KASHMIR ISSUE/DISPUTE

SUBMITTED TO

DR.SHAHANA
BEGUM

SUBMITTED FROM

SANA NAZ
INTRODUCTION:
A region of south central Asia, mainly mountainous but including the broad and fertile valleys of the
river Indus and its majority tributaries. The territory is divided into two parts by the Himalayas. To the
southeast are three region: the Vale of Kashmir or upper Jehlum valley, the districts of poonch and
Mangla in the middle Jehlum valley and the Jummu-Kathua plain or the Chenab and Ravi valleys. Beyond
the Himalayas, to the north and Northeast are Gilgit, Baltistan and Ladakh, the last two mainly occupied
by the Karakoram ranges.

DISPUTE

In the first half of the first millennium, the Kashmir region became an important centre of  Hinduism and
later of Buddhism; later still, in the ninth century, Kashmir Shaivism arose. In 1339, Shah Mir became the
first Muslim ruler of Kashmir, inaugurating the Salatin-i-Kashmir or Shah Mir dynasty. Kashmir was part
of the Mughal Empire from 1586 to 1751,and thereafter, until 1820, of the Afghan Durrani Empire. That
year, the Sikhs, under Ranjit Singh, annexed Kashmir. In 1846, after the Sikh defeat in the First Anglo-
Sikh War, and upon the purchase of the region from the British under the Treaty of Amritsar, the Raja of
Jammu, Gulab Singh, became the new ruler of Kashmir. The rule of his descendants, under
the paramountcy (or tutelage) of the British Crown, lasted until the partition of India in 1947, when the
former princely state of the British Indian Empire became a disputed territory, now administered by
three countries: India, Pakistan, and China.

WAR BETWEEN INDIA AND PAISTAN:

Since the Partition of British India in 1947 and subsequent creation of

the dominions of India and Pakistan, the two countries have been involved in a number of wars,
conflicts, and military standoffs. A long-running dispute over Kashmir and cross-border terrorism have
been the predominant cause of conflict between the two states, with the exception of the  Indo-
Pakistani War of 1971, which occurred as a direct result of hostilities stemming from the  Bangladesh
Liberation War in erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

Indo-Pakistani War of 1947

The war, also called the First Kashmir War, started in October 1947 when Pakistan feared that
the Maharaja of the princely state of Kashmir and Jammu would accede to India. Following
partition, princely states were left to choose whether to join India or Pakistan or to remain independent.
Jammu and Kashmir, the largest of the princely states, had a majority Muslim population and significant
fraction of Hindu population, all ruled by the Hindu Maharaja Hari Singh. Tribal Islamic forces with
support from the army of Pakistan attacked and occupied parts of the princely state forcing the
Maharaja to sign the Instrument of Accession of the princely state to the Dominion of India to receive
Indian military aid. The UN Security Council passed Resolution 47 on 22 April 1948. The fronts solidified
gradually along what came to be known as the Line of Control. A formal cease-fire was declared at 23:59
on the night of 1 January 1949. 379 India gained control of about two-thirds of the state (Kashmir
valley, Jammu and Ladakh) whereas Pakistan gained roughly a
third of Kashmir (Azad Kashmir, and Gilgit–Baltistan). The
Pakistan controlled areas are collectively referred to as Pakistan
administered Kashmir.

Indo-Pakistani War of 1965

This war started following Pakistan's Operation Gibraltar, which
was designed to infiltrate forces into Jammu and Kashmir to
precipitate an insurgency against rule by India. India retaliated by
launching a full-scale military attack on West Pakistan. The seventeen-day war caused thousands of
casualties on both sides and witnessed the largest engagement of armored vehicles and the largest tank
battle since World War II. The hostilities between the two countries ended after a ceasefire was
declared following diplomatic intervention by the Soviet Union and USA and the subsequent issuance of
the Tashkent Declaration. India had the upper hand over Pakistan when the ceasefire was declared.

Indo-Pakistani War of 1971

This war was unique in the way that it did not involve the issue of Kashmir, but was rather precipitated
by the crisis created by the political battle brewing in erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh)
between Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Leader of East Pakistan, and Yahya Khan and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto,
leaders of West Pakistan. This would culminate in the declaration of Independence of Bangladesh from
the state system of Pakistan. Following Operation Searchlight and the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities, about
10 million Bengalis in East Pakistan took refuge in neighbouring India. India intervened in the
ongoing Bangladesh liberation movement. After a large scale pre-emptive strike by Pakistan, full-scale
hostilities between the two countries commenced. Pakistan attacked at several places along India's
western border with Pakistan, but the Indian Army successfully held their positions. The Indian Army
quickly responded to the Pakistan Army's movements in the
west and made some initial gains, including capturing around
15,010 square kilometres (5,795 square miles) of Pakistan
territory (land gained by India in Pakistani Kashmir, Pakistani
Punjab and Sindh sectors but gifted it back to Pakistan in
the Simla Agreement of 1972, as a gesture of goodwill). Within
two weeks of intense fighting, Pakistani forces in East
Pakistan surrendered to the joint command of Indian and
Bangladeshi forces following which the People's Republic of
Bangladesh was created. This war saw the highest number of
casualties in any of the India-Pakistan conflicts, as well as the largest number of prisoners of war since
the Second World War after the surrender of more than 90,000 Pakistani military and civilians. In the
words of one Pakistani author, "Pakistan lost half its navy, a quarter of its air force and a third of its
army.

