Understanding Kashmir and Kashmiris, by Christopher Snedden

Since 1947, the protracted issue of Kashmir has predominantly underpinned the subcontinent’s security discourse having dictated the trajectory of unsettling ties between India and Pakistan. As old as India’s independence from British rule and the consequent creation of Pakistan in 1947, the Kashmir issue is rooted in the indecisive phase preceding Jammu and Kashmir’s (J&K) formal accession to India. Before the Maharaja of Kashmir could finally sign the accession in India’s favour, a tribal raid orchestrated by Pakistan army caused colossal damage in terms of loss of lives and property in parts of the erstwhile princely state. Premised on close geographical proximity and a predominantly Muslim majority population in the Kashmir valley per se, Pakistan, since its formation, has been unrelentingly claiming the entire state of J&K. Pursuant to its unfounded claims, Pakistan’s errant proxy war in J&K has pegged the territory as the virtual flashpoint in the bilateral equations between the two.