"The Kashmir conflict"

Kashmir,a part of India? a part of Pakistan or a part of China?
India and Pakistan came out of the misery of slavery and redefined new terms of misery on the people of Kashmir. They became independent in August,1947 and Kashmir was an independent province by then ruled by king Hari Singh. Due to the majority of Muslim population, the voice rouse against the Hindu king and the timid king made an agreement with the government of India and surrendered Kashmir to India allowing India to take full control and authority over Kashmir. Some dynamic actions by Vallabhai patel calmed things down when the agitation started but the dissatisfaction of the people continued ever since then.

When Pakistan too raised its voice for Kashmir, the issue became more sensitive and a matter of pride for both the countries. Ever since then there were three wars between the two nations over the Kashmir issue in 1949,1965 and the one in 1999 also known as the famous Kargil war. Kargil war was one of the most devastating wars in the history of the world which lead to massive destruction of human lives and property on both sides. The war started when Pakistan attacked the Srinagar to Leh highway which was the main source of movement of trade in Kashmir. India fought back and finally won the war and the Pakistan army had to retreat back.

Now Kashmir is divided into four parts,one in India,one in Pakistan(azad kashmir), one in China(asai chin) and the other bordering Afghanistan controlled by Pakistan and China. China occupied Asai chin in the 1962 war and mixed it with Tibet, but India claims it to be its own part even now. With such politically profound countries surrounded on all the sides the Indian owned Kashmir had the least peace since the last 6 decades.Due to these frequent conflicts between the interest of the countries and the dissatisfaction of the local people leading to civil riots,peace has never found its place in the lands of Kashmir. Such conditions also encouraged the rise of terrorism and saw Kashmir becoming the hub for terrorism.

India took control over Kashmir in October,1947 and promised them full democracy but it has not been the very same in Kashmir. The government policies were never acceptable and the desire for self rule was always negated by the central government. The people of Kashmir want to build a government of their own called the sardar-e-riyasat where they can have a self rule and the members of it would be selected by the people of Kashmir. But the central government was always against it and the state government was always elected based on the 20%voters who cast their vote. The remaining either boycott the elections or are not given provision to vote. This always agitated the people and kept the Indian army busy in Kashmir to maintain the momentary peace.

Civil wars have been very frequent with people chanting quotes against India and for Pakistan. For any bill to be passed in a state there has to be at least 2/3rd's majority of the rajya sabha and a majority of the half of the local assembly but this rule has never been followed in Kashmir. The Amarnath land transfer issue was one of the hot spot in the history of Kashmir which lead to the deaths of 40 unarmed civilians. The army in 90-99 was responsible for the deaths of 4501 civilians and raped 4242 women and girls in the age of 7-70. This made the people strictly against the Indian army and the main aim of the civil riots and the local terrorism is to push the army and the CRPF out of Kashmir.

Azhar Geelani and Umar Farooq hold the Kashmir movement strong today and recently the prime minister of India has promised to fulfil demands of the people. Recently an all India party meeting has been organised in Kashmir and the demands of the people have been brought to light. This was just a step towards a peaceful Kashmir but the consistent behaviour of the government in breaking the promises doesn't assure an immediate solution but the government is not to be blamed as it is itself tied with various issues like terrorism and national security.