Kashmir dispute (Disclaimer: The author of this blog doesn't take any rights of claiming whatsoever is mentioned in this blog. This is only for information purpose and does not resemble to people's persuasions. The credits of this article is given below.) Click for further more information about the author of this blog.
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| Shown in green is the Kashmiri region of Pakistan. The dark-brown region is a part ofIndian-administered Kashmir while the Aksai Chin was annexed by China, the Chinese control being tacitly accepted by Pakistan. Area in the North Kashmir region has been ceded by Pakistan to China. |
Main article: Kashmir conflict
Kashmir was a princely state, ruled by a Hindu[5] king, Maharaja Hari Singh. The Maharaja of Kashmir was equally hesitant to join either India–, because he knew his Muslim subjects would not like to join a Hindu-based and Hindu-majority nation[citation needed]–, or Pakistan– which as a Hindu he was personally averse to[citation needed]. Pakistan coveted the Himalayan kingdom, while Indian leader Mahatma Gandhi[citation needed] and Indian PM Jawaharlal Nehru hoped that the kingdom would join India. Hari Singh signed a Standstill Agreement(preserving status quo) with Pakistan, but did not make his decision by August 15, 1947.
Rumours spread in Pakistan that Hari Singh was trying to accede Kashmir to India. Alarmed by this threat, a team of Pakistani forces were dispatched into Kashmir, fearing an Indian invasion of the region. Backed by Pakistani paramilitary forces, Pashtuns invaded Kashmir in September 1947. Kashmir's security forces were too weak and ill-equipped to fight against Pakistan. Troubled by the deteriorating political pressure that was being applied to Hari Singh and his governance, the Maharaja asked for India's help. However, the Constitution of Indiabarred the Indian Armed Forces' intervention since Kashmir did not come under India's jurisdiction. Desperate to get India's help and get Kashmir back in his own control, the Maharaja acceded Kashmir to India (which was against the will of the majority of Kashmiris), and signed the Instrument of Accession.[6] By this time the raiders were close to the capital, Srinagar. On October 27, 1947, the Indian Air Forceairdropped Indian troops into Srinagar and made an intervention. The Indian troops managed to seize parts of Kashmir which included Jammu,Srinagar and the Kashmir valley itself, but the strong and intense fighting, flagged with the onset of winter, made much of the state impassable. After weeks of intense fighting between Pakistan and India, Pakistani leaders and the Indian Prime Minister Nehru declared a ceasefire and sought U.N. arbitration with the promise of a plebiscite. Sardar Patel had argued against both, describing Kashmir as a bilateral dispute and its accession as justified by international law. In 1957, north-western Kashmir was fully integrated into Pakistan, becoming Azad Kashmir (Pakistan-administered Kashmir), while the other portion was acceded to Indian control, and the state of Jammu and Kashmir(Indian-administered Kashmir) was created. In 1962, China occupied Aksai Chin, the northeastern region bordering Ladakh. In 1984, India launched Operation Meghdoot and captured more than 80% of the Siachen Glacier.
Pakistan maintains Kashmiris' rights to self-determination through a plebiscite in accordance with an earlier Indian statement and a UN resolution. Pakistan also points to India's failure of not understanding its own political logic and applying it to Kashmir, by taking their opinion on the case of the accession of Junagadh as an example (that the Hindu majority state should have gone to India even though it had a Muslim ruler), that Kashmir should also rightfully and legally have become a part of Pakistan since majoirity of the people were Muslim, even though they had a Hindu ruler. Pakistan also states that at the very least, the promised plebiscite should be allowed to decide the fate of the Kashmiri people.
India on the other hand asserts that the Maharaja's decision, which was the norm for every other princely state at the time of independence, and subsequent elections, for over 40 years, on Kashmir has made it an integral part of India. This opinion has often become controversial, as Pakistan asserts that the decision of the ruler of Junagadh also adhered to Pakistan. Due to all such political differences, this dispute has also been the subject of wars between the two countries in 1947 and 1965, and a limited conflict in 1999. The state/province remains divided between the two countries by the Line of Control (LoC), which demarcates the ceasefire line agreed upon in the 1947 conflict.
-This article has been taken from Kashmir Dispute; Wikipedia and the author of this blog doesn't takes any right of claim.
