Kashmir

Kashmir

With its extraordinary medley of races, tribal groups, languages and religions, the state of Jammu and Kashmir is one of the most diverse regions on the subcontinent. Currently the control of this erstwhile pricely state divided between three countries- India, Pakistan and China. The central and southern region, Jammu and Kashmir, is administered by India, the area in the north-east named Aksai Chin is under Chinese authorities and Azad Kashmir and Northern Areas, located in the north-west, are under Pakistani control.

Traditionally, the Kashmir conflict is viewed as a territorial dispute with high strategic, economic and political stakes for all three sides. However it is today mainly a dispute between India and Pakistan as Pakistan has recognised the Chinese controlled areas. Both Pakistan and India claim jurisdiction over the whole of Kashmir and the area is divided by the Line of Control.

The Kashmir conflict is largely rooted in two mutually exclusive ideologies used to justify claims on its territory. On the one hand, Pakistan argues that the Muslim dominated state of Jammu and Kashmir should rightfully be a part of Pakistan according to the logic of the two-nation theory where Hindus and Muslims constitute two separate nations. India on the other hand rejects this line of thoughts and regards the areas as an acid test of its secular nation-building project. However, the outbreak of the armed insurgency in the Indian-administered part of the Kashmir valley in 1989 shifted the terms of discourse from the problem “of” Kashmir to the problem “in” Kashmir. This new rhetoric acknowledges as internal dimension of the problem and thus challenges the traditional idea of being solely an inter-state conflict. 

Recognising the rich, complex and multi-layered character of the Kashmir issue includes looking into actors at the local, national and international level.