What makes kashmir a region

Many schools have also reopened. Jammu and Kashmir will gradually return to normal, barring any terrorist activity or violence. India believes that the accession of Jammu and Kashmir is final, and any unfinished business regarding partition of the greater Kashmir region only concerns areas occupied by Pakistan.

Reorganizing Jammu and Kashmir made no territorial changes, but sought to more closely integrate the state with the rest of India. Therefore, for India, the dispute between India and Pakistan remains unchanged. The advancement of U. India fears that this could lead to history repeating itself. When another superpower, the Soviet Union, left Afghanistan some 30 years ago, intense terrorism in Kashmir immediately followed, as those who fought the Soviets turned to India.

Over the years, Pakistan has unilaterally changed the status of other territories it occupies in the greater Kashmir region, namely Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.

India protested the change. There are also reports that indicate that many of the Kashmiri officials had become corrupt. In , Pakistan invaded Kashmir, following a military coup that overthrew the democratic government. The result of this was the rise of anti-Pakistan feelings in Kashmir. By this time, Kashmiri leaders seemed to have changed their tune, with many contents with their accession to India.

Beginning in , there was a rapid Islamization of Kashmir. Names of cities were changed and propaganda was spread. This was the beginning of the violence in the region. The first large-scale act of violence was the exodus of the Kashmiri Hindus [20]. Thousands of Kashmiri Hindus were killed and forced to flee by Muslim mobs and Hindu temples were destroyed. Before this exodus, there were about , Hindus living in the region. By the end of it, there were only around to remaining. There was a spread of radical Islam, where violence was encouraged against those of other religions.

Children were recruited by insurgency groups and trained in violence. People were encouraged to sell their belongings in order to finance the purchases of weapons. Thus, began the coming decades of violence and propaganda led by insurgency groups.

Since then, the violence and bloodshed in this region have only continued. Insurgent groups, terrorist organizations, Pakistani forces and Indian forces have constantly found themselves in conflict, leading to the deaths of thousands. As a result, there has been a significant increase in the number of military personnel and equipment in the region.

There has also been a steady rise in domestic terrorism. On the other hand, this combination of military personnel, insurgents and terrorists have resulted in human rights violations. Allegations have included the suppression of freedom of speech mass homicides, kidnappings, torture and sexual violence amongst others.

The accused have included insurgent and terrorist groups, the Pakistani military, and the Indian military. More recently, the Indian government had completely cut off all means of communications and detained political leaders as a preemptive move to maintain law and order after the amendment of article explained in more detail in the following section. While the Indian government claims to have done it for the preservation of peace, many have criticized this as a violation of human rights.

In fact, internet services were cut for days. International and domestic actors including organizations like Amnesty International have called for an end of human rights abuses in Kashmir [22].

At the moment, it is safe to say, the Kashmiri people are tired of the decades of conflict and violence [23]. On one hand, there are constant attacks by insurgent groups and terrorist organizations. On the other, there is an increased presence of military troops. There are reports of human rights violations by these troops. The Kashmiri people want an end to this constant violence by all the groups present.

Increasingly, more Kashmiris are in support of the referendum that was supposed to have taken place during the partition. Additionally, there is an increasing number of people in support of an independent Kashmir. Jaish-e-Mohammed, a Pakistan based terrorist group. India blamed Pakistan to be responsible for the attack. However, Pakistan denied any involvement with the attack [24]. Immediately, tensions flared between the two countries.

In response to the attack, Indian fighter jets crossed the border and bombed the alleged Jaish-E-Mohammed bases in the Pakistani town of Balakot. Pakistan retaliated by conducting an airstrike on India, but there were no casualties. During a dogfight, an Indian fighter plane was shot down and the pilot who landed in Pakistan was captured.

The world was at its edge, and the two nations were at the brink of war. However, after negotiations, the tensions were eased and the pilot was returned to India. Article was intended to be a temporary provision that gave the state of Jammu and Kashmir a special status.

According to this, Jammu and Kashmir were allowed a certain degree of autonomy [26]. Jammu and Kashmir was allowed to have its own constitution, the ability to create its own laws and its own flag.

However, the government of India would have control over matters such as defense and foreign affairs. Due to this, Indians from other states were not allowed to buy land or settle in this state. Additionally, if a woman marries someone from an outside state, she loses her property rights. The Modi government argued that this was intended to be a temporary provision and that it has been seven decades since.

They also claimed that the article is discriminatory in nature and that it hindered development. Consequently, after returning for a second term, Modi amended this article. The state of Jammu and Kashmir has now lost its special rights. However, this move was largely controversial. Anticipating intense reactions to this and citing the perseveration of law and order, the Indian government mobilized large numbers of military personnel into the region.

