The kashmir dispute

Throughout the British Raj the leaders of the 565 princely states kept nominal control of their territories. For decades this amounted to nothing more than a constitutional nicety because in practice they were subservient to the British. But in 1947 the princely rulers had the power to decide whether they joined India or Pakistan. The choice was especially difficult for Maharaja Hari Singh of Jammu and Kashmir. His state bordered both India and Pakistan. And while he was a Hindu, his population was predominantly Muslim. The maharaja was uncertain what do to, but many Pakistanis were determined that the predominantly Muslim Kashmiris should join Pakistan. In October 1947 Pashtun tribesmen from North-West Frontier Province tried to force the issue by invading Kashmir, with the tacit consent of the new Pakistani authorities. But the strategy backfired when the maharaja requested armed assistance from India. India agreed to help but there was a price. The maharaja would have to agree that Kashmir joined India, not Pakistan. The maharaja did opt for India but the timing of his decision has been highly controversial ever since. Pakistan argues that he signed the Instrument of Accession under duress after Indian troops had illegally entered Kashmir. The Indians maintain the signature came before their troops were deployed. As a result of the fighting in 1947, and the crushing defeat of the 1965 war, Pakistan currently occupies around one-third of Kashmir, which it calls Azad (Free) Kashmir, and India occupies the other two-thirds. (The situation is further complicated by the fact that, after 1947, China occupied an area called Aksai Chin in Indian-occupied Kashmir. India’s objection to this was one of the factors behind the 1962 Indo-Chinese War, in which India was heavily defeated.) Since 1988 there has been an insurgency in Kashmir that has resulted in the loss of tens of thousands of lives. Kashmiri Muslims and Islamic militants from Pakistan, Afghanistan and further afield have tried to force the Indian security forces out of Kashmir. The Indians have refused to budge and have committed chronic human-rights abuses, while Pakistani proxies have attempted to neutralise (by force or otherwise) the secular Kashmiri nationalist movement. In recent years the insurgency has become dominated by non-Kashmiri fighters based in Pakistan, and India frequently accuses Pakistan of ‘cross-border terrorism’. The two countries have held sporadic talks on the issue but have never come close to reaching a solution. In 1999 Pervez Musharraf (still just a soldier) ordered some of his troops into Indian-occupied Kashmir. Unnoticed, they took several hundred square miles of territory. Tactically, the Kargil campaign, as it became known, was a brilliant operation. Strategically, it backfired. The international community, fearful that the dispute could escalate into a nuclear exchange, demanded a Pakistani withdrawal. Ultimately Indiapoured in numerous men and munitions to the Kargil area, forcing the Pakistanis to abandon the high Himalayan peaks they had occupied. Kashmir remains a highly emotive issue for Pakistan. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s attempt to sack Musharraf as head of the army as a result of the Kargil fiasco led to the coup that brought the general to power – a prime example of the central role Kashmir has come to play in Pakistani politics. Each day the newspapers and state-controlled TV pour out propaganda on the issue. For more than 60 years the Kashmiri people have been caught between India and Pakistan’s intense rivalry. By now most Kashmiris are sick of the fighting and given a choice would probably opt for independence. But with both sides determined to hang on there is very little prospect they will be given that choice.