THE DISPUTED TERRITORY OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR

1. THE DISPUTED TERRITORY OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR

2. When people say Kashmir, they are generally referring to Jammu and Kashmir, an area located on the borders of India, Pakistan, and China.

3. DURRANI EMPIRE1747-1823 Established by Ahmad Shah Abdali Born in Multan, Pakistan A Commander in the army of Nadir Shah in Iran. Nadir Shah is assassinated. Ahmed Shah returns to Kandahar to form his Empire.

4. Durrani Empire • The Durrani Empire was a large state that included modern Afghanistan, Pakistan and northeastern Iran. It was founded at Kandahar in 1747 by an Afghan military commander, Ahmad Shah Abdali. After the death of Ahmad Shah in 1772, rule was passed onto his descendents. • The Durrani Empire is often considered the origin of the state of Afghanistan and Ahmad Shah Abdali is credited with establishing the modern nation state of Afghanistan. • The name ‘Durrani’ comes from Ahmad Shah Abdali’s title of ‘Durr-i-Durran’ – Pearl of Pearls

5. Durrani Empire • Afghans consider this to be the founding of their present ‘nation-state.’ • Demarcated the borders between present-day India and Pakistan.

6. Durrani Empire

7. DURRANI EMPIRE 17

8. Between 1846 and 1947, Kashmir was one of 562 semi-independent, or princely, states in the British Empire in South Asia. It was sold by the British to a Hindu family for services rendered to the British Raj. The document that sold Kashmir, its people, land and buildings was called the “Treaty of Amritsar.’ Kashmiris recognize this sale of their land, property and their persons as immoral, illegal and entirely unjustifiable.

9. When the British colonists began to dismantle their Raj in 1947, it was agreed that two new countries would be created: India and Pakistan.

10. Like other princely states in the British Empire, Kashmir was given the choice of joining India or Pakistan, but was ruled by a non-Kashmiri Hindu who favored independence.

11. Kashmir’s leader at the time, Maharaja Hari Singh, couldn’t make up his mind and was trying to delay giving a clear answer since he was both trying to quell an internal uprising and secure his illegitimate authority.

12. There were frequent revolts to Hari Singh’s rule in Kashmir. In 1947, an internal Kashmiri revolt erupted, while popular theory contends that a tribal invasion occurred this does not negate the Kashmiri demand he relinquish his illegitimate authority prompting Maharaja Singh to request military aid from India. The British viceroy Lord Louis Mountbatten—acting on behalf of the Indian government—sent in Indian troops, after Singh had illegally allowed India to incorporate Kashmir.

13. During the fighting, Sheikh Mohammed Abdullah, a Kashmiri, became Kashmir’s prime minister. Abdullah refused to recognize Singh’s decision to make Kashmir part of India, arguing that the Kashmiri people should have the right to determine their own fate. He was put in prison in India for nearly 20 years.

14. At the end of the first Indo-Pakistani war a cease-fire called for a plebiscite, or popular vote, to determine once and for all whether Kashmir (center) should be independent or part of India (left) or Pakistan (right).

15. At the United Nations, a resolution was passed in support of the right of self-determination of the people of Kashmir. UN RESOLUTION AUGUST 13, 1948 – ‘Will of Kashmiri people must be ascertained through a plebiscite.’

16. Since that time, two wars have been fought over Kashmir. Negotiations were ongoing when, in 1987, India rigged Kashmiri elections against the Muslim United Front (MUF). Then, Maqbul Butt – a leading Kashmiri scholar was hanged in Delhi. Outraged, Kashmiris began massive protests against their Indian occupiers.

17. In response, India mobilized hundreds of thousands of troops to Kashmir. Today, there are nearly 800,000 Indian soldiers, paramilitary forces and Indian armed personnel in Kashmir in the name of establishing peace and security.

18. This did nothing to alter the Kashmiri sentiment of self-determination. The Hindustan Times in August of 2007 released a survey, done by its own specialists in Kashmir, that 87% of the Kashmiri people want ‘independence from India’.

19. Recently, 4600 unidentified bodies have been located in mass graves throughout Kashmir. In response, major rioting has been widespread and the Euopean Parliament issued a resolution on July 11th, 2008, asking India to allow impartial investigators to assess those sites.

20. While Kashmiri violence, much of it provoking harsh retaliation from Indian troops, persists, the key political figures and many ordinary Kashmiris continued to push for peace by exercising their right of self-determination and implementation of various UN resolutions on the conflict.

21. The violence has crippled life in Kashmir and the horror is producing more and more people that are no longer rational, sensible or interested in peaceful negotiations.

22. World Public Opinion.org poll of the Indian and Pakistani publics reveals that half or more are open to a range of possible outcomes for Kashmir other than it being part of their respective countries. On neither side is there strong majority opposition to Kashmir becoming an independent country or dividing Kashmir between Pakistan and India.More significant, Indians and Pakistanis show a readiness to have the Kashmiri people decide their fate. If a majority of all Kashmiris were to choose independence, a majority of Indians and Pakistanis would find such independence at least tolerable.- July 8, 2008

23. The relative good will between the two sides was on display late in 2005, when India helped in the reconstruction of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, large sections of which had been devastated by a powerful earthquake.

24. Still, there is no agreement. And, with India and Pakistan both possessing nuclear weapons, the inability to resolve Kashmir’s troubled status has implications that far transcend the region. The need for tri-partite peace process between India, Pakistan and Kashmiris is essential.

25. Thank you Dr. Farhan M. Chak