Communication systems such as the internet were cut off. The chief minister of the state and other prominent political leaders were detained preemptively. News agencies were curfewed and the entire region was under lockdown. Human rights groups have criticized these moves as human rights violations. Pakistan strongly condemned this decision and said that it will exercise all possible options to counter the illegal steps. Moreover, this move served to strain the already strained relation with Kashmir.

Many Kashmiris were enraged by the restrictions placed on them, leading to more anti-India sentiments. But, the international response to this move was largely favorable to India.

Many nations expressed their support and remarked that this was a situation of India dealing with its internal matters. Both India and Pakistan strongly believe that Kashmir rightfully belongs to them.

Additionally, Kashmir is incredibly valuable to both nations. It is hard to imagine, that either country would willingly surrender Kashmir. It is certain that thousands of Kashmiris and soldiers have faced and continue to face atrocities. There are also reports of human rights violations in the region. India is now portrayed as a provocateur in the border conflict, which legitimises a Chinese reaction in the form of military defence measures. According to a Chinese survey conducted by the party-affiliated magazine the Global Times and the Chinese think-tank CICIR in August , more than 70 per cent of respondents said that India was too hostile towards China; 90 per cent supported retaliatory measures against India.

Therefore, mutual territorial claims have remained vague. Indian military experts have pointed out that since May, violations by Chinese troops have focused mainly on regaining control of the LAC areas. According to India, China now controls approximately 1, square kilometres of territory previously controlled by India.

The political changes reflected in the new maps could herald a new phase in the conflict. In the event of a military escalation, Chinese troops could block access to Daulat Beg Oldie.

The glacier is the highest war theatre in the world, where Indian and Pakistani troops have been facing each other since the mids. China now no longer sees its border conflict with India as a bilateral problem, but as part of its geopolitical dispute with the United States, in whose camp India is perceived to be. German and European policy-makers are likely to have problems with the positions of all parties to the conflict.

Although Berlin and Brussels share an interest in regional stability, they have little opportunity to influence the parties to the conflict. For China, the conflict is a new stage in the geostrategic struggle, especially in terms of its foreign policy: It is wrestling not only with India over the future role of both states in South Asia, but also indirectly with the United States over who holds power in the Indo-Pacific.

SWP Comments are subject to internal peer review, fact-checking and copy-editing. An armed revolt has been waged against Indian rule in the region for three decades, claiming tens of thousands of lives. India blames Pakistan for stirring the unrest by backing separatist militants in Kashmir - a charge its neighbour denies.

Now a sudden change to Kashmir's status on the Indian side has created further apprehension. Indian-administered Kashmir has held a special position within the country historically, thanks to Article - a clause in the constitution which gave it significant autonomy, including its own constitution, a separate flag, and independence over all matters except foreign affairs, defence and communications. On 5 August, India revoked that seven-decade-long privileged status - as the governing party, the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP , had promised in its election manifesto.

The Hindu nationalist BJP has long opposed Article and had repeatedly called for its abolishment. Telephone networks and the internet were cut off in the region in the days before the presidential order was announced. Public gatherings were banned, and tens of thousands of troops were sent in. Tourists were told to leave Kashmir under warnings of a terror threat.

Two former chief ministers of Jammu and Kashmir - the Indian state which encompasses the disputed territory - were placed under house arrest. One of them, Mehbooba Mufti, said the move would "make India an occupational force in Jammu and Kashmir," and that "today marks the darkest day in Indian democracy".

Pakistan fiercely condemned the development, branding it "illegal" and vowing to "exercise all possible options" against it. It downgraded diplomatic ties with India and suspended all trade. India responded by saying they "regretted" Pakistan's statement and reiterating that Article was an internal matter as it did not interfere with the boundaries of the territory.

Within Kashmir, opinions about the territory's rightful allegiance are diverse and strongly held. Many do not want it to be governed by India, preferring either independence or union with Pakistan instead.

Critics of the BJP fear this move is designed to change the state's demographic make-up of - by giving people from the rest of the country to right to acquire property and settle there permanently.

Ms Mufti told the BBC: "They just want to occupy our land and want to make this Muslim-majority state like any other state and reduce us to a minority and disempower us totally. Feelings of disenfranchisement have been aggravated in Indian-administered Kashmir by high unemployment, and complaints of human rights abuses by security forces battling street protesters and fighting insurgents.

Anti-India sentiment in the state has ebbed and flowed since , but the region witnessed a fresh wave of violence after the death of year-old militant leader Burhan Wani in July He died in a battle with security forces, sparking massive protests across the valley. Wani - whose social media videos were popular among young people - is largely credited with reviving and legitimising the image of militancy in the region.