On February 14, 2019, a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of Indian security forces. “We are receiving reports of multiple roadside casualties …” He killed at least 40 Indian soldiers in Kashmir.
“The deadliest attack in the region this century.” The bomber was part of an Islamist militant group based in Pakistan. “The Muhammad Army has claimed responsibility for this attack.” 12 days later, India carried out airstrikes in northwest Pakistan. Then Pakistan shot down at least one Indian plane here.
Tensions escalated between the two rival states. [“Escalation” is frequent on the news.) “The most dangerous escalation in years.” Kashmir is one of the most contested places on Earth. For 70 years, it was the center of three wars Fought between two huge armies.
It is heavily occupied by more than half a million Indian soldiers and a lethal group Militias and terrorist groups.
Kashmir is the stage of relentless conflict between India and Pakistan. But focusing on the two countries could obscure what is at stake: the voice of Kashmiris Who have fallen into a vicious cycle of violence. Kashmir is one of the most strategic places in the world, where 3 powerful countries collide: India, Pakistan, and China. China invaded and took this slice of Kashmir from India.
And I was given this from Pakistan. India and Pakistan control these parts, But claim more. This region is at the center of the brutal struggle over this disputed border. So it is important to start when you are drawing. In the mid-nineteenth century, India was a mixture of several hundred provinces And the princely states are under British rule.
A century later, when British India gained independence, the British left and decided in a hurry To divide the area into two parts.
These areas will be a new Muslim majority country of Pakistan. This would be mostly Hindu, but secular, India. The oath was bloody. “Sectarian hatred is breaking out in Punjab.
” “One million people became refugees overnight.” “They are fleeing brutality and unprecedented meat that has been surpassed, even in India’s tumultuous history.” Amidst the chaos, some princely states were giving the option to join any country. In most cases, ruling kings followed the will of their people. But this state, called “Jammu and Kashmir” was different.
He was right along these new frontiers and it was a Muslim majority, but it was ruled By the Hindu king. When asked to choose a side, the ruler chose to keep neutrality Fearing that the king would join India, the people of Kashmir rebelled here in 1947 Armed tribesmen from Pakistan soon joined the fight.
The king turned to India for military aid and in an exchange he agreed to join them, which It ignited the first Indo-Pakistani war in Kashmir. “Thus increasing the threat to world peace and bringing conflict To the attention of the United Nations. The UN Security Council brokered a ceasefire in 1949, which this line was established with Pakistan controls this side and India is this one.
It also asked the Pakistani tribesmen to withdraw and the Indian forces to follow, so that Kashmir A direct vote can be made to make a decision with a future. But don’t hold on to the end of the deal. Pakistan has argued that the majority of Kashmir is a Muslim population that rightfully belongs with them. While India insisted that Kashmir be handed over to them by the Hindu king. So they multiplied and added Kashmir to their harassment.
The two countries have continued to tighten their grip around him for decades.
“Kashmir. The fighting continues and the losses are heavy Of the men and the equipment that fell on the aggressor. ” In 1965, the Second Indo-Pakistani War broke out in Kashmir. Thousands of people were killed among huge armies on both sides.
A ceasefire ended the war, but that line did not change. Kashmir remained divided and occupied. Another war broke out in 1971. This time the focus was not in Kashmir – it was in eastern Pakistan.
Here, India aided the rebels in the fight for independence and Pakistan suffered a devastating defeat.
This region became the new country, Bangladesh, and Pakistan lost its eastern half. Make this Kashmir more important than ever: It became one of the most militarized places on Earth, where India and Pakistan deployed aircraft, Tanks, artillery and soldiers along the control line. On the political front, in the year 8791, India is reported to have rigged elections, The winner of the pro-India party is announced. Now this was a major turning point for many Kashmiris.
Who felt deprived once again of the opportunity to vote.
Thousands took to the streets in India-controlled Kashmir To protest against the occupation. But India met the movement for independence with stiff resistance. That quickly escalated into more violence. “In January, security forces shot separatist demonstrators, Transforming a movement that has been struggling for two years into a complete popular uprising. ” “More than 600 people were killed in clashes between the forces and the separatists.
” Kashmir militias, such as the Jammu and Kashmir Liberation Front, have begun to recruit Muslims Young people to fight for independence.
And the Indian army attack is increasing. Pakistan saw an opportunity in this insurgency. They helped introduce a new type of militant group: the radical Islamic militants who fought Pro-Pakistan Kashmir. By the mid-1990s, these groups took control of the insurgency.
India responded with an incredible army of strength, deploying 500,000 troops to Kashmir. They cracked down on militants and protesters. Defenseless civilians were killed and many more were forced to flee the violence. In 98 the stakes were raised again. India today conducted three underground nuclear tests.
Today, Pakistan has successfully conducted five nuclear tests. Kashmir has become a battleground between two nuclear-armed nations Another war broke out in 1999. “More evidence of attacks on Indian-controlled Kargil.” “In the past two days I have witnessed some of the heaviest fighting yet.” “Armed Muslim fighters have also crossed the border into some parts of Indian-ruled Kashmir.
” The war of 1999 ended with another ceasefire, But this did not stop either country. Over the years, Pakistan’s armed groups have gotten more daring and have launched terrorist attacks in Kashmir and outside of Kashmir. In 2001, members of the Lashkar-e-Taiba bombed the Indian Parliament building in New Delhi Killed 14 people.
In 2008, 10 militants from the same group killed 174 and were injured 300 in Mumbai. Meanwhile, the Indian Army cracked down in Kashmir, firing bullets and Pellets on unarmed protesters.
Leaving hundreds of wounded and blind. This is the vicious cycle of violence. The Indian army campaign is pushing some Kashmiris to join the Pakistan-backed armed groups, Who practice violence against Indian forces. It is a cycle in which Kashmiri civilians are caught up.
Which brings us back to 2019.
The suicide bomber was a 19-year-old Adil Ahmed Dar from Pulwama, Kashmir. According to his parents, in 2016, Indian police officers stopped him and humiliated him Him by forcing his face to the ground. That same year, he was shot in the leg in a vigil. The following year, he left home with his brothers, to join Army of Muhammad, a Pakistani supported Militias that radicalized him and trained him to be a suicide bomber.
A year later, he drove the explosives into the Indian military convoy.
For more than 70 years India and Pakistan have driven a cycle of violence and revenge, And exploitation in Kashmir. But under it is everything that Kashmiri desires, I choose. A wish is still going on Repress it again and again with violence..
