History of the Kashmir
Dispute
Introduction
Kashmir, officially
referred to as Jammu and Kashmir, is an 86,000-square-mile region in northwest
India and northeast Pakistan so breathtaking in physical beauty that Mugal emperors in the 16th and 17th century considered it an earthly paradise.
After centuries of Hindu and Buddhist rule, Muslim Moghul emperors took control
of Kashmir in the 15th century, converted the population to Islam and
incorporated it into the Moghul Empire. Afghan invaders followed the Moghuls in
the 18th century, who were themselves driven out by Sikhs from Punjab. Britain
invaded in the 19th century and sold the entire Kashmir Valley for half a
million rupees (or three rupees per Kashmiri) to the brutal repressive ruler of
Jammu, the Hindu Gulab Singh. It was under Singh that the Kashmir Valley became
part of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
The history of the
freedom of Kashmir dates to 1931, when the people of Kashmir, both Hindus and
Muslims, initiated a freedom movement against their ruler, to have their own
indigenous rule in the region. The resentment of the people led to the ‘Quit
Kashmir’ campaign against the Maharaja in 1946. Faced with the insurgency of
his people, the Maharaja fled the capitol, Srinagar, on October 25, 1947 and
implored India to send its army to help him crush the rebellion. India,
coveting the territory, set the condition that the Maharaja would have to sign
an ‘Instrument of Accession’ with them, subject to ‘reference to the people.’ The
region has been violently disputed by India and Pakistan since their 1947
partition, which created Pakistan as the Muslim counterpart to Hindu-majority
India
India brought the dispute to the United
Nations, where the Security Council discussed the question exhaustively from
January to April of 1948. It was agreed upon by the governments of India and
Pakistan, and approved by the international community, that the dispute over
the status of Jammu and Kashmir could only be settled in accordance with the
will of the people, which could be ascertained through the democratic method of
a free and impartial plebiscite.
India and Pakistan
were partitioned in 1947. Kashmir was split as well, with two-thirds going to
India and a third going to Pakistan, even though India's share was
predominantly Muslim, like Pakistan. Muslims rebelled. India repressed them.
War broke out. It wasn't settled until a 1949 cease-fire brokered by the United
Nations and a
resolution calling for a referendum, or plebiscite, allowing
Kashmiris to decide their future for themselves. India has never implemented
the resolution.
Background
Kashmir has been at the heart of a territorial dispute
between India and Pakistan since the two nations gained their independence in
1947. Both claim Kashmir. In 1948 the then-ruler of the princely state of Jammu
and Kashmir, Maharaja Hari Singh, who was holding out for independence, acceded
to India on condition that the state retain autonomy in all matters except
defense, currency and foreign affairs. .
Fighting between India and Pakistan ended with U.N. intervention; since 1948
the cease-fire line has been monitored by the U.N. Military Observer Group on
India and Pakistan (UNMOGIP). The far northern and western areas of the state
are under Pakistan's control; the Kashmir valley, Jammu, and Ladakh are under
India's control. U.N. resolutions calling for a plebiscite to determine the
final status of the territory have been rejected by India, which claims that
because Kashmiris have voted in national elections in India, there is no need
for a plebiscite. Pakistan maintains that a plebiscite should be held under
independent supervision. Several of the militant groups in Kashmir have also
called for a plebiscite but argue that an independent Kashmir should be an
option. On July 2, 1972, India and Pakistan signed the Simla Accord, under
which both countries agreed to respect the cease-fire line, known as the Line
of Control, and to resolve differences over Kashmir "by peaceful
means" through negotiation. The Simla Accord left the "final
settlement" of the Kashmir question to be resolved at an unspecified
future date. Since then, the Simla Accord has been the touchstone of all
bilateral discussions of the Kashmir issue, even though the accord itself left
the issue unresolved.
Progress
India's efforts to
manipulate elections in Kashmir and suppress dissent have marked Kashmir's
history since 1948, but it was not until 1986 that discontent within the state
found wider popular support. In that year the state's ruling National
Conference (NC) party, widely accused of corruption, struck a deal with India's
Congress Party administration that many in Kashmir saw as a betrayal of
Kashmir's autonomy. A new party, the Muslim United Front (MUF), attracted the
support of a broad range of Kashmiris, including pro-independence activists,
disenchanted Kashmiri youth and the pro-Pakistan Jama'at-i Islami, an Islamic
political organization, and appeared poised to do well in state elections in
1987. Blatant rigging assured a National Conference victory, which was followed
by the arrests of hundreds of MUF leaders and supporters. In the aftermath,
young MUF supporters swelled the ranks of growing number of militant groups who
increasingly crossed over to Pakistan for arms and training. The major militant
organizations were divided between those advocating an independent Kashmir and
those supporting accession to Pakistan. In the late 1980s, the groups began
assassinating NC leaders and engaging in other acts of violence. Some groups
also targeted Hindu families, and a slow exodus of Hindus from the valley
began.
