QUESTION 1:

KASHMIR ISSUE:
S I N C E 1 9 4 7 , I N D I A  and Pakistan have been locked in conflict over Kashmir, a
majority-Muslim region in the northernmost part of India. The mountainous, 86,000-square-
mile territory was once a princely state. Now, it is claimed by both India and Pakistan.
Background:
In 16 march 1846, a treaty named “Treaty of Amritsar” was signed between British East India
Company and Maharaja Gulab Singh after Anglo-Sikh war. Kashmir was sold for 75 lac
Nanakshahi rupees to Maharaja Gulab Singh.
In 1925, Hari Singh became the Maharaja of Kashmir
After World War II, Parliament decided British rule in India should end.
Mohammad Ali Jinnah, a politician who headed up India’s Muslim League, began
demanding a separate nation for India’s Muslim population.
As religious riots broke out across British India, leaving tens of thousands dead , British and
Indian leaders began to seriously consider a partition of the subcontinent based on religion.
On August 14, 1947, the independent, Muslim-majority nation of Pakistan was formed. The
Hindu-majority independent nation of India followed the next day.
Under the hasty terms of partition, more than 550 princely states within colonial India that
were not directly governed by Britain could decide to join either new nation or remain
independent.
In 1947, Radcliffe commission was made to set the boundary lines between the two
dominions. The four tehsils of Punjab were:
Gurdaspur
Bhatala
Shakar Garh
Pathankkot
Among them , only Pathankot was Hindu majority . Radcliffe map included Muslim majority
tehsils in Pakistan but after meeting by Nehru, Mountbatten and Radcliffe, the map was
changed and these areas were given to India just to create a link between India and Kashmir.
At that time, in Kashmir Muslims were 77%, Hindus were 20% and Sikhs and Buddhist were
3%. Maharaja Hari Singh wanted to keep Kashmir independent .
To avert pressure to join either new nation, the maharaja signed a standstill agreement with
Pakistan that allowed citizens of Kashmir to continue trade and travel with the new country.
India did not sign a similar standstill agreement with the princely state.
As partition-related violence raged across the two new nations, the government of Pakistan
pressured Kashmir to join it. Pro-Pakistani rebels, funded by Pakistan, took over much of
western Kashmir, and in September 1947, Pashtun tribesmen streamed over the border
from Pakistan into Kashmir. Singh asked for India’s help in staving off the invasion, but
India responded that, in order to gain military assistance, Kashmir would have to accede to
India, thus becoming part of the new country.
Singh agreed and signed the Instrument of Accession, the document that aligned Kashmir
with the Dominion of India, in October 1947.
A war erupted and India approached the United Nations asking it to intervene. The United
Nations recommended holding a plebiscite to settle the question of whether the state would
join India or Pakistan. However the two countries could not agree to a deal to demilitarise the
region before the referendum could be held.
In July 1949, India and Pakistan signed an agreement to establish a ceasefire line as
recommended by the UN and the region became divided.
A second war followed in 1965. Then in 1999, India fought a brief but bitter conflict with
Pakistani-backed forces. By that time, India and Pakistan had both declared themselves to be
nuclear powers.
Kashmir was later given special status within the Indian constitution—a status which
guaranteed that Kashmir would have independence over everything but communications,
foreign affairs, and defense. This special status was revoked by the Indian government in
August 2019.
The maharaja's fateful decision to align Kashmir with India ushered in decades of conflict in
the contested region, including two wars and a longstanding insurgency.
QUESTION 2:
Article 370:
Article 370 was the basis of Jammu and Kashmir's accession to the Indian union at a time
when erstwhile princely states had the choice to join either India or Pakistan after their
independence from the British rule in 1947. The article, which came into effect in 1952,
exempts Jammu and Kashmir state from the Indian constitution. It allows the Indian-
administered region jurisdiction to make its own laws in all matters except finance, defence ,
foreign affairs and communications. It established a separate constitution and a separate flag
and denied property rights in the region to the outsiders. That means the residents of the state
live under different laws from the rest of the country in matters such as property ownership
and citizenship.
