Q.

Discuss the Kashmir problem in its entirety; throwing

light in its background and prospects of its possible solutions
to this core issue between Pakistan and India?
Kashmir Problem | Background & Possible Solutions

Introduction:

The Kashmir Problem is a territorial conflict primarily between India and Pakistan over

the Kashmir region. The Kashmir conflict started after the partition of India in 1947 as a dispute
over the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and escalated into three wars between
India and Pakistan and several other armed skirmishes. China has also been involved in the
Kashmir problem in a third-party role. Both India and Pakistan claim the entirety of the former
princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. India controls approximately 55% of the land area of the
region and 70% of its population, Pakistan controls approximately 30% of the land, while China
controls the remaining 15%. India administers Jammu, the Kashmir Valley, Ladakh, and
the Siachen Glacier. Pakistan administers Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. China administers
the mostly uninhabited Shaksgam Valley, and the Aksai Chin region.

History of Kashmir Problem:

The Kashmir dispute dates from 1947. The partition of the Indian sub-continent along religious
lines led to the formation of India and Pakistan. However, there remained the problem of over
650 states, run by princes, existing within the two newly independent countries.

In theory, these princely states had the option of deciding which country to join, or of remaining
independent. In practice, the restive population of each province proved decisive.

The people had been fighting for freedom from British rule, and with their struggle about to bear
fruit, they were not willing to let the princes fill the vacuum.

Although many princes wanted to be “independent” (which would have meant hereditary
monarchies and no hope for democracy) they had to succumb to their people’s protests which
turned violent in many provinces.

Because of its location, Kashmir could choose to join either India or Pakistan. Maharaja Hari
Singh, the ruler of Kashmir, was Hindu while most of his subjects were Muslim. Unable to
decide which nation Kashmir should join, Hari Singh chose to remain neutral.

But his hopes of remaining independent were dashed in October 1947, as Pakistan sent in
Muslim tribesmen who were knocking at the gates of the capital Srinagar.

Hari Singh appealed to the Indian government for military assistance and fled to India. He signed
the Instrument of Accession, ceding Kashmir to India on October 26.
Indian and Pakistani forces thus fought their first war over Kashmir in 1947-48. India referred
the dispute to the United Nations on 1 January. In a resolution dated August 13, 1948, the UN
asked Pakistan to remove its troops, after which India was also to withdraw the bulk of its forces.

Once this happened, a “free and fair” plebiscite was to be held to allow the Kashmiri people to
decide their future.

India, having taken the issue to the UN, was confident of winning a plebiscite, since the most
influential Kashmiri mass leader, Sheikh Abdullah, was firmly on its side. An emergency
government was formed on October 30, 1948, with Sheikh Abdullah as the Prime Minister.

Pakistan ignored the UN mandate and continued fighting, holding on to the portion of Kashmir
under its control. On January 1, 1949, a ceasefire was agreed, with 65 percent of the territory
under Indian control and the remainder with Pakistan.

The ceasefire was intended to be temporary but the Line of Control remains the de facto border
between the two countries.

Abrogation of Article 370 by India and the Latest developments in Kashmir

On 5th August 2019, both houses of the Parliament of India passed resolutions to abrogate Article
370 and extend the Constitution of India in its entirety to the state of Kashmir, which was
implemented as a constitutional order by the President of India. At the same time, the parliament
also passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019, which would dismiss the state of
Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcate it into union territories: the eponymous union territory
of Jammu and Kashmir, and that of Ladakh. The re-organization act was passed by both houses
of parliament and was assented by the President of India, and will come into effect on 31st
October 2019. Prior to these measures, the union government locked down the Kashmir Valley,
increased security forces, imposed Section 144 that prevented assembly, and placed political
leaders such as former Jammu and Kashmir chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba
Mufti under house arrest. Internet and phone services were also blocked.

Article 370 of the Indian constitution gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir, which has been
the subject of dispute between India, Pakistan, and China since 1947 conferring it with the power
to have a separate constitution, a state flag, and autonomy over the internal administration of the
state.

Article 35-A protects the demographic status of the Jammu and Kashmir state in its prescribed
constitutional form, which means that a person from other parts of India cannot purchase
property in Kashmir.

The reports of torture and excesses: Despite the complete ban of local and international media
in Kashmir and the communication blackout, authentic reports with videos and photos have
come out on channels such as Aljazeera and BBC which suggest that Indian Armed forces were
sent there to crush the new wave of freedom among the youth of Kashmir by way of extrajudicial
arrests, torture, abductions, sexual abuse, use of pellet guns to bind the protesters and breaking
into the homes of people and harassing them in the name of security check.  Kashmiri people
outside the valley have not been able to contact their families back home, creating unbearable
psychological and economic problems. Crimes in occupied Kashmir after imposing a military
curfew in the occupied territory, imprisoning millions of innocent Kashmiris. Fears of an
impending genocide in the valley are being raised across the world. International media is also
reporting torture of detainees by Indian forces.