After the elections,
militants of the JKLF and other groups stepped up their attacks on the
government, detonating bombs at government buildings, buses, and the houses of
present and former state officials, and enforcing a state-wide boycott of the
November 1989 national parliamentary elections. One month later, JKLF militants
abducted the daughter of Home Minister Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, and then freed
her when the government gave in to demands for the release of five detained
militants. That event, together with a surge in popular protest against the
state and central governments, led the central government to launch a massive
crackdown on the militants.
On January 19, 1990, the
central government imposed direct rule on the state. From the outset, the
Indian government's campaign against the militants was marked by widespread
human rights violations, including the shooting of unarmed demonstrators,
civilian massacres, and summary executions of detainees. Militant groups
stepped up their attacks, murdering and threatening Hindu residents, carrying
out kidnappings and assassinations of government officials, civil servants, and
suspected informers, and engaging in sabotage and bombings. With the
encouragement and assistance of the government, some 100,000 Hindu Kashmiris,
known as "Pandits," fled the valley. By May 1990, rising tension
between Pakistan and India following the escalation of the conflict in Kashmir
raised fears of another war between the two countries.
In late 1993, the All
Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC), an umbrella organization of the leaders of
all the political and militant organizations fighting for independence, was
founded to act as the political voice of the independence movement. However,
rivalries within the APHC have limited its effectiveness. Charges of corruption
have also tainted some APHC leaders.1
In the mid-1990s, Indian
security forces began arming and training local auxiliary forces made up of
surrendered or captured militants to assist in counterinsurgency operations.
These state-sponsored paramilitary groups have committed serious human rights
abuses, and human rights defenders and journalists have been among the
principal victims. Indian occupation forces have also been involved in serious
human rights violations including: rape; destruction of property; extra
judicial killings.
In May 1996,
parliamentary elections were held in the state for the first time since 1989.
Militant leaders called for a boycott, however, and there were widespread
reports that security forces had forced some voters to go to the polls. During
state assembly elections in September of that year as well,
residents-particularly those living in Srinagar and other cities-also
complained that the security forces had tried to counter a militant boycott by
forcing some people to go to the polls. However, a large number appeared to
have voted voluntarily. Following the election, the National Conference party
formed the first state government since 1990. Farooq Abdullah, who together with
leaders from the Congress Party had been responsible for rigging state
elections in 1987, again became chief minister.
On May 11 and 13, 1998,
India tested five nuclear devices, and three weeks later, Pakistan responded in
kind. The tests ignited a firestorm of criticism around the world and triggered
sanctions by both countries' donors and trading partners. In the months
following the tests, an upsurge in shelling and shooting by Indian and
Pakistani troops stationed along the cease-fire line in Kashmir left over one
hundred civilians dead. Following a the Indian prime minister's historic bus
trip from New Delhi to the Pakistan border in February 1999, the prime
ministers of both countries signed the Lahore Declaration in which they vowed,
among other things, to renew talks on Kashmir and to alert each other of
further arms tests. Following such a warning, on April 11, 1999, India
test-fired its long-range Agni missile, and on April 14 and 15, Pakistan did
the same with its long-range Gauri and medium-range Shaheen missiles. India
conducted another ballistic missile test on April 16; the exchange again raised
international concern about the prospects for an arms race on the subcontinent.
Rising tensions in the
region have made clear that both India and Pakistan have legitimate security
concerns related to Kashmir. But these concerns justify the
abuses committed by Indian military and paramilitary forces .
As of 1999, the major
militant organizations fighting in Kashmir included the Hizb-ul Mujahidin,
Harakat-ul Ansar and Lashgar-i Toiba.
Most of these groups support accession to Pakistan. The Jammu and
Kashmir Liberation Front (JKLF), the organization that spearheaded the movement
for an independent Kashmir, declared a cease-fire in 1994 Pakistani support to
freedom fighters was withdrawn after the unilateral concessions by Gen.
Mushharf after which all infrastructure and personal involved in this struggle
was disbanded. Pakistan also unilaterally allowed India to build the fence along
the line of control and working boundary. Pakistan and Kashmiris did not receive
any concessions as a result of the above mentioned concessions by the Musharraf
government.