Indo-Pakistani War of 1999

Commonly known as the Kargil War, this conflict between the two countries was mostly limited. During
early 1999, Pakistani troops infiltrated across the Line of Control (LoC) and occupied Indian territory
mostly in the Kargil district. India responded by launching a major military and diplomatic offensive to
drive out the Pakistani infiltrators. Two months into the conflict, Indian troops had slowly retaken most
of the ridges that were encroached by the infiltrators. According to official count, an estimated 75%–
80% of the intruded area and nearly all high ground was back under Indian control. Fearing large-scale
escalation in military conflict, the international community, led by the United States, increased
diplomatic pressure on Pakistan to withdraw forces from remaining Indian territory. Faced with the
possibility of international isolation, the already fragile Pakistani economy was weakened further. The
morale of Pakistani forces after the withdrawal declined as many units of the Northern Light
Infantry suffered heavy casualties. The government refused to accept the dead bodies of many
officers, an issue that provoked outrage and protests in the Northern Areas. Pakistan initially did not
acknowledge many of its casualties, but Nawaz Sharif later said that over 4,000 Pakistani troops were
killed in the operation and that Pakistan had lost the conflict. By the end of July 1999, organized
hostilities in the Kargil district had ceased. The war was a major military defeat for the Pakistani Army.

CRITICAL CONDITION
At least 8,000 families in Kashmir have lost their loved ones to enforced disappearances at the behest of
the Indian armed forces. But the state refuses to acknowledge the problem and take action.

Such is the grip of fear over the people of Kashmir, and even children are not immune to it. Being
the most militarized zone in the world, Kashmir has witnessed killings, enforced disappearances, torture
cases, rapes and other brutalities by the Indian armed forces over the decades.

August 30 marks the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. According to the
United Nations, an enforced disappearance occurs when people are arrested, detained or abducted
against their will by the state, or groups and individuals acting on behalf or, with support from the state;
followed by a refusal to disclose the whereabouts of the person.

In Kashmir, there have been more than 8000 cases of enforced and involuntary disappearances between
1989 and 2009, according to the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons (APDP), a collective of
family members who campaign against enforced disappearances and are in search of their loved
ones. The government, however, pegs the number of enforced disappearances at 4,000. This
discrepancy in the number of enforced disappearances has been highlighted by the Office of the UN
High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in its first ever report on the status of human rights in
Kashmir released in June 2018. However, the Indian government rejected the report. “Enforced
disappearances are a weapon of war. They are used to neutralize armed resistance against the state and
their sympathizers. It is a global problem and not restricted to a specific region. Disappearances not only
silence opponents but also create uncertainty and fear in the wider community,”  says Parvez Imroz, a
human rights activist who has extensively worked on researching and documenting enforced
disappearances through his organisation, the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil
Society (JKCCS). “Since the Spanish civil war in 1936, enforced disappearances have taken place
worldwide and are not restricted to non-democratic countries, but also used by democratic countries to
suppress political dissent”, says Imroz.

In 2005, APDP unearthed the widespread existence of graves-with-no-names. In Baramulla alone, the

total number of such graves is 940.  On July 10, 2008, the European Parliament passed a resolution
lending support for the investigations into the discovery of mass graves and enforced disappearances.
“But the Indian state cited lack of technology, expertise and human resources as the reason for not
conducting the investigation, even though the European Parliament had offered financial assistance to
take it forward,”says Kartik Murukutla, a lawyer associated with APDP.

In 2009, International People’s Tribunal on Human Rights and Justice in Indian-Administered

Kashmir released a second report in which 2,700 mass graves were found and investigated in Baramulla,
Bandipora and Kupwara districts of Kashmir.

In November 2017, the SHRC once again asked the Jammu & Kashmir government to investigate at least
2,080 unmarked mass graves, this time in the Poonch and Rajouri districts of Jammu. But there has
neither been a probe nor an Action Taken Report from the government. The state’s inaction prompted
the JKCCS to file a petition in the SHRC in August this year, asking the SHRC to approach the High Court
to seek implementation of its 2011 and 2017 orders. The SHRC will next hear the case on September 17,
2018.

The government’s continued refusal to comply with the SHRC’s recommendations gives impunity to and
protects the perpetrators of violence. It also reflects the state’s reluctance to acknowledge the very
existence of enforced disappearances, a culpable offence.

CONCLUSOIN

Kashmir has been in big conflicts, mostly between India and Pakistan. These conflicts are mostly
developed by religion. Pakistan is mostly Muslim, and Kashmir as well, so it would seem logical for
Kashmir to join Pakistan, but the leader of Kashmir was Indian so then Kashmir would join India. Also the
main river where Pakistan gets their water from, starts in the Indian part of Kashmir, so if India decided
to build a dam in that river, Pakistan would have a big problem. These problems made a lot of war, since
both Pakistan and India want the whole of Kashmir. Now Kashmir is contained of three regions, one
from China, India and Pakistan.

The conflict about Kashmir can be resolved in a few different ways. The easiest way would be to make
Kashmir an independent country. Another possible way is to definitely divide Kashmir between India
and Pakistan, so there is no need for war anymore.
REFERENCE

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_wars_and_conflicts

https://www.videovolunteers.org/enforced-disappearances-in-kashmir-a-states-denial-and-a-
communitys-agony/?
gclid=Cj0KCQiA1KiBBhCcARIsAPWqoSraX1eiBOuNx2VJaDaL5OMDNe_dmA1KvGV6wDFQ7wxaHu_Hmmb
RXjAaAjWKEALw_wcB

https://www.fairobserver.com/region/central_south_asia/explained-kashmir-dispute-india-pakistan-
jammu-kashmir-23804/?gclid=Cj0KCQiA1KiBBhCcARIsAPWqoSr7St8dv86SFxedDBofUuI6zkESXNx-
r6mEbHHWV1vHnlcKhmJCr4QaAid9EALw_wcB