The Implications:  These acts of India government, which are against the major overarching
acts of its own constitution, which are against the bilateral Simla Agreement between India and
Pakistan and which are against the 11 resolutions of the UN that have been passed by the UNSC
since 1948, to resolve the issue in line with the wishes of the people of Jammu and Kashmir.   
The BJP-led government has removed the garb of secularism from its face and the so-called
largest democracy of the world has shamelessly deprived the 10 million Kashmiris of their
legitimate human rights.  The innocent Kashmiris are practically enslaved since 5th August 2019
and the whole region of J&K has been turned into a jail.  The emotions of the people of Azad
Kashmir and Pakistan are extremely disturbing and there is a huge pressure piling up on the
Government of Pakistan to militarily help the oppressed Kashmiris. But the government
understands the gravity of the situation and the negative consequences of war between the two
nuclear states. So far, the government and people of Pakistan are putting as much pressure
through communication and diplomatic channels as possible to pressurize the Indian government
to lift the curfew and bring the life of people in Kashmir to normalcy. Severe shortage of
medicines, food and other necessities of life are being reported from Kashmir. 

Response from Pakistan:  

 Pakistan’s government has not only condemned this act of naked aggression and brutality
in the severest possible terms,
 Pakistan immediately brought down the diplomatic ties, calling back half of the staff in
Its embassy in Delhi and 
 called for an immediate UNSC meeting, 
 asked OIC, informed all the important world leaders about the grave situation, 
 DG ISPR declared that Pakistan will go to any lengths to ensure that Kashmiris get their
right of self-determination.
 Pakistan’s foreign office briefed the ambassadors from all countries about the situation,
especially the P-5 countries.
 Protests were held by Pakistanis all over the world to highlight the Kashmir Problem.  
 Articles were written by scholars including the one from Prime Minister Imran Khan in
international papers and journals of reputation to inform the intelligentsia and public
around the globe about the ground realities and to sensitize them towards the problems in
Kashmir.
 Prime Minister Imran Khan in his speech to the 74th UNGA shook the world with a fiery
speech that was marked by historical facts, undeniable brutalities inflicted on Kashmiris
by India and her belligerent attitude to move the region and the whole towards a
devastating Kashmir Problem that can turn into a nuclear one.  The effects of his
extremely power speech that flowed from not only his heart but the oppressed people of
 Kashmir eloquently highlighted Kashmir’s case and attracted praise from around the
world. 

Response from the World:  

 China condemned this act of India in severe terms and called India’s move to abolish
Kashmir’s special status “not acceptable” and not binding, as it challenged Chinese
sovereignty. India’s claim over Ladakh, as part of Kashmir, involved Chinese land. China
and India have moved their forces in the region and have seen a brawl since then. With
the diplomatic efforts, Vice Chief of the PRC’s Army came to Islamabad to show
solidarity on this issue towards Pakistan in military terms.
 UN Secretary-General Antonio also condemned this act and stressed multiple times the
need for addressing human rights of the Kashmiri people in order to resolve the ongoing
crisis in Indian Occupied Kashmir. In this regard, he has also read two reports of the U.N.
High Commissioner for Human Rights on the situation of human rights in Kashmir.
 The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) raised concerns over reports that India
had blocked Muslims in Indian-occupied Kashmir from exercising their religious
freedoms, a policy the pan-Islamic group said is an affront to Muslims around the world.
That included the imposition of a “complete lockdown” of the area even on the
auspicious occasion of Eid, as well as denying Eid Al-Adha congregation. The same
restrictions prevailed during Muharram as well and no processions were allowed to be
held during this holy month. But unfortunately, these efforts were marred by UAE and
Bahrain which conferred upon Mr. Modi, the highest civilian awards a few days after this
barbaric act of enslaving Kashmiris, and that was synonymous to pouring salt into
Kashmiris’ wounds. 
 The European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) also demanded from
the Indian government to immediately lift the draconian curfew in occupied Kashmir that
has created a humanitarian crisis in the valley.
 On September 25, the United Kingdom’s Labour Party in a conference in Brighton
passed a resolution that supported “international intervention in Kashmir and a call for
UN led-referendum.” Crucially, it calls on the Labour Party, the government in waiting,
to clearly and vocally support the Kashmiri people’s right to self-determination and for
international observers to be sent to the region immediately. The resolution also calls for
an intervention of the party at the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). 
 Turkey has come out openly and condemned the annexing Kashmir tantamount to waging
war against the innocent unarmed people.   
 Malaysian President Mahatir Mohammad also mentioned in his speech to the 74th UNGA
that India had invaded Kashmir, despite the UN resolutions proposing a plebiscite, which
is a clear violation of the UN Charter.
 Russian Foreign Minister met with Prime Minister Imran Khan on the sidelines of the
74th UNGA in New York and expressed his support for the sensible stance of Pakistan.
Russia’s close ties with China and India’s growing ties with the US are pushing Russians
to move away from the stand of India on this issue, as that might compromise CPEC and
OBOR projects as well.
 Israel is playing an extremely negative role in this whole scenario and, according to the
senior journalists like David Frost, is actually the mastermind of the moves that India is
 making during the past few years. The steps taken by India resemble starkly with the
steps taken by the rash and brutal Israel in Gaza against Palestinians. 
 Although United States officially expressed its concern over the abrogation of Article 370
, the actions taken by Donald Trump in showing an out-of-the-way welcome to Mr. Modi
at the Howdy Modi congregation and the ineffective passive way of not putting the
slightest of pressures on the Indian Government shows that the US government, despite
declaring many times that it wishes to become a mediator in this Kashmir Problem
between Pakistan and India, is only limited to lip service.

