AYESHA HABIB

FINAL PAPER
Date: 27/11/2019
“KASHMIR CONFLICT”

Thesis Statement:

Kashmir issue ever since the partition has resulted in great violence and tensions
between Pakistan and India and has led to major breaches of peace within
Kashmir which indeed has costed thousands of lives and turmoil prevailing in
this state despite a very mesmerizing land terrain and a central geographic
emplacement.

 Conflict Created During the Partition:

In the 18th century, Pashtun Durrani Empire ruled Kashmir until it was conquered by the Sikh

ruler Ranjit Singh in 1819. Straight after the First Anglo-Sikh War in between (1845–1846),

Kashmir was surrendered under the Treaty of Lahore to the purely British administered : “The

East India Company”, who sold it shortly afterwards through the Treaty of Amritsar to Gulab

Singh, Raja of Jammu, who thereafter was entitled the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. From

those very times until the 1947 Partition of India, the state of kashmir Kashmir was ruled by the

Hindu Maharajas of the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu, with Muslims being the majority

population all over. While India was being partitioned, a Hindu Raja Hari Singh was the ruler of

Kashmir. Facts as alluded from ( The Telegraph 2001) say : “Because of its location, Kashmir

could choose to join either India or Pakistan. Maharaja Hari Singh, the ruler of Kashmir, was

Hindu while most of his subjects were Muslim. Unable to decide which nation to join, he chose

to remain neutral”. From the above excerpted lines this can be concluded that the neutral

behavior of MahaRaja Hari Singh alone was enough to give rise to resentment between the

inhabitants on social and political and religious grounds.

AYESHA HABIB
FINAL PAPER
Date: 27/11/2019
“KASHMIR CONFLICT”

 Conflicts Created After the Partition:

After the partition Muslims had expected Kashmir to be annexed to its territory but this

seemed a no way. Both the now divided states made claims on Kashmir based on its

religious and historic associations but nothing was put in action in order to give

Kashmiris a say in wherever they wanted to move. Even Lord Mountbatten, the ruler of

Burma insisted on deciding the fate of Kashmir but Raja Hari Singh remonstrated.

On 27th October of the year 1947, small attempts on Pakistan’s side happened to invade

Kashmir which in turn led to a war and bigger unrest. Hence, the fate of Kashmir remains

undecided between Pakistan and India with India controlling the majority of the state in

terms of area and population, sources from (IeEssWorRegGeog W/Cd, 2002) quote .

 Indo – Pak War of 1947 and Its Wrap Up:

As the Muslim Troops from Pakistan made advances towars Kashmir to free it from the

ongoing tyranny, Maharraja Hari Singh implored the Indian government to intervene but

since both the countries had signed a non intervening manifesto, this could not help.

Howeve , the volunteers from National Conference fully supported Indian military to

force out the Muslims. After great tensions India decided to seek assistance from the UN

Security Council, thereby calling the war off after approximately six months . The UN

security council passed a mandate through United Nations Commission for India and
AYESHA HABIB
FINAL PAPER
Date: 27/11/2019
“KASHMIR CONFLICT”

Pakistan (UNCIP) 47 on April the 21st, 1948. The declaration pointed out on a CEASE

FIRE notice that the Government of Pakistan should leave Jammu and Kashmir and

asked Indian forces to regulate its forces to a minimum possible extent which would

make it easy to hold a plebiscite but nothing went into the favour of the decision as both

the sides did not agree over the explication of the idea of disarmament of the forces.

In the November of 1948, a plebiscite was agreed but, since one thing jumbled over the

other as the Muslims did not approve of their withdrawal from Kashmir without a

plebiscite under international protection so that the Kashmiri Muslims could feel free to

vote without any menace from the opponent side which India refused, in this way the

both the governments simultaneously declined each other’s proposals.

 The UN Security Council:

The UN security council kept passing new resolutions over the next few years to propose

unilateral withdrawal of Pakistani and Indian forces in order to demilitarise the entire

region. The UN Security Council adjudicators passed almost 11 proposals and all of them

were endorsed by Pakistan but rejected by India.

 The 1965 and 1971 Wars :

These two wars had strung up due to the unresolved issue. In the month of April 1965 ,

the Indian forces broke into Pakistani region known a Rann of Kutch , the war like
AYESHA HABIB
FINAL PAPER
Date: 27/11/2019
“KASHMIR CONFLICT”

atmosphere lasted for a short time after an agreement was signed , retreating from

waging a war. In the War of 1971, Pakistani forces surrendered in the East, which led to

the creation of East Pakistan, now known as Bangladesh. After these wars ended, Simla

Conference was announced in 1972 in which both the countries were directed to figure

out issues by mutual understanding in compliance to the UN charter.

 The Popular 1987-1990 Insurgency and Militancy :

The 1987 elections were considered to be deceptive . There was a massive outbreak in the

valley which indicated the utter failure of democracy . After the candidates running for

elections came to know, they started disobedience movements. In 1988, the protests

began to haul interpreting anti-Indian slogans and tag lines which was followed by a

curfew so that the insurgency could be brought in control and Indian cozenage be

masked. Even after this whole enforcement, militancy multiplied in 1989.

