History of Struggle for Freedom in Kashmir

Abstract

After the independence of India in 1947, it got divided into two territories of India and Pakistan. Kashmir, which was a princely ruled state at that time, was in a state of confusion whether it should accede to India or Pakistan or stay sovereign. Hari Singh, the then Maharaja of Kashmir, felt it better to accede with India than Pakistan and signed the instrument of accession with India. The government of Pakistan resisted this accession as they were keen to add this region to their territory and thus started the Kashmir conflict.

India and Pakistan have fought for more than seventy years over Kashmir. Wars over Kashmir resulted in eleven United Nations resolutions and two peace agreements, but the problem of Kashmir remained unsolved. For more than seventy years, India and Pakistan have driven a cycle of violence, retaliation, and exploitation in Kashmir, and this dispute over Kashmir has caused at least forty-seven thousand deaths and made Kashmir one of the most militarized1 regions of the earth and is still a bone of contention between India and Pakistan. Kashmiris have roused many times against oppression, tyranny, and occupation. There are umpteen historical documents of earlier times, where they have challenged numerous rulers for their ugly behavior, right from 1585, at the onset of the Mughal rule.

This paper deals with the origin of the Kashmir conflict and historical and political background, and its effect on India and Pakistan.