Possible Solutions of Kashmir Problem:

Scenario 1

The status quo

Kashmir has been a flashpoint between India and Pakistan for more than 60 years. Currently a
boundary – the Line of Control – divides the region in two, with one part administered by India
and one by Pakistan. India would like to formalize this status quo and make it the accepted
international boundary. But Pakistan and Kashmiri activists reject this plan because they both
want greater control over the region.

Scenario 2

Kashmir joins Pakistan

Pakistan has consistently favored this as the best solution to the dispute. In view of the state’s
majority Muslim population, it believes that it would vote to become part of Pakistan. However,
a single plebiscite held in a region that comprises peoples that are culturally, religiously and
ethnically diverse, would create disaffected minorities. The Hindus of Jammu and the Buddhists
of Ladakh have never shown any desire to join Pakistan and would protest at the outcome.

Scenario 3

Kashmir joins India

Such a solution would be unlikely to bring stability to the region as the Muslim inhabitants of
Pakistani-administered Jammu and Kashmir, including the Northern Areas, have never shown
any desire to become part of India.

Scenario 4

Independent Kashmir

The difficulty of adopting this as a potential solution is that it requires India and Pakistan to give
up territory, which they are not willing to do. Any plebiscite or referendum likely to result in a
majority vote for independence would therefore probably be opposed by both India and Pakistan.
It would also be rejected by the inhabitants of the state who are content with their status as part
of the countries to which they already owe allegiance.

Scenario 5

A smaller independent Kashmir

An independent Kashmir could be created from the Kashmir Valley – currently under Indian
administration – and the narrow strip of land which Pakistan calls Azad Jammu and Kashmir.
This would leave the strategically important regions of the Northern Areas and Ladakh,
bordering China, under the control of Pakistan and India respectively. However, both India and
Pakistan would be unlikely to enter into discussions that would have this scenario as a possible
outcome.

Scenario 6

Independent Kashmir Valley

An independent Kashmir Valley has been considered by some as the best solution because it
would address the grievances of those who have been fighting against the Indian Government
since the insurgency began in 1989. But critics say that, without external assistance, the region
would not be economically viable.

Scenario 7

The Chenab formula

This plan, first suggested in the 1960s, would see Kashmir divided along the line of the River
Chenab. This would give the vast majority of land to Pakistan and, as such, a clear victory in its
longstanding dispute with India. The entire valley with its Muslim majority population would be
brought within Pakistan’s borders, as well as the majority Muslim areas of Jammu.

Conclusion:

The key to any solution lies not in territorial compromises between states but focusing on the
needs of the people on both sides of the border. The Kashmiri people should be made to feel free
and able to run their own lives. “There does not have to be territorial change. There needs to
changes in the liberties that are exercised by the people of the region whether they be in the area
that is in Pakistan or in India,” Habibullah stated in closing. 

It can be said that after the 5th August 2019 act of abrogation of the Article 370 by India,  the
Kashmir problem has been highlighted by this illegal and immoral act more than ever before and
people around the globe have been successfully alerted to the possible horrors of a nuclear
conflict in the region.  Pakistan needs to devise and effectively implement a comprehensive
strategy with its close allies like China, Turkey, and Malaysia to counter India’s malicious
designs at all fronts, be it diplomatic, information and media or defense.  Besides, Pakistan needs
to honestly point out and remove the weaknesses in its democracy and governance to ensure that
this nation grows to its potential and Pakistan moves up the ladder on all important indicators of
the human development index.  Nations, like men, must consistently review their conduct and
improve in all important respects to change the situation.

Kashmir Problem | Background & Possible Solutions