The breathing space
provided by the Musharraf unilateral concessions to India was unfortunately not
used well. India in fact increased violence and failed to win the Kashnmiri
hearts. Butt, Guru and Wani incidents further alienated the Kashmiri people who
have reached a tipping point where inclusion if the Indian Union is no longer an
option.
Central government
forces operating in Kashmir include the Indian Army and India's federal
security forces, the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), and the Border
Security Force (BSF). The army's role in the conflict expanded in 1993 with the
introduction of the Rashtriya Rifles, an elite army unit created specifically
for counterinsurgency operations in Kashmir. The Rashtriya Rifles have been the
main force in charge of counterinsurgency operations in Doda, Rajouri and
Punch. As of June 1999, some 400,000 army troops and other federal security
forces were deployed in the valley, including those positioned along the Line
of Control.2
In May 1999 India
deployed thousands of additional troops to the Kargil region. The local Jammu
and Kashmir policemen are generally not involved in counterinsurgency
operations, largely because they are believed to be sympathetic to the
insurgency.3 However,
in 1995 the Special Task Force (STF) and the Special Operations Group (SOG),
counterinsurgency divisions of the Jammu and Kashmir Police made up of
non-Muslim non-Kashmiri recruits, including some former militants, were formed
apparently to create the impression that the counterinsurgency effort had local
support. These police forces frequently operate jointly with the Rashtriya
Rifles.
Since at least early
1995 Indian security forces have armed and trained local auxiliary forces made
up of surrendered or captured militants to assist in counterinsurgency
operations. These forces, which function outside of the normal command
structure of the Indian army and other security forces, nevertheless are
considered state agents under international law. These groups participate in
joint patrols, receive and carry out orders given by security officers, and
operate in full view of army and security force bunkers and camps. Some members
of these groups are even housed in military compounds. They include Ikhwan-ul
Muslimoon and Muslim Mujahidin.
Instead, India has
maintained what amounts to an occupying army in Kashmir, cultivating more
resentment from the locals than fertile agricultural products. Modern India's
founders, Jawaharlal Nehru and Mahatma Gandhi, both had Kashmiri roots, which
partially explain India's attachment to the region. To India, "Kashmir for
the Kashmiris" means nothing. Indian leaders' standard line is that
Kashmir is "an integral part" of India.
In 1965, India and
Pakistan fought their second of three major wars since 1947 over Kashmir. The
United States was largely to blame for setting the stage for war.
The cease-fire three
weeks later was not substantial beyond a demand that both sides put down their
arms and a pledge to send international observers to Kashmir. Pakistan renewed
its call for a referendum by Kashmir's mostly Muslim population of 5 million to
decide the region's future, in accordance with a
1949 UN resolution. India continued to resist conducting such a plebiscite. The
1965 war, in sum, settled nothing and merely put off future conflicts
According to a
Congressional Research Service report, "Relations between Pakistan and
India remain deadlocked on the issue of Kashmiri sovereignty, and a separatist
rebellion has been underway in the region since 1989. Tensions were extremely
high in the wake of the Kargil conflict of 1999 when an incursion by Pakistani
soldiers led to a bloody six-week-long battle."
Tensions over Kashmir
rose dangerously in fall 2001, (forcing then-Secretary of State Colin Powell,
to de-escalate tensions in person) When a bomb exploded in the Indian Jammu and
Kashmir state assembly and an armed band assaulted the Indian Parliament in New
Delhi later that year, India mobilized 700,000 troops, threatened war, and
provoked Pakistan into mobilizing its forces. American intervention compelled
then-Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf, . He promised to ban and eliminate terrorist infrastructure
in Pakistani
Maqbool Butt was
hanged by the then Indian regime on February 11, 1984 in Tihar Jail, as the
reprisal expressed by New Delhi. People and civil society of Jammu and Kashmir
do respect him for his legendary struggle for the restoration of freedom in
Kashmir. He is now a hero and pioneer of the Kashmiri nation. So as to pay
tribute to Maqbool Butt, People of Srinagar have already built and reserved a
grave for him in Martyrs Grave Yard of Eidgah, Srinagar. However, his formal
burial is still awaited. Maqbool Butt was a Kashmiri freedom fighter and
co-founder of the Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front. He was a leading voice of the
struggle for freedom among the Kashmiris. In the year of 1962, Maqbool Butt
formed a movement called Kashmir Independence Committee (KIC). This group was
later merged into the newly formed Jammu Kashmir Mahaz-Rayee-Shumari
(Plebiscite Front) in Azad Kashmir, which was a crusade for complete
independence from India. He was sentenced to death for murder by the Delhi High
Court and hanged on 11 February 1984. Prior to the publication of
‘Shaoor-e-Farda’ (the vision of tomorrow) by Saeed Asad and Safeer-e-Hurriyat
(the ambassador of liberation) by Khawaja Rafiq, Subsequently, as it appears from his
interviews and Rafiq’s narration confirmed by some of his colleagues, he went
underground and then in 1958 crossed over to Pakistan along with his uncle The
biased Indian court found him guilty and passed death sentence on him, while
others were given the life sentence Butt’s execution further contributed to the
sense of alienation among most Kashmiris, and he continues to be a major source
of inspiration for the Kashmiri freedom fighters. He was the first Kashmiri to
be judicially murdered on Indian soil – making him the first authentic martyr
of the Kashmiri independence movement. His execution day is celebrated as
Martyr Day every year.