Pakistani Government declared these mutineers “Kashmiri Freedom Fighters” who were

standing for their rights and offered them a moral buck up where as the Indians call these

insurgents to be Islamic Terrorists who were being aided by Afghanistan and Muslim

held Kashmiris.

 The 1999 Kargil War :

Somewhere in the middle of the year 1999, several insurgents and Pakistani warriors

from Pakistan administered Kashmir voluntarily sneaked into Jammu and Kashmir.
AYESHA HABIB
FINAL PAPER
Date: 27/11/2019
“KASHMIR CONFLICT”

These freedom fighters took advantage of extreme cold weathers when the Indian forces

would retreat to lower mountains and occupied empty peaks in Kargil range bypassing

the high way that linked Srinagar to Leh. By inhibiting the high way , they could easily

terminate the only connection between the valley of Kashmir and Ladakh. This created

an ruthless mess between both the parties. As the fears of war grew, Pakistan had to

withdraw the siege and removed its troops from the region upon the immediate

instructions of the then president of United States, Bill Clinton. India restored its control

on the territory. According to sources--(Fareed_2019), almost 500 Indian soldiers and

400 Pakistani soldiers were killed .

 2000 – 2019 Turmoil in Kashmir :

Over all these surmounting years after the major wars , there has been a merciless

bloodshed ,countless killings, restlessness, Persistent militarisation, ban on schools ,

Media blackout , human rights abuse and curfews~ the one mainly imposed in 2016 after

the killing of the popular Mujahid Burhan Wani by the Indian forces to cease and

silence the Muslim unrest , mostly in the India administered Kashmir and Muslims have

been sacrificing there generations after generations in the plight of both the countries.

According to the official reports at SMHS, a hospital in Srinagar, about 570 people

sought treatment after their eyeballs had been ruptured with gun pellets during random

attacks.
AYESHA HABIB
FINAL PAPER
Date: 27/11/2019
“KASHMIR CONFLICT”

 Current Scenario of Kashmir :

Article 370 states that Kashmir is a separate entity and will not be governed by Indian

constitution but recently the BJP government has lifted that article and now Kashmir has become

an Indian province much to the resentment of the Kashmiri brothers. After this, Kashmiris have

retaliated against this and have carried out violence protest leading to killings. To stop this

anarchy the Indian government has imposed curfew which has been going on for more than three

months. Because of the curfew Kashmiris are struggling to get the basic necessities of life

resulting in mass destructions and unrest.

The BBC stated that it has been three months and the situation seems to worsen with time instead

of improving, almost 11 migrants have been killed, internet services still seem to be discontinued

while schools and businesses remain closed due to the prevailing fear.

 Conlusion :

There have been several attempts to resolve this issue, both by local governments and

international institutions such as United Nation and Security Council but a practical

solution is yet to be reached. The issue of Kashmir remains unsolved although, attempts

have been made to give Kashmiris their human rights and insure a peaceful future.
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FINAL PAPER
Date: 27/11/2019
“KASHMIR CONFLICT”

It is the right of Kashmiris to decide whether they want to join Pakistan or India or they want

Kashmir as an independent state.We have to implement the solution of referendum given by

United States in order to maintain peace in Kashmir. We look forward to seeing a prospering and

peaceful Kashmir one day.

• References :

• Bagwe, A. (2019, September 13). Retrieved from fpri.org:

https://www.fpri.org/article/2019/09/modis-grand-strategy-in-kashmir/

• bbc. (2019, October 31). Retrieved from bbc.com: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-

asia-india-

50233281?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cx1m7zg0wwzt/kashmir

&link_location=live-reporting-story

• BBC. (2019, October 31). Retrieved from BBC News.com:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-

50233281?intlink_from_url=https://www.bbc.com/news/topics/cx1m7zg0wwzt/kashmir

&link_location=live-reporting-story

• Fareed, R. (2019, July 26). aljazeera. Retrieved from aljazeera.com:

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/07/20-years-kargil-war-india-pakistan-remain-

tense-kashmir-190725205420082.html
AYESHA HABIB
FINAL PAPER
Date: 27/11/2019
“KASHMIR CONFLICT”

• Public Diplomacy. (1972, July 2). Retrieved from Public Diplomacy.com:

https://mea.gov.in/in-focus-article.htm?19005/Simla+Agreement+July+2+1972

• The Telegraph. (2001, September 24). Retrieved from The Telegragh.com:

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/1399992/A-brief-history-of-the-Kashmir-conflict.html

• Yahuda, M. (2002, June 2). Wikipedia. Retrieved from

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashmir_conflict#cite_note-1

• IeEssWorRegGeog W/Cd. Thomson Learning EMEA. 2002. ISBN 9780534168100. India

now holds about 55% of the old state of Kashmir, Pakistan 30%, and China 15%.

IeEssWorRegGeog W/Cd. Thomson Learning EMEA. 2002. ISBN 9780534168100. India

now holds about 55% of the old state of Kashmir, Pakistan 30%, and China 15%.

THE END.
AYESHA HABIB
FINAL PAPER
Date: 27/11/2019
“KASHMIR CONFLICT”