kashmiri independence from India. Hindu’s today are receiving 10,000 ashams. (Fisher 116)
During the Cold War, many regional conflicts occurred and were noted as the significant battles which later led to decolonization. One of the regional conflicts were India and Pakistan fighting for their independence. In 1947, India was released under Great Britain’s control and gained its independence. However, the country was divided between Muslims and Hindus, which share different religions. Muslims wanted church and state to become unified while Hindus wanted a separation of these two establishments. Since these two ethnic groups disagreed, it was difficult to create a new government. Therefore, India was divided into two nations: India for the Hindus and Pakistan for the Muslims. Hindus and Muslims were racing to the border in order to get to their nation state which led to killing 500,000 people due to rioting. Although, Mohandas Gandhi, an Indian National Congressman, wanted to obtain peace between these two religions. Pakistan refused the H...
Kashmir is conflict territory after the partition of India and Pakistan. Conflict is not only between India and Pakistan but also India and the religious militants. Religious Militants are conducting a jihad to govern by the religious law. Historically, Kashmir included Sufis Muslim not orthodox Muslim. Numerous international events had influenced in the growth of Islamic fundamentalism in Kashmir. Jihad is not originally from Kashmir but they are foreign militancy bought during the end of the Soviet –Afghanistan War. Additionally, they are trained in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan Inter service Intelligence helped them to incorporate into organized militant groups. Pakistan helped Jihad group with full moral, political and diplomatically. Even though Kashmir conflict is territorial issue it has also turned into religious conflict by the foreigner militant.
The partition of India and its freedom from colonial rule set a precedent for nations such as Israel, which demanded a separate homeland because of the irreconcilable differences between the Arabs and the Jews. The British left Israel in May 1948, handing the question of division over to the UN. Un-enforced UN Resolutions to map out boundaries between Israel and Palestine has led to several Arab-Israeli wars and the conflict still continues.
In late 1947, the newly created states of India and Pakistan went to war over the valley of Kashmir. A United Nations brokered ceasefire divided the state into Indian and Pakistani controlled territories, and resolved that a referendum would be held in which the people of Kashmir would be able to choose to join either country. The referendum has not been held to this day. India granted its portion of Kashmir a special status within its constitution, allowing for a great degree of self-autonomy. However, successive Kashmiri governments have been dissolved by the government of India, and elections have only been held in the presence of its armed forces. In 1965, Pakistan and India waged a second indecisive war over Kashmir. In the 1980s, resistance within Kashmir itself against the Indian government took on a violent nature, with guerilla attacks against Indian army bases. India responded with heavy army clampdowns, and since then the situation has only escalated and get worse. It is estimated that well over 34,000 people have died within the valley, and the relations between the two countries have become increasingly acrimonious. India blames Pakistan for the militant uprising, claiming Islamabad is supporting cross border terrorism. Pakistan responds that it merely provides diplomatic and moral support arguing, furthermore, that India’s history of human rights abuses in the valley is to blame. With both countries now in possession of nuclear arms; the recent war in KARGIL and the increasing number of civilian deaths, refugees, and other human rights issues within Kashmir, the conflict seems to be taking on a more serious nature. In this paper I will discuss the Kashmir conflict in some depth, examining the problem in...
After its “raj” for three centuries (1757-1947), in 1947, the British power was “transferred” to the two dominions, India and Pakistan. The former land was as the successor state of British India and Pakistan a second successor state. The price of the independence was the partition of continental India on the idea of communal majority principle of the “two-nation” theory theorized by the Muslim League. The partition of British India was a turning point because it left many questions unanswered and many conflicts unresolved. One question left elusive was, “Why did indepen...
Wirsing, Robert. India, Pakistan, and the Kashmir Dispute: on Regional Conflict and its Resolution. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994. Print.
The history of Indo-Pakistani relations has been a dominated by turbulence and bitter rivalry. After the partition in 1947, millions of people migrated to their new home in either the Islamic state of Pakistan or the secular state of India. Only two weeks after independence, India and Pakistan fought a war over Kashmir in 1948. India and Pakistan fought two more wars with each other in 1965 and 1971, with the latter resulting in the creation of Bangladesh. Since then, India and Pakistan have had very hard feelings against each other due to numerous Hindu-Muslim conflicts, the territorial dispute over Kashmir, and other bilateral tensions.
The most threatening conflict between Hindus and Muslims is the province of Kashmir. This is where the decision to divide India into India and Pakistan seems to have been a terrible mistake. Kashmir, which is the only Muslim majority city in India, lies between the divided India and Pakistan. After India’s independence in the 1940’s, Kashmir had to choose to either unite with India or Pakistan. The Prince of Kashmir chose India but Pakistan invaded the province soon after and have occupied part of Kashmir since then. Controversy still surrounds the province today because naturally, Muslims want to control it. While many Muslims relocated to Pakistan and the Hindus to India, half of the Muslim population was left in India and their relations did not improve after being partially separated.
Athwass in its spirit and essence mirrors the ethos of Kashmir, which, for centuries, has represented peace, nonviolence and brotherhood of man (Kaul, 2012). Since 1989, the low-intensity conflict in Jammu and Kashmir has been the most important issue in India's internal security scenario. Possession of the State of Kashmir has been an issue of dispute since 1947 starting with India and Pakistan. After tw...
As a result of the Indian independence movement there were some major things that happened. There were mass migrations, many Hindus in Pakistan moved to India and many Muslims in India moved to Pakistan. There were often deadly fights between the Muslims and Hindus because of this movement (Article: Indian Independence Movement by Megan Barry). Many Hindus people were upset with the partition that was going to take place because they didn’t want to be independent. A Hindu assassinated Mohandas Gandhi because they were angry about the partition that he was trying to get to happen so that India could be free (Article: Indian Independence Movement by Megan Barry). In 1948 the large island of the coast of India (Ceylon) became independent and was named Sri Lanka and in 1971 the eastern section of Pakistan became known as Bangladesh.