Discuss eleborately about the Kashmir problem

• The ‘Kashmir issue’ is always seen as a major issue between India and Pakistan.
• Jammu and Kashmir comprises three social and political regions. Jammu-a mix of foothills and plains, Kashmir- heart of Kashmir region; Ladakh-mountainous region with very little population which is equally divided between Buddhists and Muslims.
• Before 1947, Jammu and Kashmir was a Princely State. The state was having majority population of Muslims but Hari Singh was a Hindu ruler of the state.
• In October 1947, Pakistan sent tribal infiltrators from its side to capture Kashmir. This forced Hari Singh to ask for Indian military help.
• Indian Army successfully drove out infiltrators from Kashmir valley and Hari Singh signed an Instrument of Accession1 with the Government of India.
• It was agreed that once the situation will be normalised, the views of the people of Jammu and Kashmir will be ascertained about their future and India agreed to maintain the autonomy of Jammu and Kashmir.

External and Internal Disputes

• Externally, Pakistan has always claimed that Kashmir valley should be part of Pakistan.
• Pakistan sponsored a tribal invasion of
  the State of 1947 and consequence of it, a part of the state came under Pakistani control.
• India claims this area under illegal occupation whereas Pakistan describes this area as ‘Azad Kashmir.’
• Internally, there is a dispute about the status of Kashmir within the Indian Union.
•  Article 370 gives greater autonomy to J&K compared to other state of India. State has its own Constitution.
• The special attention provokes two opposite reactions.
• A section of people outside J&K feels that Article 370 should therefore be revoked and J&K should be like any other state in India.
• Another section, mostly Kashmiries, believe that autonomy conferred by Article 370 is not enough.

Politics Since 1948

• Between 1953 and 1974, the Congress Party exercised a lot of influence on the politics of the state.
• National Conference remained in power with the active support of Congress for some time but later it merged with the Congress. Thus, Congress gained direct control over the government of the state.
• In 1974, Indira Gandhi reached an agreement with Sheikh Abdullah and he became the Chief Minister of the State.
• Farooq Abdullah succeeded after death of his father as Chief Minister in 1982.
• Farooq Abdullah was soon dismissed by the Governor, his dismissal due to the intervention of the centre generated a feeling of resentment in Kashmir.
• Ups and down in state politics continued till 1986 when National Conference agreed to have an
  electoral alliance with the Congress.

Insurgency and Effect

• In 1987 assembly election the National Conference-Congress alliance gained a massive victory and Farooq Abdullah returned as Chief Minister.
• By 1989, the state had come in grip of a militant movement mobilised around the cause of a separate Kashmir nation.
• Throughout the period from 1990, J&K experienced violence at the hands of the insurgents and through army action.
• In 2002 J&K experienced a fair election in which National Conference was replaced by People’s Democratic Party (PDP)-Congress coalition government.

Separatism

• Separatism surfaced in Kashmir ’rom 1989 and is made up of various strands.
• One strand of separatists wanted a separate Kashmir nation, independent of India and Pakistan.
• Jammu and Kashmir is one of th; living examples of plural society and politics.
• Despite diversities and divergence on the one hand and the continued situation of conflict on the other, the plural and secular culture of the state has remained largely intact.

Punjab

• The decade of 1980s witnessed major developments in the State of Punjab.
• Social composition of the state was changed first with partition and later-after the carving out of Haryam and Himachal Pradesh.
• The Akali Dal, which was formed in 1920 as the political wing of the Sikhs, had led the movement for the formation of a ‘Punjabi Suba.’
• Punjab had to wait till 1966 to be reorganised on linguistic lines for the creation of a Punjabi speaking state.

Political Context

• After the reorganisation, the Akalis came to power in 1967 and then in 1977.
• During the 1970s a section of Akalis began to demand political autonomy for the region. This was reflected in a resolution passed in a conference at Anandpur Sahib in 1973.