Article 35A:
Article 35A was introduced through a presidential order in 1954 to continue the old
provisions of the territory regulations under Article 370 of the Indian constitution. The article
permits the local legislature in Indian-administered Kashmir to define permanent residents of
the region. It forbids outsiders from permanently settling, buying land, holding local
government jobs or winning education scholarships in the region. The article, referred to as
the Permanent Residents Law, also bars female residents of Jammu and Kashmir from
property rights in the event that they marry a person from outside the state. The provision
also extends to such women's children. While Article 35A has remained unchanged, some
aspects of Article 370 have been diluted over the decades. Critics of Article 35A say the
provision did not have any parliamentary sanction, and that it discriminates against women.
Now article 370 and 35a have been abrogated.
Why did government abrogate the article?
On August 5, the Indian government drove by PM Narendra Modi and his Hindu patriot
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) revoked Article 370 of the Indian constitution. Article 370 has
given a unique status to the northern territory of Jammu and Kashmir since 1947, including a
different constitution, independence over interior authoritative issues, and under which just
the inhabitants were able to buy the property in Kashmir. Presently, with the article gone,
Kashmir's territory is accessible for anybody from India to purchase, Kashmiris stress that
soon they're uprooted from their home. Modi knows there is no fair reason for such an
extreme burden of the Indian government's control over Kashmir, so he is completing Article
370's repeal by power. The Indian government has forced an interchanges power outage on
Kashmir, suspending web and telephone benefits, all upheld by paramilitary principle. He
wants to make Kashmir, and Kashmiris, undetectable to the more extensive world, with the
goal that he can complete his political plan in the district.
Prime minister Narendra Modi and the Hindu patriot Bharatiya Janata Party had since quite a
while ago restricted Article 370. This is one of their big elections promises in the 2019 polls
that just went by. Many semi critics off the move says that to revoke this article this is a part
of the Hindu nationalists parties plan to change the demographics of India’s only Muslim
majority state.
The situations caused by the abrogation of article 370 and 35a in Kashmir:
Normalcy in Kashmir has been the call of Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Amit
Shah. Truth be told, the very reason for the choice of stripping Kashmir of its extraordinary
status was to make Kashmir normal and accomplish its full and complete integration with
India.
Restricted mobility
Going inside Srinagar and different towns and even inside the valley has become a difficult
task except for the individuals having their very own vehicle. The city transport
administration in Srinagar worked by the Jammu and Kashmir State Road Transport
Corporation (JKSRTC) has suspended tasks since August 5, 2019. There was one ordinary
night transport to Jammu and back. There is no transport administration of any normality
inside Srinagar, inside Kashmir or to outside Kashmir. Before August 5, 2019 there were in
any event 30 transports, both open and private, among Srinagar and Jammu. This has made
travel troublesome and furthermore costly as individuals are compelled to pay a few times
more for transport. For those in the towns, since there are not many landlines and, these are
not working, individuals were not able contact anybody in crisis and they have to take a risk
and physically head out right to the city in the midst of high security for their medical and
different needs. No web implied any chance of buying air tickets. Air tickets must be
acquired at the air terminal
Communication Blockade
Leaving the house is maybe the second thing that each individual in the 21st century does on
an ordinary day. The shutdown of versatile communication and both portable and fixed line
services has been weakening day by day. It has brought all types of social correspondence
from every day trade of prosperity among guardians and youngsters and obviously social
trades, at deaths inside the family and network, at celebrations, and so on., to the most
fundamental access to open and particularly basic administrations
Government Services Discontinued
Rather like the phone framework, the mail station has likewise been closed. However no
postal stamps are sold from where individuals can convey letters outside Jammu and Kashmir
by Speed Post alone. The arranging workplaces have been shut since fifth August. Post has
not been gathered nor been conveyed since fifth August.