Afzal Guru- On February 9, 2013. Afzal Guru was hanged. As the news spread people of Kashmir
everywhere started protesting. The protests were against the fulfillment of the
collective conscience of the Indian nationalists. It was injustice, and the
secret hanging then denying the family the remains are black spots on the
justice system of India. Parallel thoughts and perception that Kashmiris were
subject to victimization filled the head
Afzal Guru was a college drop-out, a surrendered freedom fighter, once a
graduate candidate of Delhi University and victim of state injustice. He was
a person of principles. Who never stated
anything for his own expediency Once Afzal was told by security forces to coach
the two sons of higher officials of defense to avoid the threats of kidnapping.
And while filing of Curative petition on his behalf by Senior Counsel Indra
Jaisingh, he asked him the names of people whose children he had taught.But
Afzal said that if he made those names public, the students would face stigma
and he did not want to harm them. It has been written in Nandita Haksar’s book
“The many faces of Kashmiri Nationalism”as: “She (Indra Jaising) was deeply
impressed by how honorable he was. Afzal was not the kind of human being who
would sacrifice principles for the sake of expediency”.It is also said that in
Delhi, Afzal Guru was taken to the Police Station of the Special Cell at Lodhi
road. He was beaten, tortured and humiliated. It was the holy month of Ramzan
and the policemen urinated in his mouth, telling him he could break his fast with
their urine.
This shows the nature of democracy and secularism that the world’s largest democratic country boasts about
This shows the nature of democracy and secularism that the world’s largest democratic country boasts about
Burhan Wani- was born in September 19, 1994 at Dadsara village of Tral
area of Pulwama in an upper middle-class family of Muzaffar Wani who named him
Burhan. Both his father and mother are teachers at government schools in Burhan joined the armed struggle in October
16, 2010 to avenge the humiliation when he was severely beaten by Indian troops
along with his brother Khalid Muzaffar Wani, who was later killed by the Indian
army in custody on April 13, 2015 for meeting Burhan in Tral forest. Since
2011, Burhan was popular on social media as a commander of the largest
indigenous Kashmiri freedom fighters organization — Hizbul Mujahideen. . He broke more than 20 Indian army crackdowns
with the help of local people who came to rescue him while pelting security
forces with stones during siege and search operations that showed the
popularity and love of the people for Burhan in IOK Burhan was a smart Kashmiri
freedom fighter with political guts and was completely following the line of
the All Parties Hurriyat Conference (APHC) to promote Kashmiris struggle. A soft-spoken Burhan having European features
with a dashing look became the real face of Kashmiri freedom fighters since
2011 to 2016 on social media. It was only Burhan who gathered all militants in
Kashmir to fight under an umbrella against illegal Indian rule in IOK.To arrest
Burhan, the Indian army had announced one million Indian rupees bounty. It
was the martyrdom of Ishfaq Majeed Wani in March in the 1990s that shook the
entire IOK and after 27 years Burhan’s martyrdom gave a new life to the freedom
struggle. The Indian army along with other security agencies martyred Burhan
Wani and his two colleagues — Sartaj Ahmad Sheikh and Pervaiz Ahmad Lashkari —
at Bumdoora village in Kokernag area on July 8, 2016. More than one million
people gathered at Eidgah Tral and offered 40 funerals of Burhan. He was laid
to rest close to the grave of his elder brother Khalid Muzafar Wani. Following
the martyrdom of Burhan, the entire IOK was embroiled in violence beginning
July 8, 2016 to February 2017. During the longest shutdown and curfew in the
history of IOK to mourn the martyrdom of Burhan, clashes erupted between Indian
forces and protesters in which nearly 100 people were killed, 15,000 injured
and hundreds were made blind by pellet guns.
