The Kashmir Dispute 1947 2012

The Kashmir Dispute 1947-2012 traces the complex history of this long- standing issue, and the political discontent and dissent surrounding it - relating especially to the question of the accession of the state of Jammu and Kashmir to the Union of India. The book opens with a critical and insightful introduction based on recently published material, which illuminates the multitudinous issues and resolutions relating to Kashmir in a holistic manner. It then delves into the intricacies of the Kashmir problem with a collection of the author's articles published over the last five decades in various dailies, journals, and books, bringing to light many hitherto unknown or forgotten issues and facts relating to the troubled history of the state. The articles are divided thematically into three major headings, namely, The Indo-Pak Dispute, The US and Kashmir, and The Endgame. They provide a critical perspective on the issues that are raised. The book concludes with a selection ofboth archival and contemporary documents, which highlight some important episodes in the history of the formation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir and provide a background to the current political reality.

The Tribal Invasion was a contentious and significant action, because of its serious consequences; and because it clearly violated the Standstill Agreement concluded between Pakistan and the Ruler of Jammu and Kashmir. Furthermore, it resulted in death and destruction of thousands of innocent people; and it forced the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir to seek help from India, which was only made available after the 'provisional accession' to India. Apart from that it divided our motherland resulting in enormous problems for thousands of families on both sides of the divide. It should also be remembered that the Tribal Invasion, apart from other problems also resulted in the first India and Pakistan war, bringing its own problems, animosity and divisions. Both governments since 1947 have spent billions of dollars on arms and have had three wars over control of Jammu and Kashmir. Both governments have enormous problems related to poverty, education and welfare; but because of the competition to control Jammu and Kashmir, they continue to divert money for military preparedness and continue to develop more and more lethal weapons.

Kashmir is one of the most intensely disputed regions of the world. Lying between India and Pakistan, it was acceeded to India by the British when they left in 1947; however, with a majority Muslim population, many Kashmiris and Pakistanis felt that it should have become a part of Pakistan. To this day, it continues to be the subject of passionate conflict between the two countries -- in late 2002, as troups aligned on the borders, the prospect of a possible nuclear war was only narrowly avoided.In such a context, a book on the history of Kashmir is not only timely but of great usefulness to anyone who wishes to understand the full and complex background to the ongoing conflict. Prem Jha is a renowned Indian scholar and his new book is a controversial account, based on exhaustive research and recently declassified papers. Jha provides a virtually day-to-day account of the critical times when the fate of Kashmir was decided in the context of Britain's geo-political strategies. Drawing on personal accounts by,the main players in the events of 1947, he examines the contrasting versions of history that have emerged since that time. Offering vital insights into the volatility of politics in the Indian subcontinent, this is an indispensable book for students, teachers, journalists and anyone interested in the history of the region.

This book presents a study of the international dimensions of the Kashmir dispute between India and Pakistan from before its outbreak in October 1947 until the Tashkent Summit in January 1966. By focusing on Kashmir’s under-researched transnational dimensions, it represents a different approach to this intractable territorial conflict. Concentrating on the global context(s) in which the dispute unfolded, it argues that the dispute’s evolution was determined by international concerns that existed from before and went beyond the Indian subcontinent. Based on new and diverse official and personal papers across four countries, the book foregrounds the Kashmir dispute in a twin setting of Decolonisation and the Cold War, and investigates the international understanding around it within the imperatives of these two processes. In doing so, it traces Kashmir’s journey from being a residual irritant of the British Indian Empire, to becoming a Commonwealth embarrassment and its eventual metamorphosis into a security concern in the Cold War climate(s). A princely state of exceptional geo-strategic location, complex religious composition and unique significance in the context of Indian and Pakistani notions of nation and statehood, Kashmir also complicated their relations with Britain, the United States, Soviet Union, China, the Commonwealth countries and the Afro-Arab-Asian world. This book is of interest to scholars in the field of Asian History, Cold War History, Decolonisation and South Asian Studies.

The Kashmir issue has been a subject of international attention ever since the subcontinent was partitioned in1947. The clash between India and Pakistan over the coveted territory led to the emergence of Indian-administered and Pakistan-administered areas. While the social and political conditions in the former have been widely discussed, even among Kashmir experts there is little knowledge of Pakistan-administered Jammu & Kashmir (PAJK), particularly its political, cultural and social aspects. Luv Puri analyses the crucial pre-Independence social and political processes which resulted in polarization within the state and the violence that wracked the region during Partition. He tracks the effect of those events on Pakistan's Punjab province and the ensuing impact on Pakistan's position on the Jammu & Kashmir issue. The relationship between Pakistan and PAJK is an important aspect of Puri's research. He traces the history of migration from Mirpur to Britain and the Mirpuri diaspora's significant support to the early phase of militancy that arose in Jammu & Kashmir in 1989. This insurgency, which had its base in PAJK, promised independence from both India andPakistan. The book also discusses the many transformations in the pro-independence struggle from its inception to the present day. Across the LoC: Inside Pakistan-Administered Jammu and Kashmir is a new and original contribution to the body of literature on the region and the role PAJK has played in the larger Jammu & Kashmir tangle.

Azad (Free) Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)) is that part of Kashmir within Pakistan, separated by a Line of Control from Indian territory. This book is a rarity: it offers a fresh interpretive history of the largely forgotten four million people of Azad Kashmir. The author contends that in October 1947, pro-Pakistan Muslims in south-western J&K instigated the Kashmir dispute-not Pashtun tribesmen invading from Pakistan, as India has consistently claimed. Later called Azad Kashmiris, these people, Snedden argues, are legitimate stakeholders in an unresolved dispute. He provides comprehensive new information that critically examines Azad Kashmir's administration, economy, political system, and its subordinate relationship with Pakistan. Azad Kashmiris considered their administration to be the only legitimate government in J&K and expected that it would rule after J&K was re-unified by a UN-supervised plebiscite. This poll has never been conducted and Azad Kashmir has effectively, if not yet legally, become a (dependent) part of Pakistan. Long disenchanted with Islamabad, some Azad Kashmiris now favour independence for J&K, hoping that they may survive and prosper without recourse to either of their bigger neighbours. Snedden concludes his book by assessing the various proposals to resolve Azad Kashmir's international status and the broader Kashmir dispute.

The escalating tensions between India and Pakistan have received renewed attention of late. Since their genesis in 1947, the nations of India and Pakistan have been locked in a seemingly endless spiral of hostility over the disputed territory of Kashmir. Ganguly asserts that the two nations remain mired in conflict due to inherent features of their nationalist agendas. Indian nationalist leadership chose to hold on to this Muslim-majority state to prove that minorities could thrive in a plural, secular polity. Pakistani nationalists argued with equal force that they could not part with Kashmir as part of the homeland created for the Muslims of South Asia. Ganguly authoritatively analyzes why hostility persists even after the dissipation of the pristine ideological visions of the two states and discusses their dual path to overt acquisition of nuclear weapons, as well as the current prospects for war and peace in the region.