Education
Education has gone to a granulating end. Schools are shut. The fate of the adolescent and
students is questionable. Schools are authoritatively open in certain territories however there
is no participation of instructors and students. Instructors come seldom to class just to sign
attendance list out as they have threat of losing their positions. The Divisional Commissioner
demands that the instructors proceed to gather students and carry them to the school, yet this
also isn't working.
Public Health Centers
The Primary Health Centers (PHCs) are scarcely working or are shut and individuals attempt
tremendous hardship to reach Srinagar for medical treatment. General Health Centers at town
level and local emergency clinic are working. Tertiary clinics situated in Srinagar are hard to
get to and costly.
QUESTION 3:
Suggestions:
The Kashmir conflict is a territorial conflict primarily between India and Pakistan over
the Kashmir region. The conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as a dispute over
the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and escalated into three wars between India
and Pakistan.
Now this conflict should be solved for the betterment of both india and Pakistan and for their
future relations.
Following are the suggestions which can help to solve the dispute:
A dialogue process between India and Pakistan:
The only viable and practical solution would be a steady peace process between India and
Pakistan. a negotiated settlement seems most agreed and peaceful solution. 1972’s Shimla
Agreement, 1999’s Lahore declaration and Agra Summit has been landmark in the
negotiation process. India always resorted to this option as it is great advocate of peaceful
resolution of contentions issues. From Jawahar Lai Nehru to Atal Bihari Vajpayee a string of
talks and agreement has been there.
A tripartite talk towards solution:
A tripartite talk may be another good effort towards solution. These parties will be India,
Pakistan and all representatives of whole Jammu and Kashmir which includes Muslim
dominated Kashmir valley. Hindu dominated Jammu and Buddha dominated Laddakh region
as the representative of J & K which in reality is representative of Kashmir valley and has no
base in Jammu and Laddakh. Pakistan should accept this reality to make this tripartite talk a
success. It is very important to also involve Kashmiris in these talks and accept them as
stakeholders. According to Iftekhar H. Malik, a Pakistani origin scholar based in the UK, “In
any realistic resolution of the Kashmir conflict, the larger interest of the Kashmiris must
receive priority. For a long time, rather than being the focal point, they were simply regarded
as a side-issue. Yet, it is the Kashmiris who, for generations, have continued to suffer from
decisions made about them without consultation”.
Role of USA;
Besides the, international community in general and United States of America in particular
should play its role in order to resolve this protracted conflict. Being a big economic and
military power United States has great influence on both countries and it can help to foster
the peace process between india and Pakistan. With the help of International community, a
joint administration including India, Pakistan and Kashmiris should be worked out. The
borders should be made irrelevant and trade and people movement should be allowed without
any restrictions.
Division according to population:
the only sustainable solution, in my eyes, is division of Indian Occupied Kashmir according
to the majority of population in respective areas.  Indian Occupied Kashmir has three distinct
regions; Kashmir valley – constitute 95% of the Muslim; Jammu – over 60% Hindus and
Ladakh with 55% Buddhist population. Jammu and Ladakh can join India with Kashmir
valley coming to Pakistan.
Agreement for referendum:
Both countries may agree to make a referendum in both regions - Indian Kashmir and Pak
occupied Kashmir under international supervision putting before them three options :
Accession to India. 2. Accession to Pakistan. 3. Independence to Kashmir and let the cancer
go out forever.
win-win solution :
The other solution can be taken is a win-win solution which means both countries should
accept status quo of Kashmir i.e. the part that is with Pak, should remain with Pak and the
part with India should remain with India Governing Power of require should be given to
elected one for this India will have to with draw the resolution passed by Parliament on
Kashmir and should view it in new perspective says “You also won & I also won”.
So these are some possible solution that can be taken but most necessary thing required for
solution to Kashmir is honesty and strong political will to resolve the issue without which
problem persists whatever modalities are evolved.