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Historical background of
the Kashmir conflict
GENERAL FACTS:
The State of Jammu and Kashmir is a mountainous region surrounded
by Afghanistan, China, India and Pakistan. The total area is
86,000 square miles and the population is about 14 million,
including over 1.5 million refugees in Pakistan.
STATUS:
Kashmir was ruled by local kings for centuries before the Moghuls
incorporated the region into their vast empire in the 16th
century. The British occupied the region in the 19th century and
in 1846 they sold the entire region, including the population, to
a Dogra Hindu chief named Gulab Singh, for 7.5 million rupees.
CAUSE OF DISPUTE:
When the British left the subcontinent in 1947, their empire was
divided into Muslim Pakistan and Hindu India.
The smaller princely states, such as Hyderabad, Junagarh,
Munawadar and Kashmir were to decide on their own whether to join
India or Pakistan. Though Junagarh, Munawadar and Hyderabad opted
to join Pakistan, India sent in her forces and took over these
states by brute force.
In Kashmir, a predominantly Muslim state, the people wanted to
join Pakistan but the ruler hesitated with regard to making a
choice. People rose up against his tyrannical rule and were
joined by volunteers from other areas of the subcontinent.
The Indians used the situation to their advantage by sending in
Indian forces to occupy Kashmir. Later they claimed that the
Maharaja had signed a document, an Instrument of Accession,
allowing the Indians to intervene in Kashmir. Dr Alistair Lamb, a
British historian, has later proven beyond any doubt with his
excellent research that there was in fact no such
document and that it was impossible for the Maharaja to
have signed any such document on the date specified by the
Indians.
Even if one chooses to believe the Indians, this accession was
conditional on a plebiscite to be held according to UN
resolutions. India has never allowed this plebiscite to be
carried out. It is also interesting to note that India never
allowed anybody to have a look at the document of accession and
has later claimed that the original document was destroyed in a
government office fire!
CURRENT SITUATION:
Since 1988 Indian forces have been waging an ethnic cleansing
campaign against the Kashmiri people. Houses are being burnt,
people arrested, tortured, raped and killed. According to
Kashmiri sources this has resulted in the deaths of over 80 000
people so far. The numbers continue to rise as the Indians are
using increasingly brutal methods to repress the Kashmiri freedom
struggle.
SOLUTION:
The international community needs to force India to accept
holding talks with Kashmiri representatives and the Pakistani
government so that a peaceful solution can be facilitated. The
need for such an action has to be realized now that both India
and Pakistan are nuclear states. In order to avoid a disastrous
nuclear exchange in the future, the Kashmir conflict has to be
solved according to the wishes of the Kashmiri people as
guaranteed by numerous UN resolutions.
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