A Historical and Political Analysis of Kashmir Conflict: From Past to Present

The partitioning of Sub-continent India in 1947 brought to the fore the Kashmir conflict between Pakistan and India when the Maharaja of Kashmir signed the Instrument of Accession in favour of India. Pakistan and India, from then onwards, remained toe to toe, fought four overt wars and confronted several near-daily clashes. This antagonistic atmosphere between them not only plagued the mutual ties for more than seven decades but prompted them towards nuclearization. Due to their conflictual relationship and political stalemate, the Kashmiri youth has initiated strong resistance, paving way for excessive militarization in Indian held Kashmir leading towards gross human rights violations. Previously, several UN resolutions voted in favour of fair and impartial plebiscite in Kashmir but without any implementation mechanism. Moreover, on 5th August 2019, India unconstitutionally repealed the ‘Special Status’ and scrapped the rights of Kashmiris to frame its laws granted under article 370 of Indian Constitution unilaterally without the consent of the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The stripping of the Article 35A permitted the non-residents to buy property that would change the demographics of Kashmir Valley. The objective of this paper is to present a detailed historical and political overview of the Kashmir conflict.