The Struggle Over Kashmir, By Mohandas Gandhi

Disputes over land seem to be a catalyst for almost every hostility and war since the dawn of time. The addition of politics and religion into the matter only serves to aggravate an already tense situation. Kashmir knows this all too well. The conflict between Hindus and Muslims seems to be an ever reoccurring battle. This is also evidenced in population battles. Hindus make up the social majority of the population of India by almost eighty percent. Feelings of tension and uneasiness are a natural reaction to being dominated by a majority and are a problem unto itself.

Knocking the doors to history, the history that takes us to the world of facts, the Partition of India was just an event crushed under the old pages of Indian history. But this event was the greatest man- made catastrophe which not only divided the nation into two parts – the “New India for the Hindus and Pakistan for the Muslims, but also led to the massacre of millions in this forced dislocation. It was considered one of the largest mass migrations in the history of India killing two million people1 and dislocating 14 million Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs from the areas of Punjab and Bengal2.

The ongoing conflict between India and Pakistan has been the subject of speculation and study by political scientists and historians for a number of years. The ethnic conflict seems to have been sparked at the very beginning in 1947, when the British used Muslim and Hindu mercenaries against each other before the area finally split into today’s countries of India and Pakistan (Spiegel et al. 2015, 185). The timeline since then has been full of conflicts, both major and minor. Brutal tactics used by security forces and a high rate of unemployment have added to the issue (BBC News 2016).

India has a state named Punjab that was divided in half during the break up with Pakistan, which left half of Punjab in Pakistan and

Kashmir is conflict territory after the partition of India and Pakistan. Conflict is not only between India and Pakistan but also India and the religious militants. Religious Militants are conducting a jihad to govern by the religious law. Historically, Kashmir included Sufis Muslim not orthodox Muslim. Numerous international events had influenced in the growth of Islamic fundamentalism in Kashmir. Jihad is not originally from Kashmir but they are foreign militancy bought during the end of the Soviet –Afghanistan War. Additionally, they are trained in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Pakistan Inter service Intelligence helped them to incorporate into organized militant groups. Pakistan helped Jihad group with full moral,

Historically, in 1947, the country of Pakistan was formed when it left British India which immediately started a conflict between the two countries. The Indus River is the longest river around that area which starts from the Himalayas and flows through the entirety of Pakistan. The river has been aggravating the conflict

Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Nonviolence is not a garment to be put on and off at will. Its seat is in the heart, and it must be an inseparable part of our being". The book The Essential Gandhi expresses Gandhi’s views on issues like untouchability, religion, nationality, his movements like civil-disobedience are deeply shown in this book. Readers can learn about Gandhi’s childhood, his early married life, his realization and transition in South Africa, and his ways of approach towards attaining Independence in India. The book did a fantastic job in showing the Gandhi’s principles like non-violence with exemplary contexts.

This was necessary because in South Asia, in order to sustain life, the basin irrigation system of Indus was crucial for ecology. Despite their past, these two countries managed to cooperate because if they had not done so, these two countries would’ve suffered from a very problematic consequence. This reveals India and Pakistan’s capabilities of overcoming difficult hindrances to attain mutual goals. Unfortunately, a few years later, at around 1945, the Second Kashmir War began when Pakistan attempt to force India to concede their land (Jammu and Kashmir) by provoking an uprising. India responded by attacking Kashmir all the way across into Pakistan. Pakistan, due to its lack of troops and munitions, had a tremendous amount of difficulty, during the war. Throughout the years, several conflicts and wars continued to occur between these two nations. In 1998, the Bharatya Janata Party (BJP), a Hindu party, formed a national government. It attempted to strength India’s national security by testing nuclear weapons. However, Pakistan responded by testing nuclear weapons of their own. This sparked the arms conflict between India and Pakistan.

The east and west sides of Pakistan were not divided over religion (they were mostly all Muslim), rather the division was on the basis of culture and language. West Pakistan was Punjabi while East Pakistan was Bengali. In 1971, there was a major war between India and Pakistan and the east side of Pakistan split off into what is today called Bangladesh. For the purposes of this essay, we will be focusing on just Pakistan and India.

The State of Jammu and Kashmir is situated between Pakistan and India. Among the key reasons for tension between Pakistan and India is the key problem of Kashmir. Whereas Pakistan has repeatedly termed this the "core issue" in its relationship with India, India has maintained that this matter was settled with Kashmir's accession to India in October 1947. As far as India has been concerned, therefore, the only issue for discussion has been what India regards as Pakistan's continuing illegal occupation of part of Jammu and Kashmir, an occupation that began in 1947–48, during the war between the two. About 63 per cent of the territory is under Indian occupation; while the rest, 37 per cent, is with

India thinks that Kashmir is not the issue for an international concern and India does not consider UN’s take on any political action over Kashmir. India’s apprehension of Kashmir is reasonable somehow because India has fought three times with Pakistan regarding Kashmir’s issue. On the contrary, resolution does not come through military action. According to India, if India is ready to establish Kashmir as a democratic province with all the privileges of an autonomous, there is no guarantee to Kashmir will be under the Indian union. Because there are lots of terrorist groups are fighting against India. Pakistan is supporting them by providing materials as well as financial backing (Schofield, V. 2000).

India’s govеrnmеnt is involvеd in thе longеst countеrinsurgеncy (COIN) campaign that is controllеd by a nation in modеrn history. Thе Kashmir conflict is complеx and contains a conflict of intеrеsts with multiplе pеoplе struggling for a variеty of agеndas that includе prеsеrvation of a sеcular nation by India, indеpеndеncе of Kashmir by thе sеparatists, and provision of unity as a Muslim statе contеstеd by Pakistan. This casе study analyzеs insurgеncy in Jammu and Kashmir and thе Indian govеrnmеnts and sеcurity forcеs rеsponsе to thеsе conditions. It also focusеs on thе Indian govеrnmеnt’s countеrinsurgеncy campaign stratеgy from 1989 to prеsеnt.

The problem arose from the day the British through its East India Company wanted to establish its rule over India for which in order to improve its economy sold Kashmir for a meager Rs.75 lacks to then Dogra Ruler, Maharaja Hari Singh under Amritsar Treaty. This led to “QUIT KASHMIR” movement for a long period.

While the Constitution recognises in Article 370 the special status of Jammu and Kashmir, the Central Government's policies since 1953 have totally undermined its autonomy. Senior lawyer and political analyst A.G. NOORANI discusses both aspects and suggests a way out of the mess.

The history of Kashmir is replete with episodes like political un-stability, genocide, custodial killings, torture, arbitrary-arrests, arson, bloodshed, mass rapes, bloodshed, and enforced disappearances. However, people of Kashmir have demonstrated a distinct resistance for their existence and self determination. The dispute evolved over the unfulfilled promise of plebiscite regarding Kashmirs’ status that further strained its relation with India. In 1987, after the faulty elections were held in Kashmir, it was “ensured that the last viable avenue for the expression of political discontent was blocked” (Ganguly 92). The early resistance of 1990’s “when massive demonstrations for azaadi (freedom) broke out in the city of Srinagar and other Valley towns, and panicked federal paramilitary police sent by New Delhi to contain the unrest opened fire, killing hundreds of protesters” (Bose 179) led to the full-fledged resistance movement. Mirza Waheed’s The Book of Gold Leaves brings alive the horrors of this period which have not yet ceased to haunt.