Conclusions
The people of Kashmir never lost hope either in the United
Nations as the custodian of human rights, or in their demand to exercise the
right of self-determination. The scale of the popular backing of the uprising
in Kashmir can be judged from the established fact that on many occasions
during the month of July-August 2018, virtually the entire population of
Srinagar and other major towns in the Valley, came out on the streets. They
protested attempts by the Government of India to scrap Article 35A of the Indian constitution, which provides special rights and privileges to the state of
Jammu and Kashmir, and its residents. Article 35A also bars foreigners from
buying land or immovable property, etc. in the State. The Joint Resistance
Leadership and other legal, religious and business fraternities believe that
the abrogation of this constitutional provision is a conspiracy to change the
demographic composition of the state. However, the Supreme Court of India
adjourned the hearting of Article 35A till August 27, 2018.
Continuous violations of
basic human rights (,HR Violations (\From Jan 1989 till July 31,
2018 Total Killings * 95,071 Custodial Killings 7,112 Civilian arrested 144,362
Structures Arson/Destroyed 108,868 Women Widowed 22,880 Children Orphaned
107,717.) frequent massacres,
rapes, constant fear, hunger and misery — these are the gifts of the Indian
occupation to the people of Kashmir. For the populous South Asian subcontinent,
the Kashmir situation entails a recurrent possibility of disaster and nuclear
war. However, there is a way to bring these atrocities to an end. If the
Secretary General of the United Nations uses his moral and legal authority to
resume peaceful dialogue between India and Pakistan, along with the legitimate
representatives of the people of Kashmir, then a final settlement of the dispute
can be formulated.
By adopting several
resolutions from 1948 to 1962 reaffirming the principle of free choice for the
people of Kashmir, the Security Council assumed a moral responsibility to
ensure that conditions in Kashmir will permit the exercise of that choice. To
disown that responsibility would expose the world organization to the charge of
making hollow promises and, indeed, deceiving a population which is larger than
that of many members of the United Nations, individually.
Like
the Arab-Israeli conflict, the conflict over Kashmir remains unresolved. And
like the Arab-Israeli conflict, it is the source, and perhaps the key, to peace
in regions far greater than the territory in dispute. The latest moves to push
the zero Palestine solution does not bide well for the beleaguered people of
Palestine and perhaps also the Kashmiri people also have not seen much progress
even after gross human rights violations by Indian Occupation Forces. UNHRC ( “According to report documented by Jammu Kashmir Coalition
of civil society JKCCS, in 2016 the Jammu and Kashmir witnessed the killing of
383 persons which is statistically the highest in last five years. Moreover,
thousands of persons were injured and there were illegal detentions of around
10,000 people besides arson and clampdown of communication services. The
violence intensified on July 8, after the extra-judicial killing of, Burhan
Wani. His killing was followed by a mass uprising of people all across Kashmir.
In order to quell the uprising, the government pressed into service police,
military and paramilitary forces, which resorted to excessive use of unbridled
force that resulted into large-scale abuse of human rights. During the unrest,
there was extrajudicial execution of more than 100 civilians; more than 15,000
persons got injured in the State forces action with 6000+ injuries by the use
of pellet shotguns with 1000+ civilians receiving eye damage fully or
partially. Protest gatherings and marches, including funeral processions and
public prayers, were met with violence. Essential services including
telecommunication and internet services remained by and large curtailed.
Freedom of Press was violated as media professionals were attacked and injured.
There were instances of ban on publication of few dailies and seizure of daily
newspapers. The Medical aid services during the uprising were also affected as
there were attacks on ambulances, assault on doctors and paramedical workers
and crackdown on voluntary aid workers by various security agencies. The long
pending dispute on the agenda of the United Nations continues to take lives of
human beings every year, endlessly. Jammu and Kashmir has lost its children and
youth in the current mayhem. It has lost its tomorrow. The dale is in the state
of mourning– wailing for its departed children, its visionless children, its
detained children and its offended children. Everywhere there are injuries,
those eternal wounds which nothing on earth can heal. A state, when the crimson
has taken over green .Out of over 95 people who have been gunned down so far,
the government of Jammu and Kashmir has ordered enquiry in only seven cases.”
Quote from UNHRC Report) even prepared a detailed report on HR
violations and demanded a full scale enquiry which India has refused to allow. The fate of Kashmir hangs in the balance. The
Islamic world is divided and embroiled in infighting and the Kashmiri cause is
not taken up by the Islamic world.
