History
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The Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir decided to join his Muslim-majority province to India instead of Muslim-majority Pakistan. Pakistan thinks Muslims in Kashmir are controlled by Hindu India, and India believes that the Maharaja’s decision was in accordance with the internationally agreed upon method of partition. This resulted in war between Pakistan and India, and the war ended with Kashmir divided along the Line of Control, decided by UN agreement. Later Pakistan and India fought a second war in 1965; the result was India maintains control of the Kashmir Valley, Jammu, and Ladakh provinces, and Pakistan controls the Azad Kashmir region and Gilgit-Baltistan. They fought the third war in 1971, Pakistan broke up and Bangladesh established independence. Another war was fought in 1999 when Pakistan sent troops into the Indian side of the Line of Control. These wars were mainly caused by religious factors; Pakistan declared the nation to be Muslim, contrasts from India's Hinduism and China's atheism. There have been many military attacks in Kashmir in recent years due to religious instability and at least 30000 civilians died from direct fighting between Pakistan and India.
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Discussion Questions |
1. The historical origin of the conflict started in Kashmir when Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, who is a Hindu, joined his Muslim-majority province to India instead of Muslim-majority Pakistan. This decision caused Pakistan to worry the Muslims in Kashmir are going to be converted to Hinduism, and constant wars were fought between Pakistan and India over the land of Kashmir.
2. Religious factors are involved in the conflict because people in Jammu and Kashmir are mainly Muslims; however, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir is a Hindu. As a Hindu, the Maharaja wants to join his land to India, whose people mainly believe in Hinduism. This anger Muslims in Pakistan because they believe Jammu and Kashmir should join the Muslim-majority Pakistan. 3 International religious and political forces are significant in this conflict because Kashmir became a major element in a wider set of sectarian divides and Kashmir became an important international pilgrimage site for Hindus. Hindu extremists outraged the international community by destructing the Babri Mosque at Ayodhya. Islamist groups including Jihadists enter the region with support of the Pakistani government and allowed Pakistani military to enter boundaries between Pakistan and India. 4. Socioeconomic factors played crucial roles in this conflict because the dispute is a contest between the two national governments that have different interests, notions of security, and regional dynamics of nationalism and militancy. Kashmir’s economy struggles from the devastating earthquake in 2005, which struck Pakistani-controlled Kashmir. And trends toward religious nationalism by the Indian government have driven many members of religious communities to align themselves with one side or the other. 5. Religion intersects with these other factors when governments in India and Pakistan use religious appeals to bolster their support and justify hard-line policies in Kashmir. India implements anti-militant operations that impact civilians in the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley. In Pakistan, the quasi-military government allowed Muslim militants to stage attacks from the Pakistani side of the Line of Control. Militant groups like Jaish-e-Mohammed and Lashkar-e-Taiba wed insurgent violence with Islamist extremism. |