Kashmir Conflict Explained

Kashmir has been a hot topic in the Indian subcontinent since the 1947 partition, but it has only now, in the summer of 2019, gained global attention.

In an exclusive interview with The New Voice, Aina Khan, a student of the University of Pennsylvania, described the panic that many worried relatives are experiencing:

“It’s been 13 days since I’ve heard from my grandma. She’s one of my many relatives that I haven’t heard from. My mom last spoke with (her) on August 4th, and according to my grandma, there were rumors brewing of a strict curfew and “something (bad)” happening in Kashmir. People spent the last few days stocking up on essentials (food, oil, medicine), but no one thought India would do anything before Eid (Islamic holiday). My grandma reassured us that she was fine, but of course, we have been very worried.”

Aina Khan

For those of us who are over 70 years late to a long-neglected conversation about occupation and human rights, here’s a brief history lesson:

During the Partition of India, all Muslim-majority regions immediately became a part of Pakistan– except Kashmir which was ruled under Hindu dynasty leader Maharaja Hari Singh. Hari Singh kept the region independent for two months, but he eventually acceded Kashmir to India despite the standstill that he signed with Pakistan. Indian troops landed in Kashmir on October 27, 1947, to fight Pashtun tribesmen and rebel forces, leading to the first India-Pakistan war. In 1949, Kashmir was split into two regions: Azad Kashmir (“Free” Kashmir), which was annexed to Pakistan, and Indian Occupied Kashmir which would go on to face entire decades of violent oppression. Over the next 70 years, Pakistan and India fought three wars over Kashmir. It is crucial to understand that today, the Kashmiri conflict plays into a large campaign of Islamophobia that is horrifically expanding under Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.



What Happened in Kashmir in the Last 70 Years?

So what have Kashmiris in the Indian-administered region been facing for over seven decades? To start off, the occupied state of Jammu and Kashmir is the most militarized region in the world. As India has maintained around 600,000 troops in it. These troops have committed countless human rights abuses such as rape and torture which many describe being systematic “instruments of control”. In 1992, representatives from Asia Watch and Physicians for Human Rights discovered the persistence of crackdowns and cordon-and-search operations. Kashmiri men are held for brutal “interrogations”, residents are assaulted, and homes are burnt down. The Asia Watch and PHR report state that security forces “frequently engage in collective punishment” such as rape which specifically targets women but is used to “punish and humiliate an entire community”.

Tensions have always existed between the military and locals; the casualties are endless. In order to suppress protests and disband crowds, Indian soldiers have been tactfully using pellet guns to severely paralyze people– specifically in the eyes. Metal pellets have blinded, injured, and killed thousands of civilians. But perhaps the most haunting abuse which has left families torn and broken is the unexplained disappearances of young boys.

What’s Different Now?

On August 3rd, Indian authorities issued a security alert, forcing thousands of tourists, students, and Hindu pilgrims to leave India-administered Kashmir. The supposed “terror threat” that the Indian government warned of turned out to be the terror that India itself would soon afflict onto Kashmiris. On August 5th, the Modi regime revoked Article 370, also known as “special status.” In doing so, they arrested all of Kashmir’s political leaders. Under special status, Kashmiris were exempt from the Indian constitution and were allowed to make their own laws on any matter excluding finance, defense, foreign affairs, and communications. Since the repeal of Article 370, the Jammu and Kashmir state has been under lockdown. An Internet connection and telephone communications are completely cut off, schools are closed, and curfews are imposed. Many Kashmiris say that they’ve been through curfews and lockdowns before, but this time they are truly uncertain about their future.

This month, India has quickly built up the military in the Jammu and Kashmir state, rushing 35,000 security personnel to the region. But why has Narendra Modi so suddenly taken over Kashmir?

In the early months after re-election, Modi has not only stirred up the crisis in Kashmir, but he is also leading a hunt for Muslim migrants in Assam, a state in India which is near the borders of Myanmar and Bangladesh. All 33 million residents of Assam were forced to prove that their ancestors were citizens before 1971 with documentation. Hundreds have been arrested on mere suspicion of being foreign migrants even though many of the people being interrogated were born in India. Four million Muslims living in India are at risk of facing detention camps as Modi expands his extremist agenda.

Modi leads a hate-filled re-election campaign with his Hindu nationalist party, the Bharatiya Janata Party. His victory to the Prime Ministership was a sweeping one. An Islamophobic agenda and his vision of a homogenous Hindu nation were validated by millions of voters. This support has fueled his actions in Kashmir and Assam. Modi likely didn’t expect the world to tune in or to care–– since there has never been a spotlight on Kashmir.

There’s fear that the creation of Modi’s pure Hindu state will lead to ethnic cleansing. Others, such as Prime Minister of Pakistan Imran Khan, believe that the systematic rapes, tortures, and unexplained disappearances are proof that ethnic cleansing has already begun. Imran Khan stated that Modi’s “fascist and racist” threat “also extends to Pakistan, the minorities in India, and in fact the very fabric of Nehru and Gandhi’s India.”

The World must also seriously consider the safety & security of India’s nuclear arsenal in the control of the fascist, racist Hindu Supremacist Modi Govt. This is an issue that impacts not just the region but the world. — Imran Khan (@ImranKhanPTI) August 18, 2019

International Response

“If there’s one good thing that is coming out of all of this, it’s that for once, the world is beginning to see what Kashmiris have been going through for decades,” said Aina Khan.

On Thursday, August 15th, thousands of protesters stood outside the Indian High Commission in London. They furiously waved the Kashmiri and Pakistani flags. This protest, called “Black Day”, took place on the anniversary of Indian independence as a symbolic reminder to the Indian government that Kashmiris, too, deserve independence.

Aina Khan proclaimed that “Kashmiris want azaadi (freedom)…But, they also want justice.”

And London banners which said “Kashmir is burning” and “Free Kashmir” agree; the essence of the Kashmiri movement is indeed about azaadi from occupation and justice for oppression.

In front of the Indian High Commission, a British Kashmiri held three microphones in one hand and passionately pointed his other hand towards the ground as he yelled above the crowds: “When the media wakes up and when social media is activated, they will be watching us today. They will hear us today.”

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